<p>I went to a bad elementary/middle school (it was K-8) that wouldn't skip kids in math even though they had the potential. Now I'm in high school (freshmen) and I'm trying to figure out which 4-year math schedule looks best... </p>
<p>Option 1:
Freshmen Year: Algebra I
Sophomore Year: Geometry
Junior Year: Algebra II/Trig with Pre-Cal (special course that only allows you to take Calculus AB) as my elective
Senior Year: Calculus AB</p>
<p>I sort of like Options 2/3 because of their flexibility in later years (there is a possibility I might transfer) but I'm not sure if it's normal for people to go straight from Pre-cal to BC or how colleges will look at an online course. What do you think?</p>
<p>I think it's fine to plan to take algebra I in school and geometry online. You can figure out later whether to take AB or BC calc depending on the colleges you're considering, how well you've done in pre-calc and other math classes, your time schedule, and your GC's opinion. An online course from a respected organization (say, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Distance Education program) shows that you take charge or your education and want to learn new material.</p>
<p>Colleges have no problems with online courses. </p>
<p>It is quite normal to go from Pre-Calc to BC. That's how it's done at our school. The alternative is to take AB, but students do not take AB first then BC, since AB is like 2/3 of the BC curriculum.<br>
For students who had did well in Algebra 1 in 8th grade, our school has the following curriculum:
Algebra II, Geometry, Precalc, then AB or BC. </p>
<p>Should you take AB or BC? It depends on what you want to study in college. For most purposes, AB should be fine. If you want to go into math/physics, then BC would be preferrable.</p>
<p>I don't think taking an online course is a problem especially if it gets you to Calculus in the end. In our school after Pre-calc about 2/3 go on to Calculus AB and the other 1/3 to Calculus BC. If you are reasonably strong in Math there's no reason not to do BC.</p>
<p>You really don't need to take pre-cal. In my daughter's school, advanced math students take both Cal AB (sophomore year) and Cal BC (junior year) and then take Cal III and O.D.E. (college courses) for senior year. If you intend to study Math, Physics, or Engineering that requires strong Math foundation, I suggest that you not skip Cal AB.</p>
<p>In elite prep school few kids who choose to go to humanities route actually take AP BC calculus in 11th grade and many of them in senior year take linear algebra and vector calculus or even beyond that. These kids tend to go for economics route by combining mathscince and humanitiess.</p>
<p>Many of the HYP kids admitted kids who tends to go for humanity at least AP AB calculus if not BC calculus. </p>
<p>AP Math AB is considered a light and fluff course for math science students. Math/science type generally goes way beyond then linear algebra and vector calculus. Many math science oriented students wants to start math 23 or equivalent (or higher course) in other similar colleges. There are kids who take BC calculus in 8th or 9th grade and then take classes beyond these courses while coming to boarding schools (many have this reason to come to boarding schools).</p>
<p>Pointegirl, BC Calculus covers all of the AB material as well as additional topics only covered in BC. By taking BC, a student still gets all of the topics in AB.</p>
<p>"If you intend to study Math, Physics, or Engineering that requires strong Math foundation, I suggest that you not skip Cal AB."</p>
<p>The way BC is taught in our school all the material of AB is covered, no one takes both. My son also said that Pre-calc at our school was really boring and he envied the kids who'd taken it in summer school. This despite the fact that the Pre-calc course starts in on the Calculus book about two months before the end of school. Every school seems to handle these courses slightly differently so you need to check out the situation at your school.</p>
<p>I would choose either option 2 or 3. I would NOT choose which you should take now, but wait and see how the math goes for you these next couple of years. You could get to trig/pre-calc and everything comes intuitively, then you should think about BC. If it takes you a little longer to grasp the concepts (which is ok) you should take AB in senior year.</p>
<p>Calculus is NOT the be all to end all in a high school education for science majors (or any majors for that matter), </p>
<p>I'm a science PhD student and did NOT have calculus in high school and got A's in all of my calc classes in college. Just because I took things a little slower didn't make me any worse of a math student that if I took Diff Eq in high school. Go at your own pace, you'll be a lot saner for it ;).</p>
<p>Point taken. Every school is different. I should have stated that D's school is a math & science high school. the classes cover much more than just AP exam material.</p>
<p>ophiolote, I am not an advocate of students taking AP calc in high school either. I have a BS and a MA degree in Math. I just don't think that calc courses in most high schools are taught the right way or all high school calc teachers are qualified.</p>
<p>Just as a a note, largely in defense of pointegirl, at my school, it is certainly (at least almost) imperative that one does AB first, but that is because AB is also IB SL, and BC is IB HL, so both classes, especially BC, cover many more things than are found on the AP test. While I assume that is not the case for the OP, just throwing it out there.</p>
<p>It's not at all imperitive that one takes AB first, it all depends on how the school teaches the course. I'd guess that pointegirl's school covers the Precalc material as part of the AB course. I can imagine no other reason why else you would stretch a semester's worth of material over a whole year.</p>
<p>which happens to be where I first learned about this College Confidential Web site. You'll meet a lot of young people there who really like math and who pursue self-study channels for lots of advanced courses. You'll also see some resource articles there, including Richard Rusczyk's famous "The Calculus Trap" article, discussing what you can do to enhance your education besides just taking school courses at younger ages. </p>
<p>Good luck. My son was lucky not to have a lousy elementary school--we are homeschoolers--but he still has plenty to learn. Maybe you and he will meet somewhere someday.</p>
<p>At my HS, there is Pre Calc, and Pre-Calc Honors. The Honors kids, if they get at least an A- in the class and on the final, have the option of going to BC, because calculus "A" is done during the last quarter. Most 9th graders are in geometry. </p>
<p>mathmom, there is calculus, then there is calculus. Not all school's calc classes are created equal. In addition, there is also age thing. To learn calc at 15 is quite different from when one is 18. D had the option of skipping all high school math sequence and going directly to calc AB in freshman year. We decided that it was for her best interest that she take calc AB in sophomore. DH is a university math professor. A few of his colleague made the same decision for their children. In defense of D's school, students who takes calc AB in sophomore year (also a hadnful of freshmen) usually have strong math background (math sequence placement is by exam in May before their freshman year). This is a school with at least 3 EA to MIT, 3 EA to Harvard, 4 EA to Penn last year for a total 231 students. Students who wish to skip calc AB and go directly to cal BC needs to pass an exam. I know of at least one student who was not allowed to take Calc AB class in sophomore year. He decided to take calc course in community college. He got an A in that college course but failed the high school's exam.</p>
<p>I understand there's calculus and calculus. The sequence you are suggesting wouldn't make sense in our school. The OP needs to find out how calculus is taught in his or her school. We send plenty of kids to MIT and Harvard too. </p>
<p>My kid took Calc BC as a junior without first taking Calc AB (but having taken Pre-calc which he agrees with you was a bit of a waste - but it did start in on Calculus before the end of the year). He got a 5 on the exam. That's the sequence that makes sense at our school.</p>
<p>At my school, calculus is taught in a way that I could skip AB...
Can somebody please explain to how a teacher could stretch half the contents of BC into a full year course? Or is BC taught at a faster pace?</p>
<p>An "A" in BC Calc can be a real boost for admissions but very difficult to get. In fact, there are some top kids in our school who get a "C" in BCCalc. If their other grades and stats are fine, it doesn't seem to hurt them. </p>
<p>Online courses are fine with colleges, particularly when they are earlier in the highschool years. I am a little wary of them, both the quality of the course and the discipline of the student. I know too many kids who got burned for deficiencies in one or both of those areas. You really need a strong base in the algebra and geom or you will pay for the lack thereof later.</p>