question on Wisconsin

[Anonymous]

I am reading the website under "what we look for" and it says "competitive students will often have earned credit beyond four years of math" How does one take more than 4 years of math in high school? Do they mean double up, which guessing no bc hard to take math levels concurrently since they build? Do they mean one should count middle school math? It also specifically says AP stats doesn't count as math. Does my humanities kid have to take BC calc to be competitive?

[Anonymous]

Is your kid applying to a STEM-related major? If so, it does matter if not they would just look into the 4 years of math. My DH graduated from UW-M in CS in 2014 with 8 years of HS math (3 MS +5 HS).

[Anonymous]

If they start with high-school over math in middle school, they can have more than 4 years worth by graduation. Also, most schools offer math-related electives (eg, some schools cross-reference computer science with math).

[Anonymous]

FWIW, this was in the main admissions section (not STEM related) and specifically says computer-science classes don't count as math.

Here is the whole paragraph from the website:

While we do not have minimum requirements, competitive students will often have earned credit beyond four years of math, including at least one year each of algebra, geometry, and advanced math, or an integrated sequence of courses. We would highly recommend taking math your senior year and advancing through pre-calculus or calculus, if available. Courses that will not fulfill this requirement include statistics, business math, and computer science classes. We also look for four years of English, three to four years of science, social science, and world language, and two years of fine arts/additional academics.

[Anonymous]

Agree, OP.

Beyond 4 years of math. I'm really wondering what that means. I'm confused but I'm also ignorant. Wisconsin is fabulous but it's not MIT.

[Anonymous]

A pretty typical four-year math track in an American high school would be Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and then Trigonometry (or a series of math classes that integrate all three topics into each class). What the website means is that they are looking for applicants who have gone beyond this standard four-year progression. It does not necessarily mean taking more than four math classes in high school - your child may have taken some of those classes in middle school, and/or may take accelerated versions that complete the progression in fewer than four years. The key part is where they say "We would highly recommend taking math your senior year and advancing through pre-calculus or calculus, if available." They want to see your child taking at least through pre-calc or calculus (depending on your school's offerings), and they want to see math at a high level through your senior year (no completing your graduation requirements early because you took math in middle school and then skipping it entirely after that).

If it's not clear what this means in the context of your specific high school's offerings, then you should the guidance counselor how they would interpret/apply it to the available course offerings.

[Anonymous]

My kid got in with AP Calc junior year. No math senior year. So maybe either normal four year classes or fewer but accelerated? Did not apply for STEM though.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I think I was confused as the “average” math track at my kids’ HS, as I understand it, gets all kids to calculus in 4 years. The “beyond”/advanced track puts you in BC or multivariable senior year (and there are likely kids on the other end who only end up in pre-calc, but that would not be considered rigorous). My English major son doesn’t want to take multivariable calculus, lol, and that paragraph was making it sound like he would need to if he applies to Wisconsin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am reading the website under "what we look for" and it says "competitive students will often have earned credit beyond four years of math" How does one take more than 4 years of math in high school? Do they mean double up, which guessing no bc hard to take math levels concurrently since they build? Do they mean one should count middle school math? It also specifically says AP stats doesn't count as math. Does my humanities kid have to take BC calc to be competitive?

There are kids with all kinds of special circumstances.

But I think that, generally, Calculus AB is the minimum level of math these days for a kid at a T100 type of college who plans to major in STEM or other majors that involve math.

I think kids who want to be hot shot stem majors at a T30 need to go in with at least a 4 on Calculus BC. If all they have is a 4 on Calculus BC, they should go in with humility and start with Calculus AB, not even think they had a good Calculus AB class.

Nowadays, with all the access kids have to Khan Academy and the like, just having Calculus BC and nothing more advanced, even through self study, is a sign a kid isn’t really that interested in math and not all that well-prepared for doing math at a top-level.

Even in the 1980s, good math students from East Coast schools all had a minimum of Calculus. Kids who have the internet and can’t learn differential equations or liberal algebra on their own, for fun, are not going to have fun being math or physics majors at Wisconsin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am reading the website under "what we look for" and it says "competitive students will often have earned credit beyond four years of math" How does one take more than 4 years of math in high school? Do they mean double up, which guessing no bc hard to take math levels concurrently since they build? Do they mean one should count middle school math? It also specifically says AP stats doesn't count as math. Does my humanities kid have to take BC calc to be competitive?

There are kids with all kinds of special circumstances.

But I think that, generally, Calculus AB is the minimum level of math these days for a kid at a T100 type of college who plans to major in STEM or other majors that involve math.

I think kids who want to be hot shot stem majors at a T30 need to go in with at least a 4 on Calculus BC. If all they have is a 4 on Calculus BC, they should go in with humility and start with Calculus AB, not even think they had a good Calculus AB class.

Nowadays, with all the access kids have to Khan Academy and the like, just having Calculus BC and nothing more advanced, even through self study, is a sign a kid isn’t really that interested in math and not all that well-prepared for doing math at a top-level.

Even in the 1980s, good math students from East Coast schools all had a minimum of Calculus. Kids who have the internet and can’t learn differential equations or liberal algebra on their own, for fun, are not going to have fun being math or physics majors at Wisconsin.

Liberal Algebra - is this a new branch of mathematics where there are no inequality signs? I think autocorrect of Linear Algebra

[Anonymous]

We went through this same discussion last year. We have a humanities major DS debating taking pre-calc over the summer to take AB Calc his senior year. Wisconsin was his first choice. Our counsellor (private school level of attention and we trust him) told us for a humanities kid, pre-calc senior year was fine. He said his advice would be different if the intent was a STEM focus major (DS would have been advised to go through AB Calc). DS grades were As through all math in high school and his ACT was lopsided in favour of Eng/Reading/Science, but totally respectable. FWIW DS was accepted with pre-calc as a senior and invited to apply to the honors college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A pretty typical four-year math track in an American high school would be Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and then Trigonometry (or a series of math classes that integrate all three topics into each class). What the website means is that they are looking for applicants who have gone beyond this standard four-year progression. It does not necessarily mean taking more than four math classes in high school - your child may have taken some of those classes in middle school, and/or may take accelerated versions that complete the progression in fewer than four years. The key part is where they say "We would highly recommend taking math your senior year and advancing through pre-calculus or calculus, if available." They want to see your child taking at least through pre-calc or calculus (depending on your school's offerings), and they want to see math at a high level through your senior year (no completing your graduation requirements early because you took math in middle school and then skipping it entirely after that).

If it's not clear what this means in the context of your specific high school's offerings, then you should the guidance counselor how they would interpret/apply it to the available course offerings.

Thanks! I'm the confused and ignorant poster
This all makes perfect sense.

[Anonymous]

In MCPS many take Algebra and geometry in MS, so pre-calc and stats are common

[Anonymous]

This is so funny, I was just looking at the same paragraph and scratching my head because the language is confusing. Did you student get a mailer from #future Badger mailer this week too? Thanks to those who offered clarifying info.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the posters who also admitted to thinking this wording was confusing. And also, to reiterate, my kid wants to be a humanities major not STEM, which added to my confusion.

Thank you also to the posters who shared their childrens’ experiences.