How difficult do you think pre-cal would be if I took it over the summer (through FLVS)?
FLVS is Florida virtual school, which is offered to kids outside of Florida as well.
I’m a freshman taking Algebra 2 at the moment so at the time of taking pre-cal I’d be a rising sophomore.
Also, rate my schedule for sophomore year:
AP English language
AP Human geography
AP Computer Science
AP Statistics
HONORS Chemistry
HONORS Physics
and an easy elective to help me cope with the classes listed.
Any one of these classes that I should be wary of or buy a book for.
Computer Science and Physics would be through FLVS since my school doesn’t offer the courses.
It depends on what you’ll be covering in algebra 2, and how easily you pick up math concepts. I placed into calculus from algebra 2 (skipped precalc completely). The only regret I have is not focusing as much on trig as I should have. Quite honestly, I’ve never found anything in precalc that I needed, so I’m still unsure what exactly is covered in it, or how difficult it is.
If you skip precalc, will you take AP Calculus? 5 APs sophomore year is tricky (although not impossible…). What classes have you taken this year, and how did you do in them?
As for your other classes: AP English Language isn’t that bad if you’re good at essay writing and terminology. I used Princeton Review for practice tests and the list of rhetorical terms. Make sure you’re used to the format of the test, and you’ll be fine.
AP Human Geography and AP Statistics are both known as “easier” APs, so you should be fine. I haven’t taken either, but in general being used to the test format and taking a few practice ones are always good.
AP Computer Science also isn’t that hard if you’ve done some programming or think in “that” way. I’m not sure exactly what FLVS is, but Amplify has a free online course that’s self-paced and really quite good. There are weekly videos, questions, programming problems, and bi-weekly (?) assignments and quizzes/exams.
There’s a discussion forum where you can ask for help, but having a parent or someone else who you know can help is definitely a plus. I’m not yet sure which book is good, since my default (Princeton Review) doesn’t seem to have one. You could always borrow a few from the library and see how they are.
If you have more AP specific questions, I recommend you post in the AP Test Preparation forum. Good luck with your schedule!
(Freshman here) I’m currently taking Pre-Calc online (through my school district’s virtual learning program, not FLVS) and IMO it covered pretty much the same stuff as Algebra II but in more depth. It really depends on what kind of person you are. I found the class easy, but I’m very good at self-teaching, and I am a strong math person (ex. in the last not online math class I took, 8th grade Geometry, I spent the classes either talking or working on homework, and I still got a high A). Also, you have to be very self-motivated to do the assignments each week (or have math marathons where you do months worth of assignments over a few break days as I like to do… I’m weird). So, if math is a easy thing for you that pretty much comes naturally, and you have the motivation to do the coursework on your own, it’s a good idea, but if not, then I’d say no. I hope that post made sense, I should have been asleep a while ago.
@And01d
This year I’m taking:
AP World History - A
Honors Eng 1 - A
Honors Bio - A
Honors Alg 2 - A
Robotics 3 - A
Spanish 2 for Spanish speakers - A
P.E - A
Also, I would not necessarily be taking AP Calc AB after taking pre-cal. I was looking more into AP Statistics because it sounds a lot easier and less time consuming.
@snowfairy137
Thanks! And yeah I did the same thing in the last online course I took. I was a 7th grader at the time and I just took time during breaks to rush through loads of work for the algebra course I was taking.
I got a 5 and finished with an A in both geometry and algebra 1. But I’m somewhat struggling in algebra 2, I have a B this quarter and it’s probably going to stay that way (just this quarter) because I don’t have enough time to raise it to an A before report cards come out. I’m not sure if it’s because my teacher isn’t very easy to comprehend or simply because I’m bad at algebra 2.
The reason I’m thinking about skipping pre-cal is because I would have the same teacher I currently have.
The teacher I have right now has a very strong Cuban accent which makes it very difficult to understand her, she also speaks insanely fast which makes it even harder to keep up.
The FLVS Pre-Calc syllabus has Advanced Algebra, Reg/Advanced Trig and Analytical Geometry.Agree with snowfairy137 to see how you end up with Alg 2. As a parent I wouldn’t recommend the next math class be an online honors class unless you feel you finished strong in Alg 2. Maybe try some online instruction to help you finish strong.
Also interested in any feedback on FLVS’ Pre-Calc course. Considering it for my son to accelerate the bridge from Algebra to Calculus. Thanks in advance.
the real question is how are you allowed to take all these classes? In my school, sophomores don’t take more than 3 ap’s and they are easy AP’s such as (nsl, aush, psych, enviro). chem, stat,and physics, and comp science might be a bit much.