How important is Multi variable Calculus and Linear Algebra in 12 th grade for a girl

As I have mentioned before my daughter is good in somethings and something she is just like any other kid. The purpose of this thread not to put anyone down, but to ask questions as I am struggling to guide her inquistive nature.

It’s still confusing as to what the purpose of the question is, which is probably one of the reasons this thread has over 60 responses.

If you wanted to know whether there would be some kind of payoff later on in college for going through the hassle of taking MV Calc and Linear Algebra while your daughter was still in high school, that’s debatable. I happen to think it’s not worth it.

If, as you later clarified, she wants to take the classes because she loves math, then you and your daughter will have to be the ones who decide whether it’s worth the hassle of getting to the math classes, and the missed opportunities when it comes to other types of classes.

@SIMBA9 she started accelerating in math earlier as she was bored in class. Taking higher level math courses so far has been very beneficial in getting summer internships as she has been given harder assignments on each summer level. She is currently working on issue where calculus is used in application field. Of course mentor is guiding her.

But we are also realizing that even though she can handle higher level math, just logistics is becoming a major issue as she has to miss many other interests. We are meeting GC in few weeks before and see how it plays.

Unfortunately I can not say all relevant information on CC . let us leave it there and wait what new opportunities come around.

@ultapradesh, is there a Community College that’s closer to the high school than the university you mentioned?

I would try to do at least one of the advanced Math classes if you think it won’t overwhelm her.

Online could be tough, like someone said, but if she’s very strong in Math, she might be OK. Does she have a friend she could do it with?

I was always playing catchup in Math when I was in college and it prevented me from taking some courses I would have liked to have taken.

I think being ahead in Math is a great luxury to have. It can allow the student to take certain course sequences that aren’t possible otherwise.

I would try for Community College first, and if not possible, I would have her try one of the courses online and see how it goes.

The most convenient option is likely community college, especially if there are evening classes available. Otherwise, she could spring for a BYU online independent study course or another online program.

Multivariable calculus is a class most engineering students take in graduate school. Linear algebra is usually for a college sophmore. It really sounds like overkill for a high school senior, and I think it could lead to burnout.

@coolguy40 Multivariable calc is usually taken soph or jr year for engineers. It’s typically taken after Calc 2.

Whatever :slight_smile: I still think it’s overkill.

Multivariable calculus is typically scheduled as a college sophomore level course for engineering and physics majors, though some more advanced-in-math students take it earlier. Some computer science majors do not require it, however.

Daughter has decided that instead of multivariate calculus she will take other interesting curses. I will let her make her own choices. thanks everyone for your input.

“She loves math” Then let her do it!!! Let her pursue her interests! Also, why mention “for a girl”? Does it matter?

If she plans on majoring in computer science, well what will be most helpful will depend on what field of CS she ends up pursuing after graduation. If she wants to go into data analytics, stats would be most helpful. If she wants to go into computer vision (think image processing, used for stuff like self driving cars), linear algebra is most definitely helpful. Linear algebra is also helpful in some machine learning techniques like artificial neural networks. But if you’re doing AI and machine learning, advanced levels of calculus is also important, so you can analyze the data and graphs you’re working with. Oh, linear algebra is also useful for game development. (But this is all ideal. She most likely won’t be using much math at all. No one gives those high level engineering positions to bachelor degree holders. They usually want Masters or PhDs for any positions needing to use all that math to analyze data).

However, I’m only referring to the math she would probably want to know before her last year as an undergrad. For the most part, I mostly took these CS “elective” courses the last year as an undergrad. She’ll have at least 2 years, most likely 3 years before she takes these classes. Those math classes can be taken in college. College math classes can be harder than high school, but they also go more in dept.

There’s no reason why she should choose certain math classes over history or foreign language. I still use my spanish skills to this day (just to talk to cool spanish speakers) and I have interesting conversations about historical events from time to time. She’ll learn math in college. If she’s taking calculus in 11th grade, she’s already ahead of the game.

I mean there’s no reason why she shouldn’t take more math classes in high school if she wants to, but if that’s not the case, you’re kind of overdoing it.

Daughter does whatever she wants to do, I am a merely observer and tell her pros and cons, but she is in driving seat and driving her way.

@coolguy40 It’s incredibly irresponsible to give objectively false information and shrug it off as “whatever” when called on it.