Currently going into 9th grade my proposed schedule is:
Biology
Honors Geo
Honors Global Studies/Health(1st semester each)
Spanish II
PE(required)
Freshman English(Honors teacher is extremely hard to get an A in)
Possibly Intro to Engineering Design
Lots of my friends are taking Honors Alg 2 or Honors Pre Calc and I feel really behind…
I want to do something related to Civil Engineering, but worried that I am not ahead in math to even be competitive for colleges…
I don’t see any math class at all in your proposed schedule for grade 9. This seems strange to me. Will you be taking some math class in grade 9? If so, are you asking which class you should take?
If you want to go into engineering, then you pretty much need to get through pre-calculus by the time that you graduate from high school. You are likely ahead of that right now. There is no reason to take precalculus as a high school freshman or even sophomore.
Engineering is quite dependent upon mathematics. You will need to be very good at algebra and calculus. However, calculus when you do get around to taking it will depend a lot on precalculus, algebra, and trigonometry. If you do very well in all of algebra, precalculus, and trigonometry, then you are likely to find calculus relatively easy. If you do badly in the prerequisites, then calculus can be very difficult. If you skip the prerequisites, then calculus will be very, very difficult. You want it to be easy because you want to learn it well whenever you do take it.
As such, you best plan is to take math classes at a normal pace, and at the pace that you can handle with solid grades. Jumping ahead is not a good idea, and is a very bad idea unless you are nearly certain that you will be able to maintain A’s.
I didn’t take calculus until I was a freshman in university. That didn’t stop me from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from a very highly ranked school.
What math will you be taking in freshman year? You should be taking some math all 4 years. Don’t worry what you start with. Most colleges expect you to end at pre Calc or Calc. If you can go past that then that’s great. You will soon learn also… Don’t try to keep up with the Jones… Just do the best you can.
I’m taking Honors Geometry
Awesome. My son’s high school at a competive school started with honors geometry in 9th grade. Due to his school’s structure and summer school with accelerated pre Calc in the summer ended high school at Multivariate Calc (Calc 3). You will be fine. Just follow your school’s curriculum. He thought he would be behind also. At his school that was the last math to take…
LOL…
Honors Geometry will get you to Calc BC senior year without even doubling up in math classes. That’s more than you need. So what’s the problem? Stop comparing yourself to your friends in Algebra 2. You’re where you need to be. Keep in mind you are going to need 3-4 years of social studies/history. That’s the only class you’re short on that I can see.
You’re not. You are on track to get to calculus as a senior without doubling up. That puts you ahead of the vast majority of your cohort. There are no brownie points given for taking calculus earlier than senior year.
Are you capable but not taking honors English because of rumors about a teacher? I would base your decision on what your recommended for since what your hearing may not be reality and you may be the A student. There will always be hard teachers but sometimes you may find you like a teacher and do well in a class others complain about.
I can tell you my nephew ended high school with AP Calculus AB. He went to ivy league college for computer science, graduated in June and has an excellent job now. He thought he might be behind but found that there were plenty of kids in the program who only completed precalculus in high school to balance out those with more advanced math classes.
Geometry in 9th grade is one year ahead of the normal math sequence that has algebra 1 in 9th grade. You are not behind.
Some schools have Trig as a separate math course so you don’t always end up in Calc
Not saying that there is not a school somewhere that does this, but I’ve never seen this in an honors track. Trig is almost always part of Algebra 2 or, to a far lesser extent, precalc.
This is not that common in high schools, since trigonometry is embedded in precalculus or algebra 2 within the typical four year high school math sequence (algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, precalculus; or integrated math 1, 2, 3 in places of the first three courses).
In colleges offering remedial/developmental math courses, trigonometry may be a separate course from the rest of precalculus (often called “college algebra”), so that students who do not need trigonometry for their majors need not take it (e.g. for majors that require a “calculus for business majors” course that does not require trigonometry like regular calculus does).
Trig is part of Geometry for us.
Don’t worry, I started with a 3.4 gpa started HS and I now have a 4.1 as a senior
Just keep your head up and learn from your mistakes
The trig component of a typical geometry course is the tiniest tip of the iceberg-- SOHCAHTOA.
Algebra II & Trig delves MUCH deeper-- trig identities, trig graphs, Law of Sines, Law of Cosines, and so very mu8ch more.