<p>College keep telling me that they look at the math that one takes in the context of what is available at the high school. If honors is available, did they take Honors? If AP is available, did they take AP? </p>
<p>Please kick school systems in the shins that stick so many kids with curriculum that block access to Calc Senior year. Smart kids need better middle school math opportunities!</p>
<p>Here's another option - these are excellent online math classes. If the cost is more than you can handle right now, the books are excellent are their own and could be used to self-study the subject, but my son enjoys the online classes immensely. Also, you get the advantage of having some (very tough) assignments reviewed extensively by the AOPS staff.</p>
<p>Online</a> Math Classes - Introduction to Geometry</p>
<p>The geometry course runs for 24 weeks - the online class is once a week for 1.5 hours. If you can't make the live session, you can review the transcript.</p>
<p>The textbooks from AOPS are better than any high school math texts I've seen, and the solutions text explains how to do every problem.</p>
<p>You would need to see if your high school would give your son credit, but he'd definitely learn the concepts.</p>
<p>I am speaking from the point of view of learning mathematics rather than college admissions. To thoroughly learn and appreciate the beauty of Geometry, I would not double up. Many students do great in Algebra 1 and flounder terribly in Geometry. They have difficulty with the concept of rigorous proof. Let your son take his time to absorb the math and take Calculus in college.</p>
<p>from Syracuse</p>
<p>Thanks for your email - good questions and a great time in your son's High School years to ask them. To answer your question about the math sequence to follow, we recommend the first path where your son will take honors math all three years. Those courses should be a challenging level and prepare him for college level math - he will take calculus here.</p>
<p>toadstool: started kicking here in my NJ public 5 years ago; they still haven't budged; still only provide Alg I in 8th grade to accelerated students (only 20% of the class by their standards)....I took it all the way to the superintendent,,,,,still no go</p>
<p>I gave up with D2 when I pulled her out of the school and sent her to private; she's still a year behind, but in a more rigorous curriculum.....</p>
<p>If there is any chance he would go for any science, get him through calc. See if he could run through algebra 2 or precalc in the summer - that's probably a bit easier than some other routes. I would vote for honors geo if possible - may be the only route to proof-based geo which is pretty good stuff.</p>
<p>I'm assuming that if he were a sufficiently talented math student to feel really comfortable doubling up in math that he would have completed Algebra I and be taking Geometry as a freshman. (That is the normal sequence for kids headed to Calculus senior year.)</p>
<p>I would recommend taking the Honors classes--better, more motivated students, often better teachers--and finishing up with Honors PreCalc. Good grades in honors classes will serve him well.</p>
<p>I don't think that the schools he's aiming at will be dissatisfied with this at all, and perhaps more importantly, it will ensure that his math knowledge is solid and forms a good foundation for stats, calc, and whatever math he takes in college.</p>
<p>The only problem I can see is if his math is not up to the level required by his science courses.</p>
<p>Doubling in basic math is not necessary for all but the most highly selective colleges, or kids who really have an appitude for math. (I used the term basic bcos doubling in Alg II/Stats or precalc/Stats is not unusual.) </p>
<p>An A student in Alg I does not mean the kid can self-study for another math class -- perhaps he can, but even so it will be of little value to UConn admissions (over any other academic solid). Geom is extremely conceptual and visual -- some strong Alg kids get it, many do not. It in itself could be a stuggle. Do NOT "blow off" Geom -- it's ~half the math section of the SAT.</p>
<p>Just take the regular four-year sequence, honors, if possible, ending in precalc. </p>
<p>"One of the team's leaders teaches math at one of the local universities. He said that kids should NOT take calculus in High School. It is much more rigorous in College"</p>
<p>Yes it typically is a lot more rigorous, if for no other reason a brutal curve (gotta weed out the premeds), and it is taught at a faster pace. And for that reason, a math professor who posts on cc that recommends just the opposite: take it in HS if you can bcos the class is smaller and the pace more leisurely. Of course, it assumes a good teacher in HS.</p>
<p>l would take Calculus in high school and repeat for college if you are major in math related major.</p>
<p>
[quote]
