Hello, CC-ers! I’m in 11th grade, and am coming to the realization that I probably screwed up big-time with my scheduling. Long story short, I was on my school’s accelerated math track (Algebra II/Trig in 10th grade, etc) when I decided to take a Computer Science class that counted as a math credit in 11th grade, rather than pre-calc like, um, literally everyone else in my math class. I know, I know. I thought that for an English/History major applying to LACs, taking AP Calc senior year wouldn’t matter much; now, though, I’m discovering that upwards of 80% of students at schools I’m looking at (Wesleyan, for example) took calculus. So . . . should I study over the summer, skip precalc, and take AP Calc senior year? Or just take pre-Calc next year and hope they won’t count it against me too much?
Take precalc at a college over the summer if you can. An online course would do. Taking calc next year will help you
Yeah, that’s probably what I’m going to do. Some people have told me that not everything you learn in precalc is used for calc, but I’m guessing that going into AP Calc straight from Algebra II/Trig would be a bad idea.
Not everyone who starts college has had Calc. Or needs to retake it.
Take precalc next year and do well. Do not try and cram it into a summer.
You definitely need to know trig and the 12 basic functions before you start calc. Personally, my alg ii/trig class left a lot of trig to be clarified in my precalc class. It may be different at your school.
Just to clarify, if youre not a math person and don’t think you could do well in ap clac, then precalc would work fine for a humanities major.
I skipped precalculus and went straight on to AP Calc although at my school you learn trig in 10th grade. You could look at some trig explanations online over the summer or ask somebody who knows trig. So in other words its not the biggest deal. Plus a lot of students end up forgetting most of their trig over the summer anyway (like I did). It really depends on whether you trust yourself to be able to learn it over the summer.
If you are not really strong in math then do not skip precalc.
A precalc course from a community college would only be a summer semester. Why not take it and if you perform well, then take AP Calc senior year?
Good points, all! I’ll look into the community college option, talk to my GC (as I don’t even know if skipping classes is allowed at my school), and maybe shift my focus to colleges that don’t weigh calc so much. I think I’ve got a pretty strong writing-centric application, so I doubt a weaker math profile will be the sole reason for rejection at most schools.
Just remember, if you start the precalc class at a CC, it will be on your record forever. So do not do it unless you have the time to do well in it.
I think you’ll be fine without Calc as an English/History major at an lac as long as you have a high GPA and high test scores. Spend your summer doing something that both that interests you and enhances your applications.
Have you challenged yourself in other classes relating to your future major? AP/IBs?
Can your GC otherwise check off most rigorous?
The “most rigorous” designation has always confused me - I thought it meant you took the hardest level course in absolutely EVERY subject available, which seems a little crazy. I’ve taken all possible APs in the humanities (Euro, US, Gov, Lang, Lit, etc) and a few others, but not AP Chem or Physics.
Colleges consider that 8 APs (if offered) counts for “most rigorous”, as long as they “make sense”.
So, if you’re a future Humanities major and you’ve taken all possible Humanities APs at your school, you’re fine.
Calculus is not super-weighted, it’s not a magic class. You do need precalculus (preferably Precalc Honors) and it sounds like you’re on track for it. A foreign language at AP level is as valuable as AP Calc. (Two foreign languages at AP level is a major plus because it’s very hard to do). If you take a class over the summer, it should be Humanities/social science: can you take a 200-level English or History class, for instance? Or a 100-level seminar? This would matter more in establishing you academic profile than rushing through precalculus.
Nope. While colleges will generally want to see some mix of humanities and STEM, no college expects AP classes in every subject. FWIW every subject would also include arts which are at the bottom in terms of number of test takers.
@MYOS1634 and others…
when you say “You do need precalculus (preferably Precalc Honors) and it sounds like you’re on track for it.”
What happens if a student does not take pre-calc? My son is a junior in Algebra 2. He is hanging in there with a B, but the precalc honors teacher is very tough. The GC told him not to take precalc honors if he might get a C. He registered for College Algebra for Seniors, which we have been told covers most precalc topics. He could still change his mind.
Whatever you take next year, make sure you can do well. The worst thing to do would be to 'self study" precalc, sign up for Calc and fail
Looking at Wesleyan, it says:
RECOMMENDED PREPARATION
The Admission Committee encourages students to take a most challenging program of courses, and recommends that it include at a minimum:
4 years each of English and History/Social Science
A single Foreign Language through the fourth year
3 laboratory sciences including Biology, Chemistry and Physics
Math through Calculus
http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/applying/requirements.html
So consider taking pre-calc over the summer and taking Calc Senior year.
It depends on the level of selectivity your son is aiming for as well as his future major.
I agree with the GC that if he may get a C he shouldn’t take Precalc Honors. College Algebra for Seniors would be okay for a business major, for Social sciences and Humanities. However, it wouldn’t do for engineering. Of course Engineering is probably a bad idea if your son isn’t very good at math (there’s a lot of math in engineering).
With College Algebra for Seniors, he’s good for most LACs ranked 60+, your state flagship, all directionals and most regional universities.
If he takes College Algebra for Seniors, he’d have to take College Precalculus then Calculus for Business his freshman year, or if he goes into the Humanities he’ll have to review all his math classes when he takes the placement test then hopefully score above the threshold for placement and be allowed to take a Math for general education class (Math of Money, Math for Citizenship, etc.)
Wrt Wesleyan: a good grade in precalc honors with a strong record in the intended area of specialization is fine. A future history major will not get rejected because they didn’t take calculus, just like a future stem major won’t be rejected because they didn’t take AP Spanish. However of course there needs to be a complete file indicating strengths that offset this absence.
why not take precalc this summer and see how it goes? I think Precalc is good for college admissions, especially since you took the computer class…it wasn’t just like you were sitting around that year doing nothing on the STEM side.
If calculus is not important to you (which sounds like the case as you are planning to be a liberal arts major), and you are just trying to satisfy the “most rigorous”, then I would stick with precalculus next year. You should talk to your guidance counselor if you have any questions, and let him/her know what schools you are considering.
If calculus was actually important to you (e.g., if you were thinking of a STEM career), then I would consider taking the online Precalculus course from the Art of Problem Solving this spring. They have a class starting in 2 weeks on Monday evenings that runs through July:
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/school/course/precalc
They have a “pretest” to see if you are ready (look in the upper right hand corner of the web page).
AoPS classes are hard - much more rigorous than the average school class at the same level. I’m not sure how hard it would be to start with AoPS precalculus if you hadn’t done any of their earlier classes. But if you took AoPS precalculus you would certainly be prepared to take calculus at your school next year. And if the course was over your head (you can drop for free up to the third class) then you wouldn’t have lost anything, and it wouldn’t mess up your high school transcript.
There are probably other options available.
My guess is that for your interests staying with your current schedule is fine, but at least this gives you an option.