My son’s school offers College Algebra for Seniors. It follows Algebra 2 in the sequence and is offered as an alternative to Pre-Calc Honors. It is described as pre-calc lite. It covers almost everything Pre-Calc Honors covers but moves at a slower pace.
@uwalummom College Algebra is an alternative to Pre-Calculus, but it moves at twice the pace of a high school class and accounts for more.
I think it is a great idea. Best luck!
BTW, you are lucky that you have all this flexibility. My D’s HS has so many “has to take” classes (English, Math, Science, History, PE, etc.), that she could take only 1-2 electives per year.
<the vast="" majority="" of="" hs="" students="" never="" take="" a="" summer="" course,="" and="" somehow="" they="" get="" accepted="" to="" great="" colleges="">.
The vast majority of HS students is not going to any college. A tiny minority of HS students is accepted to great colleges.
Please, check if your HS accepts online classes for HS credit. Our HS does not.
The definition of “great colleges” varies quite a bit from person to person. I think a school is GREAT if it is where the student wants to attend college.
It does not have to be a prestige name school, in the top 20 or the like.
And I still say…the vast majority of college freshmen do NOT ever take a summer course of an additional online course. They take what their HS offers…and they do fine in college admission…even at highly competitive schools.
These schools also are looking to actual people with interests as well as just students who do nothing but academic, academic, academic…which is what this student is doing. The application will have all these academic classes… It what else?
Then why does the course plan include precalculus algebra after college algebra but before calculus 1?
The usual standard high school precalculus math course between high school algebra 2 and calculus is a year long course, which would be the same as the two semesters taken for college algebra and precalculus algebra in your course plan.
I don’t think you can plan that far ahead. In my experience, things happen … new requirements are added, classes get full and the seniors get the first choice, two classes you plan on taking are offered at the same time, not enough students sign up for a class and it’s dropped, etc. To give you an example … D’s high school has about 3,000 kids. Even with about 700-750 kids in her freshman class, one required class (communications) was already full by the time she registered - and this is a class that is offered every single class period.
@ucbalumnus I don’t think you get it. The math courses in her 11th and 12th grade plans are COLLEGE courses, not high school courses. Pre-Calculus Algebra is equivalent to a Honors Calculus class in a high school setting.
Looks like the courses with those names in Florida (where state universities and community colleges share a common course numbering scheme) are:
MAC 1105 College Algebra
MAC 1140 Precalculus Algebra
MAC 1147 Precalculus Algebra with Trigonometry
https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/courses/descriptions/mathematics.aspx#mac
None is a calculus course. Since MAC 1147 is a prerequisite to MAC 2311 (Analytic Geometry and Calculus 1), it looks like MAC 1105 + MAC 1147 is equivalent to a year long high school precalculus course.
OP, I don’t think you get it. A course called pre-calculus is not calculus. From the course sequence it looks like the college algebra/precalc sequence is just the same as algebra2 precalc taken in high school. Since colleges operate on a semester system the courses are double pace. High schools which operate on a college style semester system also teach algebra2 and precalc each in a single semester. Those high school students enroll in 4 courses per semester and can complete 2 high school “years” of math or anything else, if they take the subject both semesters.
It’s not really worth a long discussion about this at this point. Just be aware that college algebra is probably redundant with algebra2. I would think the cc will want her to take a placement test anyhow rather than just dumping her into a course she probably already has completed.
If I were you, I would pay a lot of attention to whether her plan is going to provide a good preparation if she changes her mind about nursing. I’d also add core science classes to her schedule. Shouldn’t she have a year of college chemistry and a year of general biology? I’m rather surprised this wouldn’t be part of a nursing BS, but anyhow as a parent I would want her to maintain some flexibility in the event she changes her mind about nursing in particular and with a stronger science program she would presumably maintain more flexibility if she wants to switch to a different STEM/healthcare related major.
To the OP.
Please help me understand why your child needs to take two courses every summer of high school in addition to whatever he HS offers during the school year?
<these schools="" also="" are="" looking="" to="" actual="" people="" with="" interests="" as="" well="" just="" students="" who="" do="" nothing="" but="" academic,="" academic…which="" is="" what="" this="" student="" doing.="" the="" application="" will="" have="" all="" these="" academic="" classes…="" it="" else?="">
Here is my problem with American education, in general. Academic classes, core education are all considered boring-boring-boring. Best schools are looking for something else: social activism, all kind of wierdos, even former felons. But not the boring, hard-working, smart, boring students. "schools also are looking to actual people with interests " — please, define. Why good students are not “actual people with interests”?
As a current high school student who also tried to plan out my high school courses in middle school, it is important to note that plans definitely drastically change throughout your years at high school. While these courses are great, sometimes these kind of things can’t be mapped out so far ahead. It’s also important to consider what your child really loves to do. If she wants to be a nurse, perhaps there are extra science or biology courses that she could take during her later high school years rather than classes she doesn’t like. Many students at my high school choose to double up in classes they love and drop ones they’re less interested in (or they take before school gym). If she wants to be a nurse, maybe there are summer opportunities outside the classroom that would allow her to experience nursing more directly. Does the school offer outside research or experiences that she could participate in? These are all things to consider when planning your schedule.
I agree with @thumper1 ^
It’s really difficult to expect a plan to work with pre-teens when hormones run the gamut in high school.
She may be “motivated” now but if there is an aspect of nursing that she doesn’t like (e.g: the smell of open wounds, viewing blood and bile, human anatomy and chemistry course labs), then why the push to one specific area?
(A sister of my opthamologist got into med school and discovered that she couldn’t take the smells of surgery).
What if your doesn’t get into your choice of university? Or major?
Most kids work their HS Summers because, come FA time, the universities expect that students use their own funds to help pay their expenses.
Putting her in classes every summer makes her look like a student who, either needs extra help, or is “too academic”. FYI: Stanford admissions told our group of parents. “We don’t want kids who look like a book; we’ve got lots of those in the library.” Paraphrasing: These are the students that sit in their dorms all day trying to study, without interacting at their college. They get rejected.
I never said good students could not be actual people. Of course they can be.
But really…I still don’t understand the push to have this rising 8th grader do courses every summer? WHY.
And what does the family hope to gain? Admission to Harvard? Or what?
What is the reason for two classes each summer???
As a student who never took an summer academic class during HS, I can say first-hand that doing so is not needed for admission to Harvard.
I’m still stuck on the fact that the girl isn’t even in HS yet.
And as an FYI…this young preteen wants to be a nurse. You know…you can get nursing degrees at community colleges and then go on to get the BSN.
@californiaaa It’s because colleges want people that will be able to make a difference. Soft, social, and real-world skills are good signs that a person will be successful, and you just don’t really get those if you’re taking 9-10 classes a year in high school.