<p>My son will be a junior in the fall of 2010. He is currently taking AP Calc B/C and will be out of math classes at his high school after this year. We cannot find a dual enrollment class in our area that works into his junior schedule. Does anyone know of any online or virtual Calc 3 (or equivalent) classes that would be a good option? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>check out Stanford’s EPGY program, Univ of Illinois online, and maybe BYU.
My daughter took MV Calc at local CC, but when we were exploring options, I thought Univ. of Illinois looked good.</p>
<p>I’m reasonably sure Rio Salado College in Phoenix, AZ offers a online Calc 3 course.</p>
<p>Another option might be to look locally at different options such as number theory or linear algebra.</p>
<p>If offered at your son’s school, consider instead taking a rigorous science course that requires calculus, as for example AP Physics or equivalent. The best way to deepen one’s understanding of math theory and techniques is to apply it. If that option is not available consider taking another science course, even if it doesn’t use calculus. I think that such an approach will add more weight to the senior year schedule from the perspective of admission committees than a very advanced math course that is taken outside of the high school.</p>
<p>^I disagree totally with #5.
First of all, he should not be going two years (junior and senior years) without math. Colleges (and grad schools, for that matter) really, really look askance at students who have not taken math on a continuous basis.
Second, many high schools REQUIRE four years of math for students graduating in four years. It does not matter whether it’s remedial or college, it still is 4 years (My S graduated in 3 and had 3 years of math). My S went into high school with BC Calc. He was not exempted from the math requirement so he HAD to take advanced math classes.
Third, taking advanced math classes does not preclude a student from taking science classes, including advanced science classes–that’s what my S did and that’s what those of his classmates who took BC Calc in sophomore or junior year did.
A possibility for the OP’s son might be to take AP-Stats. It’s a useful class, but the level of math that is required is only Algebra II. Still another possibility might be computer science. It depends partly on the school, so it’s better to check.
Finally, would taking more advanced math courses at a local college be a possibility? This is what advanced math students in our area do.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. My son is required to have four years of math in high school including at least one math class senior year (so even if he doubles up on math as a junior, he still has to take an actual class as a senior). He will be in AP Physics C as a junior and has taken AP Stats already. We cannot find a local college course that fits into his schedule due to extracurriculars, location, etc. AP Computer Science is not offered at this high school, although a regular computer science course is an option. I would hate for him to drop his extracurriculars in order to fit in a math class at a community college because he really enjoys what he does and doesn’t have too many extracurriculars to start with. Thanks for all of your help so far!</p>
<p>here is a link to an earlier discussion of this topic:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/547424-multivariable-calculus-line.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/547424-multivariable-calculus-line.html</a></p>
<p>good luck in your search.</p>
<p>Just as I thought, Percmom!
He should not drop his ECs! Cs courses can also be offered online. Make sure that his hs allows students to take online courses. Would the hs be willing to pay for them? Ours does not (it expects students to take classes at the Extension School), but many do.
Another possibility would be for an independent study if one of the math teachers were available and willing. this could be on a totally different topic, or as tutor for the online class (differential equations, Mutlivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra are the usual follow-up to BC-Calc). If the school is willing to pay for EPGY (cheaper than an individual class), that would be a good solution.</p>
<p>My kid is in a similar situation.
He is taking AP Calc BC as a freshman right now and next year will have to take math courses outside of the school. We are opting for a state flagship and he will most likely have to take classes in the afternoon/evening. We will have to pay for it at a 30% reduced rate (special program that the flagship offers). We are hoping that he will be able to fit it into his schedule, but won’t know how it will play out till the fall schedule is out 
It is going to be tough!
I actually have a different question that relates to this, but am going to start a threat about it.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently taking MV calculus through UIUC.</p>
<p>Here are the options we found for doing MV online (updated last spring, when I did my research).</p>
<p>EPGY
[EPGY</a> University Mathematics M52A](<a href=“http://epgy.stanford.edu/courses/math/M52A/]EPGY”>http://epgy.stanford.edu/courses/math/M52A/)
Pretty much the old stand-by. Proven quality. Big name. Always worth considering.
They use the Anton book for multi-variable.
They’re on the quarter system and teach Multi-var Differentiable Calc as 1 quarter, Multi-var Integral Calculus as 1 quarter, and then you must take Linear Algebra (1 quarter) before you can take DEs.
There are video lectures and it’s broken down into lots of lessons (49 lessons in the 1st course). There’s a sample lecture online.</p>
<p>Wisconsin
[Learning</a> Innovations Student Services Home Page](<a href=“http://learn.wisconsin.edu/catframe.asp?Dest=course&idweb=35]Learning”>http://learn.wisconsin.edu/catframe.asp?Dest=course&idweb=35)
Self-paced. A year to complete.
15 assignments.
There’s a linear algebra course available, also.</p>
<p>Louisiana State University
[LSU</a> Independent and Distance Learning](<a href=“http://is.lsu.edu/coursefactsheet.asp?nid=301&Rubric=MATH&CourseNr=2057&Version=U]LSU”>http://is.lsu.edu/coursefactsheet.asp?nid=301&Rubric=MATH&CourseNr=2057&Version=U)
Uses the Stewart book, which my husband calls the Encyclopedia of Stewart.
