I was also going to mention Whitman. My son plays a varsity sport, but out of season he spends most weekends rock climbing or backcountry skiing, lots of outdoorsy type kids.
3 Likes
It is private so expensive, but they will do a merit/FA pre-read for you, and the amount is guaranteed. My son ended up getting 4K more pre year than the pre-read merit amount.
2 Likes
Whitman seems like a great fit for someone outdoorsy, interested in environmental science, and wants to be away from a big city. It is at the top of D24’s list.
3 Likes
hi there, @grableca
My son is a recent Fort Lewis psychology grad, We are from northern CA - he had a fantastic near private school experience. It is small at less than 4k students and Durango is a really cool and very outdoorsy town that was great for us to visit while he was there. He had a small scholarship for their MTB team and had loads of once in a lifetime experiences there. After graduating, he raced as a pro mountain biker for a year after graduation fulfilled his dream of competing in a USA jersey in a World Cup race in Austria. He is now studying to be a Chiropractor. All in it was cost completive with a Cal State. (my older son is a Chico grad)
If you have Amazon Prime, there’s a great profile of the school on their College Tour show.
I can’t recommend it enough. Happy to answer any questions you have.
6 Likes
Thank you! What a helpful write-up. I actually visited Durango many years ago and had a blast there. It’s a gorgeous and fun town. I’ll ask my son to check out the majors.
My son applied to Colorado State in Sept and heard back in Oct. His honors acceptance came a week later.
2 Likes
they have several majors that will fit the Enviro Science/studies umbrella. My Son went in undeclared and switched several times. It was an easy process.
1 Like
D18 attended Utah and double majored in Ballet (BFA) and Environmental Studies (BS Hons). She was extremely outdoorsy and loved it there and her friends were all very similar: one was a kayaking guide in Alaska, another a wildland firefighter, another a NCAA mountain biker. They skied, backpacked, climbed and rafted (and drove to the Oregon coast for surfing!). She got a full ride (4.0UW/35 ACT/9 APs) but those are now very hard to get OOS, top merit needs ~4.0UW and full IB or 8+ APs with good scores.
S23 was offered WUE and may well attend (3.7UW/1530 SAT/5 APs). He loves skiing and we really like SLC (we are in CA).
4 Likes
Biology and environmental science commonly require calculus and statistics, but generally not more advanced math. Is he ok with that?
Social science (environmental studies generally means environmental social science) commonly uses statistics.
1 Like
thank you for the clarification. so far, so good in math, but our son will only really test his chops next year in alg2 honors as an 11th grader. he does quite well but has not been challenged and may not have a passion for it - too soon to tell. our district, san francisco unified, has made it very difficult to scaffold to calculus in math. it is part of their so-called equity project and, based on data, has largely failed (at serving the goals, the accelerated or the struggling students). in any case, he loved APES and looks forward to biology and AP physics senior year if he does well in alg2. he can take precalc honors, data science or both senior year. his school is quite small and does not have AP stats.
1 Like
If algebra 2 honors is the version with precalculus, then he can take calculus in 12th grade, according to High School Pathways .
1 Like
It’s not – his SFUSD-approved charter doesn’t offer the compression class. My eldest actually took the compression class at a regular SFUSD small school (the arts magnet). Frankly, it was crap; not only is ALL of SFUSD’s math curricula self-authored and non-peer-reviewed – I know, this is shocking – but the compression course “solution” to the algebra I>calculus blockade has been a problem from day 1. Compression leaves out a laundry list of skills needed to prepare students for even Calc AB and in no way prepares one for Calc BC. Worse, for several years SFUSD straight-up lied about it being considered an honors or advanced course by CSU and UC (it never was, yet SFUSD referred to it as such until it was forced to stop; UC just considers it a version of Alg2). So students don’t get the GPA bump from it. It’s really just a horrible mash-up of two disparate courses. Instructors hate it. Many are using other textbooks instead of the district’s self-authored worksheets. a mess, and no substitute for a full year of precalculus. SFUSD was Stanford education professor Jo Boaler’s guinea pig intended to become the basis of California’s new math framework, so when it became apparent that SFUSD and Boaler were cooking the books on the outcome data, and the slowed down sequence was NOT helping target groups access or succeed in advanced math or sciences, the scandal was kind of a big deal. (Basically, there was a wholesale transfer of target students from Calc to Stats, which you would expect – not a success story for those aiming for STEM careers.) All reference to SFUSD was removed from the proposed framework in the dark of night. Sad situation.
