I am a Junior in high school now currently taking honors physics and algebra2 honors. I fell behind in math because i did terrible in middle school and freshman year i started liking math and understanding it. I went from algebra1, Geometry, to algebra2 honors. My problem is that i intend to major in physics in college, but since im only in algebra 2 now, senior year i will have to take pre calc, and therefore colleges will see i have not taken calculus.I tried looking for a pre calc class i could take over the summer but had no luck… I already took my SAT once, i got a 1220, and i am taking it a few more times. What are my odds getting accepted into a good physics program without taking calc in high school? If i get like a 1300 on the SAT will they see that i am good enough at math to get into the program? Please help
It really depends on the specific school’s requirements and competitiveness. It would definitely be very good to have it. Maybe you could look into dual enrolling at a school and taking precalc there one semester and calculus the next?
@Matt13549 Jennacwe makes a good point. If you were to get into physics at Texas A&M, for example,(very competitive) it would chew you up and spit you out before the end of the first week, with having no calculus. A&M starts off with a calculus course for a physics degree that is designed to be more demanding than the Calculus class for engineering freshman, which weeds out a lot of them. If the first semester of Calculus Math 151 didn’t do it, the second one will, with math 152.
Texas State on the other hand, is not as competitive of a school and while you would still get a good education, you have more time to get up to speed freshman year and they place you in the math you need based on the Math Placement Exam as well as SAT/ACT. A&M places you in math based on MPE as well, but it demands other classes first semester that without calculus, you would not be successful in them. At. All. The physics required first semester are heavily calculus based.
Know going into it, that college calculus classes are 4 credit hours. You will also have a lab. My freshman son is currently in Math 151 Cal at A&M and for his Math 152 next semester, he has math every single day of the week, due to lecture, recitation and lab.
See if you can duel enroll at another school in your district that offers precal, as suggested. I have a kid who went to high school A but had to drive to high school B in order to take Calculus BC during his Sr. year.
If you cannot co-enroll, take a calculus class in summer school this summer. Do not take accelerated summer school class. Then, summer school at junior college in calculus after you graduate. With no Cal AB or BC, you need to keep it to a less competitive university is you want to be successful in Physics.
Good Luck
Actually, I pulled up A&M’s Physics page, there is a precalc track for first semester freshmen who do not score high enough on the math placement exam for math 171. The A&M math website also lists resources to get help with classes.
You need to be ready to work hard, but it is not impossible to catch up once you get to college if you do not take calculus in high school.
Precalculus as a high school senior is supposed to be sufficient prerequisite for calculus as a first semester frosh in college. (This includes Texas A&M’s MATH 171 for physics majors.) Many students do enter college with just precalculus in high school and do fine in calculus in college.
However, there are many high schools with poor quality precalculus courses, so their graduates may not do well enough on math placement exams needed to start in calculus, so those students have to retake precalculus as a remedial course in college.
thank you