HELP!?! What High School Math Course?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I'm an 8th grader and currently taking Pre-Algebra. I want to graduate high school with having Calculus BC or at least AB on my transcript.Also, will colleges view it bad that I take AB Calc instead of BC? Is it possible to take Pre-AP Geometry without taking Pre-AP Algebra 1 and just to take Algebra 1? I have three options and I need help deciding what would be best.
Option 1:
9th : Pre-AP Algebra 1
Summer before 10th: Geometry
10th: Algebra 2
11th: Pre-Calc
12th: Calc AB</p>

<p>Option 2:
Summer before 9th: Algebra
9th: Geometry
10th: Algebra 2
11th: Pre Calc
12th: Calc AB</p>

<p>Option 3:
9th: Pre-AP Algebra 1
10th: Pre-AP Geometry
11th: Pre-AP Algebra 2
Summer before 11th: Pre Calc
12th: Calc BC</p>

2

<p>All the schedules are a variation of one another. You take a class during one of the summers. As to which is better, I don’t think it really matters. As for Calc AB vs BC, you have 3 years to decide; I wouldn’t sweat it right now. Colleges will not care which one you take.</p>

3

<p>@skieurope</p>

<p>Thanks, but from those three what would you say is best?</p>

4

<p>If it were me, I would go with option 1. You’re jamming a full year of work into 8 weeks or so and I believe it’s easier to compress this with Geometry.</p>

5

<p>You need to talk to your counselor; we cannot possibly know if your particular school will care if your algebra class is labeled pre-AP or not. However, if your school offers different levels of math you will probably be best off taking the highest level rather than a regular-level class. I doubt those are available over the summer so I would consider enrolling in both algebra1 and geometry next year, or else both geometry and algebra2 as a sophomore. If that won’t work, then I suggest getting algebra 1 done this summer, and there are a lot of ways you can do that, by summer classes, self-study, online. Also consider why you are in the math track you are in. Is it too easy for you? Faster isn’t always better.</p>

6

<p>I’m in this math track because I want to get ahead and take calc. I’m heading towards 3, all advice is appreciated. </p>

7

<p>pre-ap alg 1 lol.</p>

8

<p>@wcao9311 yup they have that here</p>

9

<p>“I’m in this math track because I want to get ahead and take calc.” I understand that, and I think it’s good to do that if you are able. What I meant is that your current math placement is not terribly advanced. I’m assuming from the availability of calc at your school that some time ago you took a math placement test and were not placed in the top group and perhaps not even in the second highest group. Is there a good reason for that or not? </p>

<p>Our school places middle schoolers quite aggressively (you would be in the bottom 25% or so at our school) and this comes back to haunt many of them as they struggle in higher level math classes. It’s more important to get a good foundation than to get to calculus at the fastest pace. But of course some schools are much more conservative in acceleration and some kids just don’t perform well in 5th grade or whenever they decide placement. I’m just saying you should look realistically at how you are doing and whether you find math very easy or not, because the difficulty ramps up quite sharply and it’s hard to slow it down once you start on high school math. </p>

10

<p>I agree, how good are you actually at math? Because I was already in Algebra 2 by 9th grade, and while I’m pretty good at math, I am by no means a genius at it.</p>

<p>My class has about 420 students. I am on the most advanced math track you can take</p>

<p>7th:Algebra 1 8th:Geometry 9th:Algebra 2/Trig (Honors) 10th: Pre Calc (Honors) 11:AP Calculus (AB) 12:AP Calculus (BC) or AP Statistics</p>

<p>About 30 kids were put on this math track in the summer between 6th and 7th grade. ( I know this for sure because we were all in the same class for 8th grade Geometry)</p>

<p>The above average student is put on this math track</p>

<p>7th: Math 7 8th:Algebra 1 9th:Geometry 10th:Algebra 2/Trig (Core or Honors) 11th: Pre Calc (Core or Honors)
12th: AP Calculus or AP Statistics</p>

