<p>OK, so I have the opportunity to take Geometry and Algebra 2 at the same time as a freshman. I need to know if it would be too hard, whether or not I should take it, and if i did take it, what my final math class would be my Senior year. I'm currently in eighth grade. Also, could you take either Trigonometry and Calculus AB at the same time? Or Calculus AB and BC at the same time? I want to take as many math classes as I can, for I hope to pursue and career in math. Thanks! </p>
<p>I would go for it. Neither class is too demanding on its own and I know many people who have successfully tackled both simultaneously. And since you have a passion for math, I bet you’d enjoy the challenge 
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<p>I would recommend you take precalculus and trigonometry at the same time sophomore year, as the materiel complements each other. You will certainly need a solid grounding in trig before you go into calculus. </p>
<p>If you did that, you could go two ways: 1) take Calc AB as a junior, and Calc BC as a senior or 2) take Calc BC as a junior, and a college course in linear algebra and/or calc III as a senior. </p>
<p>I would suggest that, if you really want to pursue math as much as you can in high school, you do the later. Many people take Calc BC without Calc AB, so it is definitely doable- Calc BC is simply accelerated and with more materiel added in. They will teach the Calc AB stuff in the first semester. </p>
<p>That would leave your senior year for more advanced mathematics and college credit. It would also mean you will have gotten rid of most of the rudiments of math before college, and can dedicate your time to more interesting classes (analysis, modern algebra, advanced geometry, topology… sky’s the limit). </p>
<p>Good luck </p>
<p>Thank you so much for your feedback!</p>
<p>No problem, hope it helped! Always a pleasure to talk with fellow math enthusiasts. </p>
<p>My son and another classmate took Algebra 2 and Geometry at the same time as freshman with no problem. The catchup work in Algebra 2 (when it mentioned things covered the previous year that he hadn’t had yet) was not enough to be a problem.</p>
<p>You do want to take Trig before Calculus (unless your math skills are amazing). Schools differ a lot in how they handle AB and BC though. My son’s school allows you to take AB or BC (no prereq other than teacher permission and Trig/PreCalc for BC). If you take AB as a junior you do have the option of BC as a senior (even though some of it will be a repeat). Some high schools have a mini-course for BC that is taken in addition to AB for those who want to do the BC exam instead of the AB exam so BC students do sit through the AB class at those high schools, but have extra work outside of the AB class to prepare for BC.</p>
<p>You should talk to your school math teacher or counselor for advice. “Calc BC is simply accelerated and with more materiel added in. They will teach the Calc AB stuff in the first semester.” Not necessarily. This is true only if your school expects students to skip Calc AB. You need to find out how it’s taught in your school.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman doing this now! Honestly, there’s so much homework, but if you’re motivated you should be fine. My Honors Algebra 2 class is really hard, though, whereas Honors Geometry is really easy. As someone else mentioned, you could take AP Calc AB junior year and BC senior year. However, if at your school AB covers Calc 1 and BC covers Calc 1 and 2, like most schools, it would be best to take Multivariable Calc dual enrollment at a local community college or something. But there’s so much more math besides that! You could look into Linear Algebra, Diff. Equations, etc. After BC you don’t have to take Multi but that’s what most people do.</p>
<p>You can’t take AP Calc AB and BC in the same year… AB is Calc 1. BC is Calc 1 and 2. I guess taking BC is pretty much taking AB and BC at the same time. Some schools have BC is just Calc 2 though, and in that case, it’s like taking Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 in the same year (which obviously wouldn’t work out). You definitely need Trig for Calculus. But most Pre-Calculus courses have Trig (at my school, Pre-Calc is first semester, Trig is second, but the official class name is Pre-Calc/Trigonometry).</p>
<p>If you want to get ahead and take as many math classes possible, try taking an online math class. Maybe you could take Pre-Calc and Trig over the summer online, then you could take AP Calculus your sophomore year?</p>
<p>Geometry and Algebra 2 are different maths. At my friend’s school, they take Algebra 2 before Geometry. After a month of school, the only thing I didn’t know was counterexamples, but that’s so easy. If there’s anything from Geometry you don’t understand in Algebra 2, Khan Academy probably has a video about it lol. If your school’s Algebra 2 is called Algebra 2/Trig, it might be a little hard since you haven’t done basic Trig in Geometry yet, but maybe you will have since the Trig part of Algebra 2 is at the end of the year.</p>
<p>Being a freshman isn’t fun in Algebra 2, though… The sophomores tend to not talk to me, but there’s another freshman (and I sit next to her in the very last row! Thank you teacher for making the seating chart that way) so I just talk to her. Also, I’m having to keep it a secret from everyone, since my school is really competitive, and if people in my honors freshman classes found out, they’d get really mad and complain to the school. But if you don’t tell them you’re a freshman, they might not even know. The freshman I have Algebra with is also taking Honors Chemistry and Health (both sophomore and up classes, her old school was insane), but they didn’t know she was a freshman.</p>
<p>I hope this all works out for you! It will be a lot of work, but you seem really motivated :)</p>
<p>Son did this. It was a lot of work but he still enjoyed it. His primary motivation was being able to take calc based physics sooner. Agree with PP that iparticularly the Alg 2 workload can be demanding.</p>
<p>Here students take either calc ab or calc bc. As a senior he is taking classes DE at a local university but it is difficult scheduling his other high school classes around the University classes. This aspect has been surprisingly stressful. The school recommends kids take ap stats if they have taken ap calc as a junior but this did not interest son.</p>
