How bad does it look to make a level change in math in high school?

I switched from honors precalculus to normal precalculus, but I’ll be taking AP calculus BC next year. How bad would this look to highly selective colleges? I’ve gotten all A’s, but I knew I would get a B or lower if I had continued in honors. Thanks!

Is the class switch visible in your transcript? If so, it might raise a few eyebrows, but if you have a relatively high with loads of APs, it shouldn’t be a problem. Also, you might want to reconsider taking BC if you have a hard time with Precalc since a lot of what you learn in BC is built from your Pre-cal knowledge. Consider taking AB (which isn’t a bad option, some people just aren’t that strong at math.)

Right- I don’t think the problem was the class itself…I was taking 6 AP’s concurrently and I thought making a level change would allow me more time to focus on other classes. There are no special markings on my transcript about a level change, it just shows first semester I took “Precalculus-HN” while second semester I took “Precalculus”. This level is too easy for me…I’ve gotten an A+ in all quarters.

Why did you switch from honors to regular pre-calc? I would not think it would bode well if you went down a level because you were having issues and the jump to second semester calculus

How it look? Who cares how it looks.

YOU’RE looking at this the wrong way. Do what makes the most sense for you educationally. You switched down because you weren’t doing well enough in Honors Pre-calculus to a math class more matched to where you are. To avoid making the same mistake, you need to do Calculus AB next year. BC is faster than honors pre-calculus, and is unlikely to be good for you. Calculus AB is slower than Honors Pre-calculus, but faster than normal pre-calculus.

  1. Will colleges see the change in levels
  2. Will you be prepared for or even allowed to schedule calc BC next year coming from your current class?
  3. Have you taken steps to insure you won’t have the same problem of feeling academically overloaded next year?