I attended a high school that did not even offer calculus. I suppose that the good news is that I did arrive on university campus very much ready to take calculus – precalculus and algebra and trigonometry were at least well covered. This did not stop me from majoring in mathematics at a well ranked university (MIT). Through my first year of university, I was also taking the courses to be on track for either a physics or mechanical engineering major. Freshman year physics had calculus as a corequisite (either take calculus first or take both at the same time). The professors were clearly cooperating and would teach something in the calculus class and then use it two or three days later in the physics class.
I understand that many students today take calculus of some form in high school. However, if a student at least gets to the point of completing the prerequisites in high school and doing well in them, then they are most likely not seriously behind regardless of what they want to do next.
If the prerequisites (algebra, trig, precalculus) are not well covered in high school, that is a different and more serious issue which I have not needed to deal with. From what I have heard, calculus can be either quite straightforward or really tough depending a great deal on how well prepared a student is to study it.
2 Likes
However, it does seem to be common for students who took calculus in high school to repeat it in college for grade-grubbing purposes even when the college allows or recommends starting in a higher level math course. When the college class has competitive grading (“grading on a curve”), this can seem unfair to those taking calculus for the first time when they have to compete for grades with those who are merely reviewing it (although sometimes the latter get complacent and do not get the “easy A” that they wanted).
Not to go down the CA math rabbit hole, but based on our 15 years in SFUSD and my work in the public schools, I think the biggest issues with a very few CA districts removing an acceleration/compression option/Alg1 in middle school and kicking the can down the road in terms of scaffolding to higher math and science coursework are: a) PREPARATION (does the cockamamie 11th-grade Alg2-Precalc compression mash-up really teach all the skills necessary to succeed in later classes? Does summer Geometry (which is only made available to a small number of students in any case) prepare them adequately? Why can their minds handle Geo in 5 weeks summer between 9th and 10th but are said by SFUSD Math Dept to not be capable of middle school compression of CCSS Math 8 and Alg1 just a few months prior? Further, CSU has been raising the alarm for years that it’s receiving students lacking the foundation needed to commence study in its STEM programs, and is considering adding MORE advanced math reqs and/or eliminating basic math/remediation classes for funding reasons.; b) ACCESS: There’s much inequity of offerings between SFUSD high schools. Some have scheduling capacity to allow students to double up on math in 9th or 10th and avoid the compression option. Others don’t. Some offer full-year Precalc and some don’t.; c) COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: Not gonna lie; the (supposed!) “equity” folks regard this as elitist (or worse), but the reality is that UC STEM majors are INCREDIBLY competitive. Sure, they factor what’s available to a student, but at the same time, students who are not able to show sufficient rigor and preparatory coursework are simply disadvantaged in the application process relative to their peers in other districts. It’s a huge equity issue, one worsened by SFUSD’s current sequence and unequal offerings. I think these problems are independent of the issue of whether any one student has to repeat content at the college level. The UCs are a unique – and uniquely competitive – case. I think there is something bad about SFUSD compromising its students access to its own state university systems.
5 Likes
Have you looked at Oregon State-Cascades? It’s in Bend and it looks amazing. They even have this program called Cascades Adventures for students & faculty to participate in outdoor activities.
1 Like
Private Bay Area HS here with the “cockamamie 11th-grade Alg2-Precalc compression mash-up” offering you’re speaking of. It’s his only option to achieve Calc senior year. All thanks to our public middle school deciding that offering Alg1 in middle school wasn’t equitable to all so they removed it entirely to students during the pandemic and now only offer it to students who have the means to take the PAID optional after school math club.
1 Like
Yeah, eliminating middle school compression has worsened inequity. Now acceleration, rigor, appropriate leveling and equal opportunities are only for those who can pay to play. Bad policy.
1 Like
We’re planning a family reunion in sunriver! We can check it out then! Looks beautiful!
Our Bay Area public middle school still offers Algebra 1 in 8th grade. My kids did it and tracked/will track to calculus by senior year. With my older daughter, I only knew to ask about it bc she had friends with older siblings. My D22 wasn’t tracked into the advanced math and I had to be one of those pushy parents who insisted she be moved into Algebra 1. She went on to ace it and take honors and AP math classes all the way through. Math curriculums really do seem all over the place in CA
2 Likes