So I am currently a sophomore taking honors precalc. Last year I took Algebra 2 and got mid B’s first three quarters and 4th quarter I JUST BARELY got a B. Right now I have a C (72%) in that math class. On the first quiz I got a E (15/27, basically a F) and retook it and got only a C. I took a test and got a D on it (17.5/28). In addition, as a sophomore I am also taking AP Physics 1 and Anatomy and Physiology. In AP Physics I have terrible teacher so I have 70% in that class. I can’t drop that because the Honors Physics class are all full and I already took Bio and Chem. I need a main science and idk about AP Psych (it’s a little too late to join that). So should I drop honors precalc (i’m striving to get into a good school like Harvard and get into the medical fields).
Honors Precalc is usually a junior or senior class. You don’t seem prepared. What other math would you take?
AP Physics is not usually a sophomore course.
Take regular precalculus - if you barely made a B your last term in Algebra 2 you shouldn’t have taken Precalc Honors.
Don’t focus on specific schools yet (especially not colleges that turn down 90% of qualified applicants).
However you can start getting educated about universities and get a Princeton Review’s Best colleges, and find 10 colleges you hadn’t heard of but that sound good.
tf how are you allowed to take those classes we can’t take any of those until 11th grade
I would definitely recommend dropping the class if you can. Is there another option such as trigonometry or regular pre-calculus? You also mentioned AP Psychology, if you could switch into that it could be a good idea. You can self-study the material you missed which is probably not too much. The exam is fairly easy so I’m sure you could catch up. Would psychology replace AP Physics or precalculus? I took the AP Physics I exam a few years ago and it was the worst exam I have ever taken and the only exam I did not pass out of 15. It seems you are already struggling so if you can change the precalculus and physics classes this could ease some stress hopefully.
AP physics 1 only requires knowledge of algebra 2 which is what the OP took. It also assumes no knowledge of physics. So no it’s not unusual.
I understand your situation. I think that you should wait until the drop date, whenever that is for your school, and see if you can try to do better (I’m doing that for my IB Calculus class!). I say that because dropping now wouldn’t be better anyways, as it seems to be too late to pick up another course and catch up.
If you have to drop, it’s not the end of the world. You’re only a sophomore, and it might benefit you to just take pre-calculus as a junior. I’m a junior taking IB Calculus, and, looking back, I would rather have taken pre-calculus my junior year instead so it’s not such a hard load.
Make sure that if you do drop, though, you drop before it gets put on your transcript. That way, next year, it’ll just be a do-over, when you’re more prepared for the course. It will most likely not affect your college applications, since instead of being ahead, you’re simply on time, and that’s okay!
Good luck to you and please don’t stress too much!
- Scared IB Student
It all depends what your end goal! If you truly are applying yourself, studying extra, tutoring, and still feel lost then I agree with others you seem under prepared on fundamentals. I think it would definitely be better to go into a lower math and science if you feel you are this fare behind now and are giving it 95-100%.
If you said high 80’s that would be different.