I am an incoming 9th grade, and i haven’t take algebra 1 in my 8th grade year. But I want to get to AP cal bc by my senior year, so I’m thinking should I take algebra 1 and 2 at my freshmen year and geometry and pre-cal in sophmore year. Can anyone tell me that what should I do? My high school don’t offer summer courses for credit, they only give it to the students who are failing.
Freshman: Algebra 1
Sophomore: Algebra 2 and Geometry
Junior: Precalc
Senior: AP Calc AB or BC depeding on your school.
You can’t double up on anything but Algebra 2 and Geometry, the classes are sequential.
What does your HS allow?
That’s the basic question that needs to be answered. Since the progression is usually Algebra 1 -->Geometry–>Algebra 2, the question is probably moot. Algebra 2 requires existing knowledge of algebra 1. It’s akin to asking “Should I take Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 at the same time”
In mot mind your options are taking Algebra 1 and Geometry as a freshman or Algebra 2 and geometry as a sophomore, depending on what the school allows and what you can fit in with your other required classes.
Neither. They’re pairs of sequential courses; algebra 1 must be taken before algebra 2 and algebra 1 must be taken before geometry. I’ve never heard of doubling up on geometry and pre-calculus either.
If you really must double up in order to be competitive at selective schools (as in, you are taking algebra 1 as a sophomore and/or you can’t get any further than algebra 2 in high school, which you aren’t, unless you haven’t even done pre-algebra yet), then double up with algebra 2 and geometry after completing algebra 1, since there is minimal overlap between them. If you will still get to pre-calculus without having to take multiple maths at once, then save your time and don’t double up at all unless you have an intrinsic desire to learn advanced math or unless you want to attend very selective STEM-oriented schools like MIT, Harvey Mudd, or Caltech.
At my high school, really the only option to double up was to take geometry and algebra II concurrently. You should talk to your guidance counselor about this before you make any decisions.
Although you will not earn credit for any course, if you are intellectually curious & motivated to study during summer, then consider Khan Academy’s free online offerings.
The only one who can answer this is your guidance counselor.
- It may not be allowed.
- Even if it is allowed, the answer depends on the sequencing. To me, it seems very unlikely that Alg 1 and Alg 2 could be taken together. In my school, day 1 of Alg 2 is a review of factoring-- a pretty big topic from Alg 1. It makes sense, of course-- the assumption of offering an Alg 2 class is that you're already proficient in Alg 1.
Of course, to solve an equation or system of equations in Geometry, you’ll need Alg 1. LIkewise, you’ll need the graphing basics typically taught in Alg 1.
I took Geometry and Alg 2 together, a million years ago. That particular combo might work, depending on the sequencing in your school.