<p>Hello,</p>
<p>My son is finishing his junior year of high school and is considering taking calculus at the local community college this summer instead of taking it in his senior year. I'm concerned about the pace -- completing a one-year course in six weeks. Can anyone offer input regarding the course load, or pros/cons for this option?</p>
<p>If he doesn't take calc this summer, his schedule for next year includes:</p>
<p>AP Chem
AP English
Spanish 4
Bible
Honors Govt/Econ
Computer (1 required, 1 elective)
Calculus</p>
<p>Varsity Cross Country and Baseball
Future Business Leaders of America co-president</p>
<p>This is the first time I've posted, so if there's a better forum for me to post this on, please let me know.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>Nathan's Mom</p>
<p>
That should be no problem as he don’t have any other courses to worry about.</p>
<p>What is his intended major?</p>
<p>Given that he is a two-season varsity athlete, this sounds like a great idea. It would help make sure he has some time to eat and to sleep his senior year.</p>
<p>The six weeks cover one college semester of calculus, right? perhaps equivalent to a year of high school calculus?</p>
<p>No big deal for a gifted kid- they offer semester AP courses in 3 weeks at WCATY and Northwestern’s summer programs. WCATY has also offered self paced math. One credit is usually 15 hours of class work in college- that’s the same as 3 hours/day per 5 day week; a 6 week class would easily accomodate a 5 credit calculus class. </p>
<p>His fall schedule doesn’t sound at all onerous for a top student, the EC’s are good stress relievers as well. Top students can easily handle that course load as well as the after school activities- my son only took a study hall when he ran out of classes he wanted second semester senior year as well as running plus other activities from 3 pm until 5 pm routinely. My only question is - what class will he take instead of calculus during the school year? If he plans to take more math he doesn’t want that year of no math; he shouldn’t need a study hall. Why take a summer class- unless it means being able to advance further in math during the school year. I would think it would be more impressive to do well with a full schedule during the school year than to take the calculus during the summer to free up time during the school year. Many students can handle your son’s courses as well as the EC’s.</p>
<p>Depending on what he wants to take in college and his abilities, going senior year without any math can be a problem. Taking a summer class (which is accelerated) may work for gaining credit needed for graduation, but not knowledge needed for success in math and sciences in college. There is another thread that discusses this very topic here on CC.</p>
<p>AP Calc AB covers Calc I while BC covers Calc I and Calc II.</p>
<p>The CC course is probably Calc I which is normally covered in one semester in college. Six weeks is a compressed schedule as a normal semester is 14 weeks. I prefer the longer summer courses as retention is usually better but the longer summer courses are not always available.</p>