<p>DrGoogle, He’d have to give up a study hall, I think. Or maybe music theory. I really don’t know yet which way this kid will go-humanities, math/science or music. I’ll just present him with the options as the time grows near. Folks here at College Confid. have been very helpful weighing in with opinions. Thanks</p>
<p>Have you looked to see if there are any Math Circles in your area? DS was advanced in math, finding a math circle gave him the outlet he needed. It provided advanced math, opened up opportunities to do ARML and the AMC. DS went to a very small high school so finding a Math Circle broadened his math horizons incredibly. Just another thing to consider. It was a great EC that I’m sure helped him gain entrance into the top colleges he was dreaming of.</p>
<p>Our math program’s precalc was essentially like an algebra review with algebra “3”. Both of my kids skipped that class entirely and got A’s in both AP Calc classes. It might be worth checking your syllabi before you make any decisions.</p>
<p>I was lucky enough to go to a school that operated on block schedule. I started high school taking Alg I B, which was the lower track for math. I worked my self ridiculously hard through sophomore year, going into Geometry B and into Alg II B by 1st semester junior year. I was doing very well in all my math classes at that point and was given special department permission to skip into pre calc (skipping Alg III) after a meeting with me, my parents, my teacher, and my counselor. I took Pre calc spring semester, went into Fundamentals of Calculus senior year and was taking AP Calc AB in my last semester of high school. I got a C in AP and while it may not seem good compared to the other scores you see on CC, for me it was a huge accomplishment and one of the things I was most proud of during high school. I ended up graduating with 6 math credits, twice the amount required by my high school to meet grad. requirements. </p>
<p>I would encourage you and your son to try doubling up- but my one big question would be whether or not you are on block schedule, which would make it much easier, especially if you’re doubling up on geo/pre calc.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can double up on geometry and precalc, at least not if they are running in parallel, because the trig portion of precalc builds on geometry. Well, technically you can if your kid are willing to teach himself what he needs quickly, when gaps occur. My son taught himself the basics of trig one weekend to complete a freshman science project and then taught himself logs one weekend early sophomore year to do the problems in a second-semester college chemistry class. However, he’s not exactly typical!</p>
<p>After discussing the fast track my son is on (pre-calc as a freshman) with his guidance counselor, I am now having regrets. He suggested that kids who are fast tracked tend to do worse on the SAT because they have had algebra and geometry so long ago and are rusty when taking the exam. Also, our high school requires 4 years of math and my son will have to take classes at the college. However, college classes only factor into his GPA on a 4.0 scale where advance placement math classes at the high school are on a 5.0 scale.</p>
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<p>There are plenty of test-prep books out there that one can use as a quick refresher.</p>
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<p>That’s a rather stupid system, since most college classes in math and science are much harder than the AP classes (well, maybe not the community colleges). Perhaps the school will accept an online AP class? Avanta offers AP Calculus BC online. Your son could get by with precalc, AB Calc, BC Calc and Statistics – that’s 4, without taking college classes.</p>
<p>My two cents:
I have a current 8th grader who is doubling up on math by taking Geometry and Algebra 2. Done at the school, in regular classroom setting. The HS sequence for this kid will be: Pre-calc, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, IB Math. Looks perfect to me.
My older kid did AP Calc BC as a freshman and problems started there. Our school similar to happygal’s does not weight college classes. It is insane, I know, especially if the grading scale is > 95% for an A. So in addition to working his butt off to have an A in his college class, he needs to take an AP class in lieu of his math class if he wants to stay competitive for ranking.
Can’t afford to take an empty period.
Each situation is different…each school is different…</p>
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<p>If the 8th grader enjoys and is good at math (as indicated by being three grade levels ahead in math), spreading calculus over two years may be too slow and uninteresting, unless it is accompanied by extra theory or whatever (unlikely in a high school setting).</p>
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<p>Is ranking really that important? Wouldn’t university admissions committees see a college sophomore level math course and consider it appropriately, and have their own weightings and bonus point policies for GPA calculation?</p>
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<p>It depends on the school. In our school BC is a continuation of AB and then some very extensive AP test preparation. My older is very able in math and took BC after auditing a summer college Calc 1 class. While BC was not an extremely difficult class for him, it was far from a breeze. Like I have said many, many times - depends on a school.</p>
<p>Based on my experience acceleration is much easier in middle school than in HS, where you have to take into consideration many different aspects and where the grade really counts.</p>
<p>Cayuga, I’d encourage you not to spend too much time wondering if your S is a math kid or a humanities kid.</p>
<p>My S spent 4 happy years at MIT where he was surrounded by math/music kids (he was not) including several kids who were either math or music prodigies (he was neither, he just loved math a lot.) He is now in a graduate program in a non-science/math area, and deliriously happy; he worked for a couple of years after he graduated from college which gave him new direction on what he wanted to do with his life.</p>
<p>Just make sure your S is learning and challenged and taking advantage of every opportunity that comes his way (or that he seeks out) and he’ll be fine.</p>
<p>The district of a coworker has theory options for calculus for students that prefer that over the standard AP courses. I think that that’s a good option for the Spivak/Apostle - oriented student that wants theory over applications.</p>
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<p>Interesting.</p>
<p>Back in the dark ages when I was in high school, and students who took AP tests took two or three (usually English, Calculus, and maybe US History, Chemistry, or a language), and it was highly unusual for a student to be more than one grade level ahead in math (i.e. perhaps 8% of the class took calculus senior year, and maybe 0.1% took calculus junior year), the calculus course as BC based, though some students who were less confident in math took the AB test instead of the BC test. Yes, some students got scores of 5 on the BC test.</p>
<p>It was only a few years later when the number of students one grade level ahead in math grew to more than one class worth that they offered an AB-based course as well as a BC-based course. Students were to choose either one after completing precalculus (at that time, it was still rare for anyone to take it earlier than senior year).</p>
<p>Then again, if the increasing prevalence of students two or more grades ahead is due to “pushing” by parents and schools (as opposed to the students showing greater interest and ability in math), that might explain why some schools feel that they need to spread a year of calculus over two years for all students who take it.</p>