Hi Everyone at CC,
Currently I am a rising Sophomore, and I am wondering if Pre Cal is the same as Alg 2 and Trig. This is mainly because at my old school as a 9th grader I took Geometry. I took an optional placement test for next year, and my teacher said I could go to Alg 2 and Trig. Since I am transferring schools this year. All I see on my new school’s class application form is to simply either take Alg 2 or Pre Calculus. I want to take AP Calculus in my junior year, so I can do physics in my senior. Is it really the same, or are there gigantic differences between the two classes.
Hi, I’m also a sophomore taking Alg 2/Trig Honors but not Pre-Calc. My school allows us to either double up or skip it, of which I am doing the latter. I believe the key difference between the two is certain principles of Calc such as limits not taught in Trig. I am opting to skip Pre-Calc (and AP AB, for that matter) because if it was really just a matter of that one principle, I could teach that to myself and not skip my elective (Honors Music Theory). That being said, most of my friends are taking both this year because of how similar they are.
Since my new school does not offer Alg 2 Trig, I am planning to self study trig and supplement it with the classes I have in Alg 2. I wish you best of luck in your AP Calculus exam.
I had to take A2T before going on to PCH. PCH was basically a clearer, but faster paced review of A2T with new things like vectors and an intro to calc.
At my school, Algebra 2 is a separate course; Trig/PreCalc are combined. Precalc has some trig to it but it’s mostly Algebra 2 review (logarithms, exponents, composition of functions, matrices, etc) along with an intro to calculus (limits, derivatives and a bit of integrals). We didn’t have much time to learn much else, as calc could only be taught after we learnt all the trig and Precalc topics.
EDIT: Of course, this is the accelerated track. The accelerated “honors” track takes Algebra 2 Honors and Trig/Analytical Geometry, a more rigorous form of Trig/PreCalc, and choose between Calc BC, Calc AB, Honors Calc and/or AP Stat; Trig/Precalc chooses from any/all of the above except Calc BC due to the prerequisite.
I would not recommend skipping either, but if you must, skip PreCalc. Algebra 2/Trig is a fundamental course and while PreCalc reviews it, you will not get a good foundation. Self study Precalc.
DO NOT skip either Algebra 2 or Precalc. If you have to, take Algebra 2 over the summer, but it’s too late for that.
The regular, expected, college-prep track is precalc as a senior. If you’re accelerated take precalc junior year and calculus senior year, alongside Physics C.
You do not need calculus for AP physics 1 or 2 and can take either one junior year if you wish.
Colleges outside the top 25 national universities/LACs do not expect you to have taken calculus in HS; it’s better if you have but it’s not mandatory and it depends on what major you’re going for. You need to arrive ready to take calculus in college (unless you plan on majoring in social sciences, art, or humanities, in which case you’ll take a “practical applications of maths” class or, more likely, a statistics class that will incorporate calculus) meaning: strong grades in precalculus.
Selective colleges want to see 4 years each of English, Math, Science, Foreign Language, Social science, with Level 4 or 5 in math (Calculus) and Foreign Language counting as “years” regardless of how many years of it were actually taken in high school. Then add classes you find “fun” and you’re good to go.