This is a traditional correspondence course, not an online course.
Offers a choice of subsequence course: Linear Algebra OR DEs & Linear Algebra in one course.</p>
<p>University of Texas
[Online</a> College Course Details :: University Extension, The University of Texas at Austin](<a href=“http://web.austin.utexas.edu/courses/dec/college/coursedetails.cfm?CourseID=283&CourseTitle=Sequences,%20Series,%20and%20Multivariable%20Calculus]Online”>http://web.austin.utexas.edu/courses/dec/college/coursedetails.cfm?CourseID=283&CourseTitle=Sequences,%20Series,%20and%20Multivariable%20Calculus)
Uses a textbook from 1992 – Stein & Barcellos.
There are no subsequent courses available through distance ed.</p>
<p>University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne
[Calculus</a> III](<a href=“Online Courses Catalogue - University of Illinois System”>Online Courses Catalogue - University of Illinois System)
This is a Mathematica based course. They use courseware from MathEverywhere and severely discounted student versions of Mathematica (approx $25 for the one year version).
Offers both a DEs course and a Linear Algebra course online.
High schoolers get 9 months to finish the course.</p>
<p>University of Minnesota
[Independent</a> and Distance Learning](<a href=“http://idlwebdb.cce.umn.edu/details2.asp?id=MATH-2263-03]Independent”>http://idlwebdb.cce.umn.edu/details2.asp?id=MATH-2263-03)
Also uses the Stewart book (like LSU).
9 months to finish each course.
It’s a “printed” (i.e., not online) course.
Also offers a Linear Algebra class online, which can be taken before or after Multivariable.</p>
<p>Suffolk University (Boston)
[Distance</a> Calculus • Course Syllabi](<a href=“http://www.distancecalculus.com/syllabi/]Distance”>Syllabi- Distance Calculus @ Roger Williams University)
VERY self-paced (you have up to a year after the last day of the semester in which you start to complete).
Calc III uses Calculus & MathLink software. They offer both Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, which uses the Mathematica-based courseware from Math Everywhere.</p>
<p>Tulsa Community College
<a href=“http://www.tulsa.cc.ok.us/dl/[/url]”>http://www.tulsa.cc.ok.us/dl/</a>
This one would be cheapest for us, because in-state tuition is so low. Plus, TCC actually mentions a special admission option for academically accelerated students. Not self-paced. A fairly standard Calc III course. They also offer Differential Equations to fill the second semester.</p>
<p>Non-accredited option
Courseware from Math Everywhere ($45)
Mathematica student version from Wolfram ($149 for unlimited time, less than that for time limited)
This is essentially the same as the courses from University of Illinois.</p>
<p>One more note:</p>
<p>If the school will allow it, he might consider doing a course from Art of Problem Solving, eIMACS, or AwesomeMath instead, or alternating with the college course.</p>
<p>The other courses don’t require calculus, but they’re “below” calculus in the toolset only. The difficulty can be much higher, depending on the actual class.</p>
<p>My dd’s taken several AoPS classes, LM1 & LM2 from eIMACS, and done the year round program through AwesomeMath, so PM me if you want details.</p>
<p>great post, mathinokc!! Thanks!</p>
<p>On UIUC and Suffolk and Math Everywhere: they use the same approach and materials (basically) but UIUC uses student tutors when you have questions and Suffolk provides a professor. The UIUC program was about $1,200 and Suffolk was at least twice that. UIUC required a proctor when we were using it. I think that Suffolk does as well or you can come into the university if you are near Boston.</p>
<p>I know a dad that used AOPS for his daughter and she did well with it - his daughter was the state’s Mathcounts champion.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my daughter’s student tutor at UIUC has been very responsive. We chose UIUC because of the MathEverything/Mathematica approach. I had a hard time with Calc III in college because I had a hard time visualizing the surfaces (so, yes, I’m projecting my own issues onto her 
).</p>
<p>The Mathematica is an additional thing to learn and the beginning was slow going for her. She’s still more likely to have trouble with Mathematica than with the actual math, but that’s okay. Mathematica is a skill that’s a good one to have. Mathematica would probably be easier for someone with more of a computer programming background (she hasn’t done anything since some work with Logo in 6th grade, and that was mainly getting the turtle to draw pretty pictures.)</p>
<p>UIUC does require a proctor. Someone at my daughter’s high school agreed to proctor.</p>
<p>Art of Problem Solving doesn’t have to be about competition math. They have great courses in Number Theory and in Counting/Probability. It’s hard to find courses in those topics outside of college, but the math is so much more accessible than that. Many of the AoPS problems may be from competitions, but it’s not all about competing. AoPS courses are synchronous, one night a week. They do have logs if you miss class. There’s a special class forum for problems and discussions during the week. There’s no proctor required for AoPS. Most courses only have 2 problem sets that are turned in and critiqued. There are weekly problems to work on, plus additional problems in the textbook (if there’s a textbook for the course you take). Courses that are aimed directly at an exam (a MathCounts, AIME, or AMC class, for example) do not usually have graded problem sets.</p>