l would take Calculus in high school and repeat for college if you are major in math related major.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, I would strongly recommend students don't repeat classes, unless they REALLY REALLY want to and feel they'd enjoy the material better the second time or something. It is more important to maintain interest in the subject than to grind out details. Repeating classes is for perfectionism's sake, not for the intellectually curious, which are the ones, in my opinion, who really succeed with such majors anyway.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes it typically is a lot more rigorous, if for no other reason a brutal curve (gotta weed out the premeds), and it is taught at a faster pace. And for that reason, a math professor who posts on cc that recommends just the opposite: take it in HS if you can bcos the class is smaller and the pace more leisurely. Of course, it assumes a good teacher in HS.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This, I agree tons with. There is really no point butting heads with competitive premeds if you're in a math-related major, because likely your goal is to develop a strong understanding of your subject, not to prove you can beat competitive students at taking annoying exams. If you feel your calculus understanding is deficient, read up on it and solve problems in your free time...while this takes some discipline, it's a lot better than wasting your year repeating calculus, potentially getting a bad grades upon competing with certain students, and then not ending up liking math at all. I was SO glad to start well above lower division math in college.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do NOT "blow off" Geom -- it's ~half the math section of the SAT.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Again, a wise remark -- and might I add, while geometry is not nearly as important as algebra for the sake of use in other classes on average, it's the first class where you see very elementary proofs. Working and toying with these nicely can help excite a student about math.</p>
<p>By the way, I think the main reason to double up in subjects and progress faster is so that it doesn't get boring. If you don't find yourself bored yet, then don't rush yourself for colleges. Getting to calculus is a good idea, but not at the cost of your understanding of math. </p>
<p>By the way, I never took precalculus. That might be the class I would be most willing to avoid, given lots of people tell me it's repetitive, and that I missed out on nothing.</p>
<p>My S did option 1 with a variation. He doubled up Soph. year taking regular Geometry and Honors Algebra II. It was a lot of work but doable. He thought that HR Algebra II was the way to go so he could be in with the Honors students for the rest of HS.</p>
<p>He's a junior in college now in an engineering major. He felt that it was important to take calc in HS. He took calc I over again in college but had an unusual situation in HS (teacher left and they had to find another teacher).</p>
<p>My D was in the Honors track throughout HS and received a 5 on AP Calc AB. She started out in Calc II in college and found that most if not all of the people in her class had already had Calc BC or calc II. Most people she thought took calc I over again.</p>
<p>"I'm assuming that if he were a sufficiently talented math student to feel really comfortable doubling up in math that he would have completed Algebra I and be taking Geometry as a freshman."</p>
<p>small town, our kids travel to another town for HS...Can't take Geometry as a freshmen. We didn't know what to expect, so we played it conservative with Algebra 1..in hindsight, a mistake. The remedy is to double up in math next year.</p>
<p>"Just take the regular four-year sequence, honors, if possible, ending in precalc."</p>
<p>That's the problem..taking Algebra I as a freshmen, the path is now Geometry as a soph, Algebra 2 as a JR, advance math(trig/analy geo) as a SR. He wouldn't even reach pre-calc.</p>
<p>sry, I misread. In our neck of the woods, we don't offer "advanced math" to Juniors; instead, PreCalc/trig follows honors Alg II.</p>
<p>and from Bentley: exact opposite from what Syracuse recommended.</p>
<p>"If it is necessary for the student to
take non-honors courses in mathematics leading up to the senior year in
order to enroll in calculus it is generally recommended that the student
does that. "</p>
<p>Well geeps, think about it this way -- none of our answers is really "wrong" and none of them is "right." I can tell you about people who got into Harvard and Princeton without having taken calculus in high school. It's plain that you don't HAVE to take calculus, and it's basically your goals for the future. In short, if you're barely getting to calculus, it's not really likely that a school's going to look for your math strengths as an admission factor anyway. They're probably going to look at overall grades and for some other shining aspect. So sweating the math class really won't matter, in my opinion.</p>
<p>However, there are distinct differences in how someone's math education may turn out based on what classes they choose. I personally would favor working hard and getting to calculus, because it's the first time I thought math was at all interesting. The rest of the earlier stuff was just not motivating to me. Well, geometry was kind of fun to fool around with, due to the mini proofs. =] </p>
<p>Also, if you find the curriculum is too slow, try to arrange skipping a class or so with your school. I can tell you that I never took precalculus, and it's not a big deal -- it doesn't REALLY help you with calculus much, and repeats a lot of stuff from other classes.</p>