I don’t think Geometry and Algebra2 are sequential but they may be at your school - go ask your math teacher whether that’s possible and then go back with your mom to tell your GC that it’s not sequential if it’s not.
Also, college algebra is actually precalculus not algebra2, so you may struggle with college algebra and then struggle with commoncore algebra2.
My guess is that your school is so small that very few students ever take calculus and finishing senior year in precalculus is considered normal and good enough for the most academically-inclined students.
Apparently, geometry and alg 2 are sequential at my school. I can ask, but like I’ve been told a million times, I don’t want to be that pushy student and have that in my rec letters.
I understand that I may struggle, but I am hardworking and resilient. I KNOW I can do it if I set my mind to it.
You’re right in that few students take up to calculus, but I want to be one of those few. I don’t want to go for “just good enough”; I want to do what I KNOW I am capable of doing and should rightfully doing.
Ok, that’s good. So you have a solution: you’ll learn everything you can in Geometry (perhaps you can work on some Regents stuff online to prepare for Algebra2+Trig?), take College Algebra in the summer, and take Calculus senior year.
That’s settled.
Can you list the rest of your 4-year schedule, as planned (ie., POSSIBLE classes, not “let’s jump through hoops to make that happen”) for:
English
Foreign Language
History&Social Science
Science
Art/Technology
Electives
Also, would you be allowed to dual enrolled at the CC at some point? Does your CC have two summer sessions or just one?
Sophomore:
Geometry
Living environment
Global 10; self-study APWH
English 10
Spanish III and IV(DE) (1 semester each)
Select vocal
PE
DE intro to sociology
DE public speaking
Health
Summer: college algebra
Junior:
Precalculus; DE stats
Chemistry
APUSH
English 11
DE Spanish IV/V
Select Vocal
PE
DE intro to environmental studies
DE career and financial mgmt
Senior:
DE Calculus 1 and 2 (school only has AP AB but I wanna take a harder class so this is my option)
AP bio, DE Physics
U.S. government honors, econ (1/2 semester each)
AP English Lit
DE Spanish V
Select Vocal
PE
If I can, what I’d like to do is do well enough in alg 2 that I can test out of precalc and take calc junior year.
My math teacher gets all her curriculum from this website, eMathInstruction, so I’m printing off the alg 2 notes and hw every day to practice.
Yeah, I think I can dual enroll at the local state university or CC. I don’t know if it has 1 or 2 summer sessions, though.
Are you certain that you are allowed to take these DE courses? Are there any limits on how many you can take? How much will they cost? Is there anyway to offset this cost?
Are you allowed to take courses through dual enrollment if they are offered at your school?
yes; most of the DE courses are already offered at my school; you don’t have to enroll by yourself (does that make sense?) Calc 1 and 2 are the only ones that aren’t already offered by my school. There is no limit that I know of. The classes are at a reduced price for the ones through my school. I guess since my GC said I could do DE algebra for alg 2 that I can take a DE course even if the normal course is offered at my school.
should I take college chem over the summer, too, so I can advance to another science class junior year?
I would double check that college algebra is precalculus.
At the community college my daughter attends math goes:
college algebra which is algebra 2
precalculus (seemed to include trig from what dd said)
Calculus 1
also the kids have to pass a college placement test for math before being allowed to register for math
Another option was some sort of business calculus after college algebra but I think it is more of a limited combo of precalculus/calculus just covering certain topics
My dd is not allowed to take more than 1 de per semester along with high school classes and can’t take any at all until the start of her junior year. She can take 5 per semester with no high school classes. The classes are free including books and all are located at the college. Summer classes are not free. She didn’t take any since she doesn’t want to do school work over the summer. My daughter can take anything though needs to complete high school graduation requirements. For instance at the high school she needed to take a modern world history (could be ap, honors etc). At the college she took World Civ from 1500 which counts for high school.
you mentioned that the de classes are held at your school? Are they taught by high school teachers or are they traditional college classes taught by college professors with college students from anywhere taking the same class. I’m only asking this because some colleges will not accept de classes taught as a high school class even if they are through a college.
The classes are held at my school. and taught by HS teachers. As far as I know, there is no limit on the number of DE classes one can take per semester. Even if the credits are not accepted by colleges, it still shows a more rigorous course load than if I didn’t take those classes.
Should I take college chem over the summer to get ahead?
No. Focus on your college algebra class and do very well in it. You’re going to cover one week of high school math in a day and have the related homework so don’t plan on doing more than that.
So after Junior year I took college algebra as my only DE class at a CC for a summer, had like 30 credits before this so I took a good amount of courses already. It was hard. I had a B first semester of Alg2H and an A second and this was still very difficult for me to understand some of the concepts. I went to tutoring hours almost every day after class and even the days I didn’t have class.
I scraped by with a B+ that the professor brought up to an A. The homework would take me hours sometimes to complete. This was an 8 week class, but due to some circumstances I was going to not be there the last week for the final so I took it early, which basically meant it was more like 7 weeks. So no don’t take chem with it especially in a summer semester.
I ending up taking pre calc senior year as I felt I was bad at math, but thought about transferring into AP calc, then my school dropped AP calc anyways and moved those students into pre calc. Oh well.
Then what can I do so I can take ap bio junior year?
AP Bio may just be one of those classes you don’t get to.
Colleges need to see that you’ve taken the main three: Bio, chem, physics
In addition, you have to other science-related courses: the freshman year earth science and the DE environmental studies.
That is enough.
You don’t need AP bio.
You DO need Biology Honors (or regular if honors is not offered), Chemistry Honors (or regular if Honors’ not offered), preferably physics (although colleges know that the NYS curriculum means you have to take Earth Science and Living Environment or something of the kind, for Regents), plus one class, which can be DE.
Anything beside the three required science classes is a bonus, even for highly selective colleges.
So, prepare as much as you can for the summer math class and do that, only that, nothing else, and do it well.
So I should Just try to take physics? Look, I could take both AP bio and physics my senior year. I just want to get more ahead!
Even the most selective colleges say they want to see each of the “big three” science classes - biology, chemistry and physics - and preferably one “advanced” class, such as a science AP of your choice. You might want to consider the workload of some of these classes. If you overload your schedule, you could negatively impact your GPA, and this would do you more harm than good in the admissions process.
You make a good point, but taking more advanced classes is also part of course rigor. Rigorous courseload is one of the biggest factors in admissions along with grades and scores. I want to have that course rigor, so how am I supposed to get ahead in science classes?
Course rigor can be shown in lots of ways, not just taking the toughest APs you can find. If you follow the schedule you’ve outlined, you will have covered science extensively, plus you have shown your willingness to advance in math through summer coursework. Colleges know that you cannot take every conceivable course and don’t expect you to. I think that should more than cover you in terms of rigor. At the same time, the workload should be manageable, enabling you to maintain your high GPA. If you want a little more “oomph” in your record, consider taking SAT II subject tests in one or two of the science courses.
I am planning to take those.
I’m really worried that I’m starting to not care about school and stuff. Now that I’m in the thick of it, I’m realizing how tough it is and not to mention ECs and family and OMG OMG.