I’m a freshman and the courses I have right now are: Algebra 1, English 9H, Biology 9H, Health and later Intro to Computer Science, Chinese as a language, and PE. I’ve always wanted to get into high universities such as UCLA and Stanford but I’m scared that my math class will drag me down. I’m not on the accelerated path in math and in senior year, will only finish up to PreCal. Many of my friends who take accelerated will finish Calculus in 11th grade. Can someone give me advice if this will bring down my chances or not? ( I’m not sure what I want to major in yet but I’m thinking either about becoming a lawyer or doctor.)
Very few universities in the US require or expect frosh applicants to have taken calculus while in high school:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/2015601-what-us-universities-explicitly-state-that-calculus-is-required-or-expected-for-frosh-applicants.html
thank you so much!
Just do well in math every year - finishing with precalculus is absolutely fine (and in fact better than finishing calculus in 11th grade with nothing to take in 12th.)
Make sure you have 4 units each of English, social science/history, foreign language, and all three from Biology, Chem, Physics.
Try to get into Honors Geometry next year if you get an A in Algebra 1 and feel like it’s necessary.
Honestly, there is nothing wrong with the 9th grade Algebra 1 math track. Some students who do extremely well in the standard/not accelerated tracks may even be permitted to take college-level math senior year (such as College Algebra and Statistics), making acceleration still possible.