Not taking calc...

Applying to College
1

<p>When high school started I was convinced I had no math skills and would never want to pursue a career in math or science. So I foolishly took the easiest math class available.</p>

<pre><code>Now I'm a junior and really want to study physics or engineering in college. My district is really strict when it comes to pre-reqs so I cant just skip pre-cal.

How much will not taking calc hurt me? I know I can't get into any engineering schools so if I want to pursue that I'll considerer changing majors.
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<p>I'm looking at schools like James madison, Virginia tech, UCSB, UCD and UCONN.</p>

<p>If it makes a difference I really do have an interest in math and get great grades(very high 90s).</p>

2

<p>if you are that worried hit up your local community college and take the next course in the succession of math ourses…</p>

3

<p>Why don’t you take pre-calc over the summer at a community college? I’m not exactly sure if thats what run2flyfree meant lol</p>

4

<p>Agree, take summer classes. Those UC schools are seriously looking for full pay out of state students, especially Davis which does not get much OOS inte.rest. With decent grades and scores, if you’re OOS and have the right classes, good shot these days</p>

5

<p>Oh i didn’t realize he posted his grade, was on my phone but ya just take precalc with trig at your local cc.</p>

6

<p>You can take pre-calc honors as a senior, it doesn’t hurt you as much as you think. </p>

<p>In many states, calculus isn’t even offered for high school students. </p>

<p>Colleges understand that.</p>

7

<p>“In many states, calculus isn’t even offered for high school students.”</p>

<p>Really? I find that incredulous.</p>

8

<p>JMU does not have an engineering school, they only offer a physics major. I would mark that school off your list.</p>

9

<p>JMU just opened an engineering dept this year.</p>

<p>Son only had an Intro to calc course senior year, as opposed to Calc and AP Calc, both offered at our school. He also never took Chemistry in HS… was accepted to all schools he applied to (engineering major) including VT.</p>

<p>You should be fine.</p>

10

<p>Although the not taking of Calculus should not pull down your chances at being admited to a “good” school, you shold note that taking it over the summer, as others have sugested, might indeed be a plausible choice.</p>

11

<p>Since whether or not you will take calculus often depends on how good you were at math in middle school, as long as you have strong grades in math and strong standardized test scores in math, you should be fine.</p>

12

<p>No way! That’s sweet! Rock on JMU!! Anyone know what engineering disciplines are being offered? Going to their website now…</p>

13

<p>[School</a> of Engineering at James Madison Univeristy](<a href=“JMU Engineering - JMU”>JMU Engineering - JMU)
Eh, not exactly what I was hoping for. But getting started is already 50% of the way! I still say, for now at least, you shouldn’t be considering JMU if you want to pursue engineering. They don’t actually offer a real, specific discipline, and only offer one degree anyway (I believe, only skimmed though).</p>

14

<p>If you really want to take calculus, you can do so at a community college.</p>

<p>I struggle in math, so I opted out of calculus and also dropped my AP Physics B course after two weeks. Deciding not to take two very challenging classes that also happen to be respected by admissions committes was a tough decision, but I decided it wasn’t worth it to drag myself to those classes everyday. It’s like your situation reversed, but the crux of it is that I didn’t take the toughest schedule available and I still got into top tier schools, including an automatic in at UCSB. Don’t stress it!</p>