Greetings all! I am a rising junior who has taken the most rigorous courses possible. Here in Florida, unless your middle school was special, the highest math you can take as a freshman is Honors Geometry. So I took that, and then I took Algebra 2 sophomore year. I am a very good math student (got a 34 on ACT, 770 or so on SAT, and place in all Mu Alpha Theta competitions). Well, we have a choice for which math we take this year. We can either take DE college algebra and trigonometry, which counts as two different college semester credits, or we can take Pre-cal, which is just your typical Honors class. With Pre-cal, you are obviously put on the path for AP Cal your senior year. With the DE courses, though, it’s a little bit different. It’s not meant as a prerequisite for AP Cal, but the teacher and admin will supposedly recommend you for it if you get an A in the class. I obviously want to be in AP Cal senior year, but I don’t want to be stuck taking a boring Honors course that I won’t be challenged in whatsoever. Please help.
I’d make sure what exactly it takes to get into AP calc at your school. If it’s still possible to take those DE courses and still get into AP calc then do that. Idk about your school, but precalc at mine was basically a waste of a class. If you can for sure get into AP calc without the precalc class, then go for the DE classes instead.
Thanks! Yeah, I talked to some students and they said it’s kind of strange. They said you’re not supposed to go from it to AP Cal, but that if you have the right teacher, counselor, etc. and make a good grade that you’ll probably get in. Worst case, I assume that your parents’ say triumphs that of any counselor or teacher, so I hope that I have that option to. We’re going to talk to administration to get some clarification, though.
Yes, definitely be sure you can just choose to go to AP Calc and that a counselor or teacher can’t bar you from taking it. Talk to your counselor. If you’re the math student you seem to be, it shouldn’t be too far-fetched that you would get an A in the DE courses and be recommended for Calculus, but it’s always good to be sure you can take it if you so choose no matter what a teacher or counselor may recommend.
Thanks for the reply! Yes, I feel confident I would make an A in the course. The students I talked to said that it depended on your counselor, and if he/she is willing to break the rules a little bit. But I’m also pretty sure that parents’ decision overrides anyone else’s, so it’s really just a strange situation. I’m hoping to get some clarification after talking to the counselor.