<p>My HS Junior son is taking Calc B/C this year. After completing he will have finished our HS math program. He would like to continue to take math his senior year as he hopes to major in math. He is a strong math student - got a 5 on AP Stat last year, A in Calc B/C so far this year, 800 on Math SAT II and 780 on Math SAT I. We have some local colleges nearby that he could take a class at. Wondering what is the next class he should take. Also wondering if any of you have had this experience of taking a class outside of HS while in HS and managing EC's along with that.</p>
<p>At our school, kids take multivariable calculus, which is taught on campus. Maybe that's taught at your local CC?</p>
<p>jsmom:</p>
<p>As YDS suggests, after AP-Calc BC, students ordinarily take Multivariable Calculus. Since it is taught as a college class, it is one semester-long. The following semester, students take Linear Algebra. Very few high schools offer these courses. They are typically taught at colleges. My S took these classes in the evening, a couple of times a week (if I remember correctly from 7:30pm to 9:30pm).</p>
<p>Interesting that your school does Stats before Cal BC. Our school goes straight from precal to either AB or BC Cal. Those really into math go MV Cal, but most, including my son, do AP Stats senior year.</p>
<p>marite, was the homework load comparable to AP Calc BC? I realized this would vary by instructor. Was it just like taking a high-level high school class? Or harder because it is one semester?</p>
<p>My D's school has an arrangement with a nearby private university for the students to take classes. My D finished BC as a junior and took what the university called Calculus III in the fall. She left her school during the day and drove back and forth. She found the class to be easier than the AP Calculus class offered at her high school. She was disappointed to find that the university didn't offer a math class in the spring that she could take. They only offer certain classes once every two years. She was also interested in economics so is taking an economics class this semester and is enjoying that a lot. </p>
<p>I don't know if you are buying textbooks now (we are since D goes to a private school) but you may want to consider the (high) cost of the books if you take a class at a nearby college. You can always try to buy the books online to save money.</p>
<p>Take AP Calculus BC maybee...</p>
<p>^^^ Oops scratch that. I would say to take classes at a local college. ^^^^</p>
<p>valid options beyound calculus BC are:</p>
<p>Multivariate Calculus
Differential Equation
Linear Algebra
Discrete Mathematics
Numerical Analaysis
Number Theory</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Interesting that your school does Stats before Cal BC. <<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>At our school, people who want to take math in their senior year but really don't feel like they can handle calculus take AP Stats. Can't think of a kid who took calculus and AP stats.</p>
<p>Actually, statistics is a very useful class, if it is taught by a good teacher.</p>
<p>Ditto POIH -- all of those were available at S1's HS except number theory, which he picked up on his own. All of those were offered as one-semester courses. One doesn't need MV for number theory, lin alg or discrete, either, which might offer some flexibility in terms of scheduling a college class with the rest of HS activities.</p>
<p>I would recommend that your S takes classes at the strongest math program in the area since he is interested in majoring in math and these are intro courses for math majors. If the MV/DiffEq sequence can start delving into proofs, so much the better, but it depends on how much of himself he wants to/can realistically throw into his work.</p>
<p>He may want to repeat these courses or attempt to place out, depending where he heads to college. I've observed that having Lin Alg under S's belt seemed to be very useful to him in his math courses this year. </p>
<p>I'll also mention that HCSSiM is a terrific, fairly affordable summer math program that is not competition-driven and offers a very cool way of teaching incredible amounts of math in a very short period of time -- and your S would get exposure to a lot of these topics. [url=<a href="http://www.hcssim.org%5DHCSSiM%5B/url">http://www.hcssim.org]HCSSiM[/url</a>] S attended the summer after BC Calc and it totally changed his life.
Feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>ILoveLA:</p>
<p>I can't really tell, because S learned AP-Calc BC on his own (with the help of an instructor via email). My feeling is that year-long AP classes are easier than college classes at the same level if only because the high school year is longer, which allows teachers to maintain a slower pace and do a great deal of hand-holding. After S graduated, the high school switched to a block schedule. I don't know if, as a result, the pace is closer to a regular college course or not. I suspect not quite, since some reviewing is needed for students to take the exam in May.</p>
<p>For mathson there was a critical math and they offered a linear algebra class for the first time. For some reason AP Stats wasn't offered his year though it usually is. If neither had been available he'd probaby have taken whatever EPGY offers. I've looked into taking college courses locally. It's way too incovenient, and mostly they don't offer anything that would work anyway.</p>
<p>Would AP Stats be a good elective class for a kid who is taking AP Calc BC? How difficult is statistics?</p>
<p>critical mass, not critical math! (re #13)</p>
<p>For a kid taking AP Calc BC, Stats is probably not too hard. My dh (biologist) always bemoans that none of his grad students really understand statistics.</p>
<p>S is taking AP Calc AB and AP Stats this year. He's doing fine in both. He says Stats is pretty interesting -- in part because the teacher has the kids do fun projects.</p>
<p>Our HS offers multivariable as a yearlong course after AP Calc. BC. There are generally 8 to 10 kids who are accelerated enough to take it.</p>
<p>Formerly kids had to leave school early to get to the local uni to take any math they wanted after Calc. Not too convenient and interfered with school ECs.</p>
<p>My D is going to take CTY's Linear Algebra next year (after Calc BC this year and along with AP Stat at school). CTY requires linear algebra as a prerequisite for Multivariable Calc. We considered EPGY (which does multi and then linear), but I heard some negative reviews about technical issues and tutor feedback for EPGY courses and one strongly negative review of EPGY multi that, unfortunately, I did not get details about.</p>
<p>I'm sure some of you have seen my screen name pop up here before on related threads.</p>
<p>DS took AP Calc BC last year. This year as a Jr, he's taking Linear Algebra with CTY online (he previously took three CTY summer classes in electrical engineering, probability & game theory (his favorite) and fast paced HS physics.</p>
<p>Prior poster was correct, CTY wants linear algebra first, followed by MV calculus. I just got their catalog and find that they now offer differential equations (after the MV calculus.) Note that these classes are self paced, which my S took too literally at the outset, unfortunately wasting precious August time before the regular school year started.</p>
<p>It is a step up for him in workload and difficulty but he's carrying a 105% (with bonus points.) The online tests are quite substantial.</p>
<p>He also does math tutoring. My biggest ROFLOL this week was when I noticed the far right hand corner of his November '08 transcript of work in progress than said he still needed to meet the requirement of Algebra 1.</p>
<p>My S did BC Calc sophomore year and AP Stat in junior year. Senior year he took Linear Algebra, Differential Equations and Multivariate Calculus at the local Community College. (Each course was 1 quarter). He is now a sophomore math major. He's taken Linear Algebra and MV Calc again at college, taught at a much more theoretical level than at the CC. So in our experience a local CC or University is a great place to look for follow on courses for advanced math students, and has the added benefit of giving them a little taste of what college will be like (classes 2 or 3 times a week rather than every day, etc.)</p>