Impact of Skipping PreCal

Parents Forum
1

hi everyone, my child is taking integrated math 3 H as a sophomore and has the option to take pre cal H or cal AB AP next year. we are not sure if skipping pre cal is a good idea and if that will have an impact in future courses?

to clarify, our school changed to the common core cirriculum in math by changing geometry->algebra 2 to integrated math 1, 2, 3 which covers algebra, geometry, and some trig. the change added another year of math to the cirriculum.

another question is we were told to take cal AB as a junior in high school so as to impress the colleges for admission purposes so we aren’t sure what to do like which math class to take next year.

Any advice is appreciated!

2

Integrated math 1, 2, 3 typically replaces algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, so it is not an extra year. This type of math sequence existed before Common Core, and Common Core based math could still do it either way. For students advanced in math, integrated math 1 may be offered to them in middle school.

Here are some math placement tests that the student can try:
http://math.tntech.edu/e-math/placement/index.html
http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam
If they indicate that the student is ready for calculus (the one for math, physics, and engineering majors, not the one for business majors), then consider that a possibility. If not, then it would be a bad idea to skip precalculus, because than calculus will be a struggle.

3

Thanks so much! Will definitely try the placement tests.

4

I just asked my kid…who will next fall be a pre-med senior at the University of Michigan.

Here’s her advice:

  1. Only consider skipping pre-calc if your kid is an absolute savant at math. As impressive as taking Calc AB your junior year is (and she's really not sure it's particularly impressive)...what matters more is your GPA. By skipping Pre-Calc and going straight to AP Calc, you're taking a big risk of scrubbing a perfect GPA...is the benefit worth the risk? She says...absolutely not.
  2. Consider the AP Calc teacher. Your teacher should have access to, and should be willing to share....their success statistics. What percentage of their students score 4's and 5's on the AP test? This matters. All AP Calc teachers are NOT created equally. Also...ask what percent of kids who skip pre-calc get 4's and 5's on the test. What is the average grade in AP Calc for students who skip Pre-Calc? Schedule a meeting with the AP Calc teacher personally to ask these questions and get his/her recommendation for your kiddo.
  3. Kids get into top schools in STEM fields every day taking AP Calculus their senior year.
  4. Rather than skipping Pre-Calc junior year....have your kiddo take Pre-Calc at school...and dual enroll your kiddo to take Calc One at a community college the second half of his/her Junior year (evenings or online). If s/he has no problem with it, s/he can take Calculus Two and Three dual enrollment Senior year. If s/he finds it's too much, too soon...s/he can withdraw by the withdraw date....no harm done...and go ahead and take AP Calc his/her senior year.
5

Thanks so very much MaryGJ! This is very helpful advice.

6

What happens is they simply break the curriculum in to three dimensions. Your decision should be based on how good she is at maths.

7

We were told pre-cal is more trig and memorization and cal AB is more algebra and application. Her weakness is trig. We’re hearing that cal AB is an easier class than pre-cal and every student in her math 3H is skipping pre-cal to cal AB.
Perhaps I can use some clarification here! Thanks!!

8

For most things STEM, pre-calculus and calculus are quite core. They are subjects that every STEM major should know really well.

His math teacher will know better than I, but I think that you should be pretty sure that he is solid in these areas if anything STEM is in the future.

9

We’ll likely go with pre-cal. Thanks again everyone for helping!