<p>About 175-200 students are put on this math track.</p>

<p>The average student takes your math track (The remaining 160-200ish)</p>

<p>7th:Math 7 8th: Intro To Algebra 9th:Algebra 1 10th:Geometry 11:Algebra 2 (Core or Honors) 12:Pre Calc (Core or Honors) AP Statistics (Rarely) or Preparing For College Algebra (Remedial)</p>

<p>There is a remedial math track that about 30-40 students are usually put on as well</p>

<p>7th:Math 7 8th:Intro To Algebra 9th:Algebra 1A 10th:Algebra 1B 11th:Geometry 12:Usually personal finance but sometimes Algebra 2.</p>

<p>My point being, if your school is very strict about putting people on advanced math tracks and you feel you are really good at math. If they let a lot of people on math tracks more advanced than you, then you may want to consider not speeding up your math track, an A in all your average math classes, even to the top schools, will look better than B’s and C’s in advanced math classes. Math does get much harder especially once you reach Algebra 2 and Pre Calc, especially if you take an honors version or in your case (Pre-AP) version of the course.</p>

11

<p>After taking Alg1/2 and geo I can say that you should only take Alg 1 during the school year while taking the other 2 during the summer as they are not enough good things to cover the whole year in either subject. While taking those two classes in 2 summers, focus on log,trig, graphing, and factoring.</p>

12

<p>The only difference in the schedules is the summer that you decide to take a math class. I would do it as soon as possible since it’ll get harder to self-teach as time goes on. Geometry is a pretty easy class, I would actually probably do Alg. 1 9th and Geometry the summer before 10th. </p>

13

<p>The older you get the more likely you are to have more important or worthwhile things to do over your summer. I would do algebra 1 this summer. Also, it’s likely that your parents can help you with that if you get stuck. A lot less likely with precalc.</p>

14

<p>Id go with the first option or self study Pre-AP Algebra 1 and then do the third option</p>

15

<p>I would recommend this:
Summer before 9th: Algebra
9th: Geometry
10th: Algebra 2
11th: Pre Calc
12th: Calc BC</p>

16

<p>I would never skip over to calculus from pre-algebra. Algebra is a key foundation in elementary mathematics and I swear math is all about building foundations. Algebraic ideas come out in all the math courses above alg 2, I believe you will struggle (Note: this is purely objective) if you ever skip the course. I insist if possible to take Geometry (only if you can cover alg 1/2 over the summer) or Algebra 2 on your freshman year (if possible), you still get a strong start and you can end with Pre calc/calc by Junior or Senior depending on progress.</p>

17

<p>Honestly, why do you need to self-study at all? Why don’t you just take the classes in order? I’m good enough at math, but I can’t imagine taking a whole course in 8 weeks.
That being said, if you are going to do so, I would do option 1 or 2, because those are the easier math classes… maybe skip geometry? You should definitely talk to a counselor and/or teacher about this.</p>

18

<p>@mathyone actually in my county there are 4 levels a student can be. The highest level:
8th: Pre-AP Algebra 1
9th: Pre-AP Geometry
10th: Pre-AP Algebra 2/Trig
11th: Pre-Calc
12th: AP Calc BC or AB
The second highest level:(which is where I am currently)
8th: Pre-Algebra
9th: Pre-AP Algebra 1
10th: Pre-AP Geometry
11th: Pre-AP Algebra 2/Trig
12th: Pre-Calc
The third level: (the average student)
9th: Algebra 1
10th:Geometry
11th: Algebra 2
12: Pre Calc w/ trig
The lowest level:
9th: Algebra 1 remidation
10th: Geometry Remidation
exc.</p>

19

<p>@RHSClassof16 I am actually really good in math and very confident that I can do well. I’m just trying to decide from the three option which would be best. Because at least I want to take Calc AB in my senior year but i would be great if I could take BC</p>

20

<p>@long2181998 We are not allowed to take two math classes at once. Because we have to fulfill all pre-requirements. </p>