So I am currently on path to taking Precalc Honors for 11th grade. The class is supposed to be pretty hard but manageable. However, I could take Precalc over the summer at university nearby and take AP Calc AB Junior year. I like Math a lot and the calc teacher that I would have if I were to take AP is supposed to be fantastic, although next year will be her last year. In comparison, the precalc teachers don’t have a good rep. My only worry is that it might be a lot to add, as I am already taking 4 other AP classes next year… Would it be worth it to do AP Calc AB next year?
Unless you have a very high A (and I’m talking about a near-perfect grade, like a 97 or better) in Algebra 2 Honors right now, I wouldn’t recommend taking Pre-Calculus over the summer at a college. You are about to cram what is normally a nine month class into a little over two months, and the pace will be brutal. You are also on a perfectly fine math track for competitive universities; even if you were on track to take Pre-Calculus as a senior, that should be satisfactory for most colleges, but most people who apply to competitive universities are probably on the +1 math track, anyway.
What math class are you currently taking and what grade are you getting?
I’m studying abroad so my math class is like a mix of Algebra II and Precalc but I have a 100 currently.
Are you attending an international school? Or are you on an exchange year abroad (like Rotary)? Are you an international who’ll Soren a year in the us, or a us citizen who’ll graduate from a us high school?
It’s with a program like Rotary, and I’ll graduate from a us high school.
Take it over the summer and take Calc I/II at the local CC as well if you do well. Consider it a test.
Ok, so: have you taken algebra2 in the us already or are you taking precalculus right now in the foreign school although it’s not called precalculus? In other words, if your current curriculum, which doesn’t nearly overlap with the us curriculum, includes some precalculus, then taking the whole precalculus over the summer would be more doable (likewise if you divide your math curriculum into semester 1 and semester 2, is semester 2 equivalent to semester 1 in precalculus?) Essentially you’d spend two to three weeks reviewing what you are doing now then covering the rest of the curriculum, which is more doable then covering everything for the first time in such a compressed format.
That being said, precalculus Jr year, calculus Sr year, is perfectly fine - and you must make sure if you were to go the summer precalculus route that you’d have a class to take senior year.
(out of curiosity, what country are you studying in?)
Interestingly enough, the Taipei American School has the course outlined here… It is called hon algebra 2 advance. The course content n the pace is set up for math tracked students. Normally students will enroll in this class in their sophomore year. Regardless the important thing here is your mastery of trig before calculus. Summer course for any subject is a challenge of will n discipline. Are you really sticky to Math?
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/rur/rurci3.cgi is a quiz on the topics you need to know to be ready for calculus. You may want to try it to see if you need to take precalculus or if you are ready for calculus.