<p>I was wondering to the people who are already in college, or the people who are in the application process...up to what level of math did you take in senior year? I was planning on taking up to Calc BC by senior year, and I want to apply to a top engineering school, but I learned somewhere that most applicants have taken math past Calc BC level. :( Can anyone help me on this?</p>
<p>You would not be expected to take anything higher than calculus in high school. Very few public schools in the US offer anything higher than Calc BC in their programs. There are some individuals that travel to local colleges to take linear algebra, but that would not be expected.</p>
<p>However, it would be to your benefit to take all the math classes you can. Even something like Statistics would help, even if stats is not really "above" calculus.</p>
<p>It would really help if you knew single variable calculus like the back of your hand. I had up to calculus 3 (multivariable) and baby linear algebra done before I got into university, but then I come from a different system. I did calc 1 and calc 2 including Taylor series in the equivalent of grade 12.</p>
<p>/and real statistics is "above" calculus, and non-trivial too.</p>
<p>Don't worry! No need for freaking out. I only actually know of one person who went further than BC Cal, and some people who went on to really great schools (including Harvey Mudd and MIT) only took AB Cal. BC Cal is pretty much considered the ultimate in high school math, and you'll easily run with the big dogs of math if you're putting it on your college apps.</p>
<p>"/and real statistics is "above" calculus, and non-trivial too."</p>
<p>I did not mean to imply that it wasn't. I was referring to what would be the equivalent course in highschool, such as AP Statistics. AP Statistics does not utilize calculus, and therefore, is usually rejected by engineering programs for entrance credit. Nevertheless, AP Statistics (or an equivalent course) would still be looked upon favorably by the admissions committee.</p>
<p>sky: I know what you meant. It was just one of my knee-jerk math-snob reaction (classic internet bragging with no actual purpose)...</p>
<p>You're simply not right. I'm in a "top" engineering program in my field and I took Calc AB in HS and retook Calc I in college anyway. Colleges don't expect you to finish college classes before you get to college.</p>
<p>There is truth to both sides. No, they don't expect you to enter with every math course completed. However, on the other hand, do you think you would have been accepted to your program if you had only taken math classes through pre-calculus? There is a bit of convolution here, because people that take the calculus course (AB or BC) are most likely also taking other advanced math and science courses, therefore making them better candidates. It would not be probable finding a student that takes AP Physics without taking AP Calculus as well (ignoring the fact that they are at minimum co-requisites). In this way, in order to be competitive at the highest engineering schools, you really are expected to have taken calculus before you enter into college. It is not a requirement; I'm sure somewhere in history there has been someone accepted into a top program that hasn't taken calculus in high school. But if you look at the pool of candidates to the top programs, the vast majority of them have. Therefore, in order to be competitive, you need to have completed calculus in high school. But to reiterate the answer that the original poster asked, having taken only BC Calculus (along with other sciences at appropriate level) will make you a very competitive candidate assuming other competitive test scores, GPA, etc.</p>
<p>Wow. Okay, thanks for the reassurance guys! Browsing around on CC really puts a lot of stress on your life sometimes...haha. So what exactly is AP Statistics? What kind of math does that require?</p>
<p>Pre-calculus at most. Probably just the 4 basic operations... Statistics don't arise "naturally" from more basic math, so you'll get to see the concepts from an applied from of view, rather than to build it them from mathematical principles. Hence you shouldn't need very fancy mathematical knowledge.</p>
<p>I took calc AB ins einor year</p>
<p>I lived with just taking AB calc sr year. It might be a bit more work if youre tossed into a higher level math than youre comfortable with, but as long as you're willing to ask for help when you know you need it, you'll be good.</p>
<p>i took calc bc senior year (online...but got a 5)</p>
<p>basically, tech schools want you to know some calc. at mudd (calc is required for applicants), some people took only ab. more took bc. the rest took multiV, diffEqs, linAl, stats, discrete, analysis...those are the math nerds. they pass out of most of core math.</p>
<p>at mudd, you get taught calc of single, lin al/discrete dynamical (intro) I, diff eq I, multiV I, lin al II, diff eq II, multiV II, prob/stat.</p>
<p>Majority who enter engineering programs in US colleges will usually have at least some calculus (AB, many BC, and a number with calculus that was not an AP course). There is a significant minority that have only through pre-calc. Contrary to what you "learned somewhere" there is only a very small minority that have beyond calculus BC.</p>
<p>Lily415,</p>
<p>If your "learned somewhere" was what I said on the homeschooling forum, you have misinterpreted what I said. I guess I should have been clearer! You asked what level of math my son had had and I told you. You were taken aback by the level and I told you it wasn't typical. I'll rephrase my next comment to what I was trying to say: going beyond BC might be useful in gaining acceptance to a very competitive program (in which I knew you were interested). I knew that this was easily doable because you are homeschooled. </p>
<p>However, in response to your answer to my comments, I clarified that most public and private high school students don't get beyond BC and some don't get that far. I posted this almost precisely the same time you posted here, so I think our signals got crossed. </p>
<p>The math/science magnet program locally has everyone taking multivariable calc in 12th grade. It is also offered in several regular high schools. If you go to the "interesting course schedule" thread elsewhere, you will see a number who have gone beyond BC.</p>
<p>As I said in my last comment in the other thread, if you don't get beyond BC it is nothing to worry about. My comments were about enhancing your application as a homeschooler, not specifying the minimum requirement for admission.</p>
<p>I hope we are clear about this now! Now try to stop worrying so much about everything :)</p>
<p>Haha thank you. Yeah, I realized you had posted the answer about the same time I had posted. I feel alot less worried now, thanks :)</p>
<p>I have a freiend who is in Engineering at Stanford and he only took up to intermediate algebra in HS. Never even did trig.</p>