This year I’m going to Milton and I have gotten Geometry as my grade 9 course. I was wondering what that means and if someone from Milton or any boarding school comment on that, it would be great. Was also wondering if I wanted to change courses, how would I go on about doing that.
I have no experience with Milton, but from my experience elsewhere math placement is based on the placement test. Most 9th graders place into Geometry if they had Algebra I in 8th grade.
In general, 9th graders have very little flexibility in schedule. They take the 9th grade English, history, and science course, and the math and foreign language course in which they were placed. If the school allows a 6th course as an elective, there may be opportunity to change in consultation with the adviser. If your question is changing a course in which you were placed, generally, you can’t - at least not initially. 99% of the time, the placement is correct. If the placement was wrong, they will generally adjust very early in the term.
@skieurope Is it normal for people to get Geometry in freshman year? I had really high hopes and the school told me that the average course for a grade 9 I think was Algebra 2.
Most 9th graders at Milton take Geometry AFAIK. Even if you took geometry in 8th grade, you did not take the Milton version. Boarding school math classes are light years ahead of the equivalent named classes at local schools. You are very unlikely to be bored. Ditto for just about every subject. Trust me, I’ve seen enough kids complain, both here and IRL, that they were not placed “correctly” only to realize after a few classes how much they really did not know. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, will change before you actually start classes. As I said, if you were placed too low (or too high),the teacher/adviser will rectify it quickly into the start of the term.
Speaking as someone who took Geometry during my middle school years…
It means you’re normal and probably had more limited opportunities at your previous school. Some kids will have taken Geometry previously, or have studied it on their own time and passed the placement test into Algebra 2. Geometry isn’t a course you want to just skip over. It’s pretty challenging, and I took it at a public high school, which is on a much lower level than Milton.
Try the course for a week or two. If you feel it’s too easy, see if you can swap out. There’s no rush, and don’t worry about what other people are doing. You have your own path, and that’ll be different from others. It’s better to be safe than sorry, after all!
If you haven’t taken Geometry yet, then you don’t want to skip it. A number of colleges specifically want to see Geometry on your high school transcript.