<p>Other son decided not to do this, He is a junior in honors precalc and happy with his decision. Not taking two math classes freed up time for other pursuits. He will take calc bc next year which is still an advanced math route. He plans in going into comp sci.</p>
<p>So, say I took Trigonometry over the summer, do you think I could take Calculus BC my sophomore year? Do you think Trig would be too much? I’ve heard that BC essentially covers AB and more, so I don’t know if AB would be necessary. Then, my sophomore year I could take Differential Equations, and so on. Also, thank you for answering my questions everyone! You’ve all been very helpful :D! (Sorry for all the questions!)</p>
<p>Does your school have it go from Algebra 2 to Trig, then AP Calc? Most schools have a Pre-Calc with Trig included in it. Is Trig year-long at your school? But some schools might not even accept online credit (mine doesn’t) so you could try testing out of Pre-Calc. You could just take an online course over the summer, and try testing out from that knowledge. Or you could buy the same Pre-Calc book your school has and self-study over the summer.</p>
<p>Okay, AP Calculus AB is Calculus 1, and AP Calculus BC is Calculus 1 and 2. Remember that AP is college level, and the equivalents are Calculus 1 and 2. However, some schools’ AP Calculus BC is AP Calculus 2. In that case, BC isn’t AB and more, it only covers the Calculus 2 material. I know it’s confusing, but some schools just do it that way. For us to answer your questions, you need to tell us how it is at your school. If almost all freshman are taking either Geometry or Algebra 1, take BC. If more freshman are taking Algebra 2 than Geometry, take AB then BC.</p>
<p>TL;DR First semester of BC is everything from AB.</p>
<p>Differential Equations requires Calc 1 and 2 (that’s what I read online), so you would have to take it after AP Calculus BC. But really, don’t think too far ahead now. Your school might be really strict about this kind of stuff, like how at my school taking Geometry and Algebra 2 is ridiculously hard to even attempt doing (you need to take an insanely long and hard test and get at least a B). Online classes aren’t even allowed at my school, even prestigious ones like Stanford’s EPGY or JHU’s CTY. Your school may or may not be as strict, but there’s still a chance they won’t let you. I’m not trying to get your hopes down! But you just shouldn’t get them too high. Are you positive you can take Algebra 2 next year? :o</p>
<p>Yes, I’m positive I’m taking Algebra 2 and Geometry next year :O. My school goes Algebra 2 - Pre Calc/Trig(year long) - AP Calc. I go to a relatively small school (roughly 240 people in each grade) 3/4 of people take algebra 1 as a freshman, and about 1/4 take it as an eighth grader. Then we have like 5 people who take geometry as eighth graders. My school isn’t very strict about it, they encourage students to reach their full potential and all that stuff, but it was pretty difficult for me to get into doubling up my freshman year (had to meet with board of education and high school math teachers. This other girl and I are both doing the same thing). I’m not sure if they even would let me take trig over the summer. They’ve had people do it before, and I don’t think it would be too hard for them to let me do it! So, with all this said, 1. Do you think it would be hard to take trig over the summer if my school allows it? 2. If I did this, and took Calc BC instead of Calc AB as a sophomore, what would my following years of math be? Really, it’s all how I present this to my school as to whether or not they let me do it. </p>
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<li><p>It depends how motivated you are, and where you take the online course. But doing it in the summer might require at least 2 hours per day. Try looking for a good self-paced one :)</p></li>
<li><p>After AP Calc BC there’s a ton of math you can take. Linear Algebra, Diff. Equations, Multivariable Calc, etc. College math doesn’t really follow a set sequence like high school math. Also, there’s a wide array of college math courses. It also depends on the specific school. Most courses last a semester.</p></li>
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<p>Many of the answers depend on info we don’t have.</p>
<p>Are you close to a Univ or Community College where you can take the trig class? If you are under 16 that summer, will the college let you take classes there? Will the school or your parents pay for the class and are they ok with that? Does your family have any summer travel plans that would interfere with a class that probably meets everyday? </p>
<p>What you take afterwards depends on what else is offered locally (unless you use an online class through something like Coursera–but this also depends on many factors and probably wouldn’t be recognized by your prospective colleges.)</p>
<p>You could take calc 3 as a Jr and linear algebra as a senior or vice versa. </p>
<p>But let me re-emphasize how hard it can be for a high school student to attend classes at their high school AND take classes at a local college. The time of day that the classes are offered makes a huge difference. Getting to classes in the middle of the day eats up a lot of time and can prevent you from physically making it to your high school classes. Go online and look at past course offerings from the college. Is calc 3 always offered at 11:30 or are there a lot if sections offers throughout the day? If there is a nearby college, can you get there by bus or will you be able to drive? If you drive, where will you park? Son had to resolve all these issues and he will be doing most if his high school classes as independent studies since he couldn’t attend classes at the U and the high school.</p>
<p>OP–are you familiar with The Art of Problem Solving? They offer online classes for bright math students. They may only have through calc but they also offer classes in areas not usually taught at a high school (number theory and counting & probability). It does have a focus on math contests but it is still an extraordinary math program.<br>
<a href=“Online School”>Online School;
<p>You don’t really need to be accelerating your math do quickly–but if you are eager for more math material to cover, AoPS could provide stimulating experience.</p>