In high school: continue w/calculus or....

<p>Caltech is my son's dream school. (He's a junior and homeschooled.) He took calc I at the comm. college this past fall, got an A. We haven't seriously thought about competitive colleges until now. He's been taking cc classes since 9th grade.</p>

<p>Anyway. He took calc I, but couldn't get into calc II for this spring because it was full. He signed up for bio and poli sci (Am. Govt) instead. Now, a Calc II class has opened up but he couldn't take either of the other two classes. </p>

<p>Which would look better on his transcript? Continuing w/Calc [he could always take it next fall] or staying w/bio & poli sci? He hasn't had any lab science yet. We were planning to do them at the cc next year, although his chances of getting into chem and physics next year are slim due to budget cuts, fewer classes and low registration priority for high schoolers.</p>

<p>His other cc classes have been freshman English and I think 4 programming classes (he wants to do computer sci).</p>

<p>That’s a bit of a conundrum you have there. As much as I hate to tell someone not to take math, I think that he should probably stick with the biology course. Caltech is an engineering school, so he really does need to have some lab science under his belt.</p>

<p>I think as long as he takes Calc II in the fall (it will show up on the list of classes he is currently taking on his application) taking bio now is fine. I will say that coming into Caltech without physics or chem would probably be very bad from a preparation standpoint. </p>

<p>Then again, what do I know?</p>

<p>I thought to go with Calculus II. With your son’s CalTech hope but with no lab science under his belt yet, going with Biology is fine. Doesn’t he have any science experience at home?</p>

<p>Here’s Caltech’s page for homeschoolers:
[Caltech</a> Undergraduate Admissions: Homeschooled Applicants](<a href=“http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/applying/homeschooled]Caltech”>http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/applying/homeschooled)</p>

<p>In particular, they say

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<p>I’m guessing that it would have to be a pretty good “at home” science class to convince Caltech that it was a rigorous lab science course.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>He could also study Calc II at home, take the AP Calc BC exam, and use that score to place into higher math classes next fall. Higher level classes often have more space in them than intro level classes.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone! Lots to think about. </p>

<p>Jennifer</p>

<p>Calc self-study shouldn’t hurt him, provided he takes the AP (and gets a 5) if he self-studies this year. A Calc II course next fall should also be enough to show competency in calculus as long as he does well in the course. </p>

<p>Lab courses, on the other hand, are difficult/impossible to convince an adcomm that you have adequately self-studied, so he should definitely take bio. </p>

<p>I agree with lizzardfire that coming to Caltech without physics or chem would be a bad idea. He needs to argue his way into those classes or seriously self-study physics/chem and explain his situation in his application.</p>

<p>Actually, I recommend explaining the availability of classes in additional information of his application no matter which courses he decides to take. If he doesn’t, Caltech admissions readers might think he didn’t take physics/chem/calc because he was lazy/doesn’t like them/etc.</p>