Why is Math the Super Accelerated Subject?

[Anonymous]

It all feels like a race to nowhere. Since most kids don't go to HPYS... and if you don't have the money to pay for it anyway... I'd recommend you let your kid enjoy high school. Level up in the areas of interest and be happy riding along in the ones they tolerate but enjoy less.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Any Ivy plus candidate should be in Calc BC by 10th grade. That isn't up for debate. As for classes like English Comp, etc. where one could take classes at the local college, many colleges have age requirements based on the content that will be taught. Much different to accelerate in that respect. However, taking Intro Macro and Micro classes as an 8th grader at the local college will be allowed.

Not entirely true. Many schools make kids take AB before BC. I think if you are in precal in 9th, calc AB in 10th then BC in 11th, that is equally strong as if you did precal in 9th than BC in 10th. Colleges know not all students are allowed to go straight to BC. As long as you’ve had at least one year of calc III/multivariable calc by 12th you strong candidate at any top school for stem.

Wrong.
As long as you have Calc AB by 12th, you are strong candidate at any top school for STEM. They care about interst and aptitude, not how fast you rushed.

If you are taking Calc AB in 12th grade you are not going to get into a top engineering school.
Fact

Mine got into Cornell for engineering. Fact.

OP here. May I offer a middle ground? I think the key is what is offered. If your school doesn't even offer BC, then you aren't going to penalized for not taking it.

One of the things that was rumbling around in my brain, as I have an 11th grader, is that "most rigorous" course designation that seems to be so key for top college admission. If your school has BC, that is most rigorous and only kids with a real apptitude for math should get there. I know its about the top 25% of kids in her school.

But 100% of the kids in her school get both English AP's. There is only one AP offered in each language, so that's not too hard to reach. The bar for science is only a single AP in each main topic....basically a bright humanities kid, like my daughter, can hit "most rigorous" in eveyrthing but math without missing a beat. But math is the one subject you need to be "extra" accelerated for to reach the top levels.

His school offered BC. He’s still a Cornell student. These “rules” don’t actually exist.

It’s actually that the “most” in “most rigorous” doesn’t literally mean “most.” It’s an intensifier, as in “most amusing!” Your courses should be on the rigorous side, but they don’t have to be the literal most rigorous courses offered in your high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any Ivy plus candidate should be in Calc BC by 10th grade. That isn't up for debate. As for classes like English Comp, etc. where one could take classes at the local college, many colleges have age requirements based on the content that will be taught. Much different to accelerate in that respect. However, taking Intro Macro and Micro classes as an 8th grader at the local college will be allowed.

Not entirely true. Many schools make kids take AB before BC. I think if you are in precal in 9th, calc AB in 10th then BC in 11th, that is equally strong as if you did precal in 9th than BC in 10th. Colleges know not all students are allowed to go straight to BC. As long as you’ve had at least one year of calc III/multivariable calc by 12th you strong candidate at any top school for stem.

Wrong.
As long as you have Calc AB by 12th, you are strong candidate at any top school for STEM. They care about interst and aptitude, not how fast you rushed.

If you are taking Calc AB in 12th grade you are not going to get into a top engineering school.
Fact

Mine got into Cornell for engineering. Fact.

OP here. May I offer a middle ground? I think the key is what is offered. If your school doesn't even offer BC, then you aren't going to penalized for not taking it.

One of the things that was rumbling around in my brain, as I have an 11th grader, is that "most rigorous" course designation that seems to be so key for top college admission. If your school has BC, that is most rigorous and only kids with a real apptitude for math should get there. I know its about the top 25% of kids in her school.

But 100% of the kids in her school get both English AP's. There is only one AP offered in each language, so that's not too hard to reach. The bar for science is only a single AP in each main topic....basically a bright humanities kid, like my daughter, can hit "most rigorous" in eveyrthing but math without missing a beat. But math is the one subject you need to be "extra" accelerated for to reach the top levels.

His school offered BC. He’s still a Cornell student. These “rules” don’t actually exist.

OP again. That's really encouraging to hear!

My kid went up from standard math to honors level this year (11th - precalc) so she could reach AB next year. She came home from a math test and said she wasn't going to get 100 (like all the tests last year), and the test was really hard... but it was also kind of fun! So I know she's found the right math level and I'm glad to hear stories about that not holding kids back.... because we certainly hear enough of the opposite ones!

[Anonymous]

I think your DD is fine as a humanities candidate, OP. But I will answer your question. If a precocious, talented student takes 9th grade English, they still get to read great literature with as much depth as they would like. I'm not sure moving to 10th grade English is going to make that much of a difference, except that the rest of the class is more mature. On the other hand, it is very painful for a kid who is ready for much higher math to suffer through Algebra 1 if they find the material extremely easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any Ivy plus candidate should be in Calc BC by 10th grade. That isn't up for debate. As for classes like English Comp, etc. where one could take classes at the local college, many colleges have age requirements based on the content that will be taught. Much different to accelerate in that respect. However, taking Intro Macro and Micro classes as an 8th grader at the local college will be allowed.

Not entirely true. Many schools make kids take AB before BC. I think if you are in precal in 9th, calc AB in 10th then BC in 11th, that is equally strong as if you did precal in 9th than BC in 10th. Colleges know not all students are allowed to go straight to BC. As long as you’ve had at least one year of calc III/multivariable calc by 12th you strong candidate at any top school for stem.

Wrong.
As long as you have Calc AB by 12th, you are strong candidate at any top school for STEM. They care about interst and aptitude, not how fast you rushed.

If you are taking Calc AB in 12th grade you are not going to get into a top engineering school.
Fact

Mine got into Cornell for engineering. Fact.

Doubtful..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your DD is fine as a humanities candidate, OP. But I will answer your question. If a precocious, talented student takes 9th grade English, they still get to read great literature with as much depth as they would like. I'm not sure moving to 10th grade English is going to make that much of a difference, except that the rest of the class is more mature. On the other hand, it is very painful for a kid who is ready for much higher math to suffer through Algebra 1 if they find the material extremely easy.

For a handful of geniuses, perhaps. But most kids who are accelerated in math would do best with maybe one year of acceleration and an honors track. For most kids, the pain of Algebra I isn’t that they’re truly ready for precalc, it’s that the class keeps having to stop to review fractions. And the students who are fluent readers with large vocabularies suffer the same kind of pain in unleveled English classes where the class has to keep working out the literal, surface meaning of the words on the page instead of discussing the plot or themes or purpose the text.