I’m currently in 8th grade, and I want to take Calculus in 9th. I have an option to self study Precalculus or Algebra 2. Which one would be better? I would teach myself trig if needed.
What order does math go at your school? For many, you have to take both Alg. II and Pre-Calc before you take Calculus. Would you be willing to self study for both? Alg. II and Pre-Calc build right off of each other, so if you are motivated student, you could probably handle it.
I could probably self study both…Algebra 2 during the school year with maybe the last month + summer for precalculus. If precalculus built off of algebra 2, is pre calc just a review of algebra 2?
In my school, you would not be admitted into a Precalc class without having passed Algebra II.
@Foreboding I’m currently taking Pre-calc. In the first few chapters of Pre-calc, it’s a review from Algebra 2. But after that, for me, we’re doing Trig now because in my school Trig and Pre-calc are combined. Although, once we finish the Trig part, it goes back to Algebra 2, except the material is obviously more in depth and a few new things are introduced.
At my HS, pre-calculus is almost always taken after algebra II, but a few exceptional students go straight from algebra II to calculus.
Pre-calculus usually includes topics such as trig, complex numbers, logarithms (including base e), parametric and polar equations, basic linear algebra, and statistics. Some of the topics are typically first covered in algebra II, some aren’t. Some topics might be seen in AP Calculus AB; others might not be seen until Calculus BC or until you take a more advanced course.
If you think algebra1 and geometry were way too easy, if you like to read math books and do lots of math problems just for fun, and you are looking for more challenge in your math program, this might work out. But for most students, I think it would not be a good idea. Algebra2 and precalculus are not the same class, and they are not just repeats of algebra1. High school math isn’t like middle school math where they cover the same stuff over and over again. And the difficulty ramps up every year. I think most students, even most good honors students, would have trouble jumping from geometry in 8th grade to calculus in 9th grade. You would be rushing through some important material, and if your understanding is shaky, you will have trouble. Yes, it can work for some super-mathy kids who just love to sit around and learn math and who have the self-discipline to work through the problems. But if that isn’t you, I am wondering why you think it would be a good idea.
Also, you need to think about what you will do when you finish calculus. I am assuming your school isn’t one of the very few schools which offer post-calculus math. Have you discussed what your options would be with your counselor and your parents? Are your parents on board to pay tuition and transport you to a cc, and if not, what would your plan be?
The larger question is WHY IN THE WORLD do you want to take calculus in 9th grade?
You realize that most seniors are only expected to have precalculus or calculus, even for Harvard?
Why do you want to skip 2 levels of math - which are extremely to self teach, especially in such a short amount of time - what would you do in 10th, 11th, and 12th?
I wouldn’t recommend trying to skip both classes. Maybe take one and skip the other.
At our HS, some of the mathy kids skip Precalc. It helps that there is pretty much an established path for that, and the HS understands it. The established path here for skipping Precalc is taking and passing at a high level the placement test to get into calculus at the local community college. My son did that, but he also did a fair bit of the AoPS Precalc book and took the Math Level 2 SAT Subject Test to prove to me that he was OK to skip.
Our Algebra II includes most of Trig, including the identities. That leaves the topics MITer94 mentioned for Precalc, and even some of the not-so-mathy kids say Precalc moves pretty slowly because there aren’t that many topics covered. The kids who skip Precalc have often already used vectors, logarithms, and complex numbers in physics because the school let freshmen take AP Physics B (now 1). Some of them have also used matrices and polar coordinates in personal programming projects and have learned sequences and series at the local math circle.
Also, if you want to be far ahead in math, you need a plan (and a backup plan) for what you will take after Calculus. At your school, will you take Calculus AB for a year and then BC? Or, just go to Calculus BC? If you are advanced in math, you probably don’t want to spend a whole year on AP Statistics. Before you skip ahead, find out if there are other students at your school who have skipped similarly, and what math classes they have been able to take after Calculus. We are currently using the “backup plan” because the community college stopped having evening math courses just when my son needed them.
What exactly are you hoping to accomplish by skipping two math classes? Do you have a plan for what math courses you would take afterwards? Would your school accept the self study credits?
What math class are you currently in? I highly recommend NOT skipping 2 consecutive math classes. There is a huge gap between algebra/geometry and Calculus. People who self study usually aren’t as strong is a subject as someone who actually takes the class, so you’ll be at a huge disadvantage in calculus when your not strong at a lot of the essential math needed for it. If you really want, your best option would be to self study Algebra 2 and take pre-calc freshman year. Pre-clac should have a good amount of review for Algebra 2 so you don’t lose out that much. Pre-calc also expands on these concepts and offers a lot of concepts used in Calc.