Math 7 Honors vs. Algebra

[Anonymous]

Just for discussion. Assume your child wants to pursue a liberal arts degree, and focuses on a state school like UVA. Also, assume your DC has the exact same high school GPA, but in one scenario they did Calc AB as a Senior, and in the other they did it as a Junior (and took, e.g., Calc BC as a Senior).

How important is this difference from an admissions standpoint? Anyone start a track at 7th/8th and see their DC later regret not being in the accelerated track because it made college admissions harder? How about the opposite, anyone regret pushing forward in 7th/8th and not seeing any benefit come admissions time?

Remember here, we are talking state school, no difference in GPA, and DC wants to major in history or poli sci in college. If there is no benefit to this type of individual, would DC be better off on a "less challenging" regular math track to AB Calc as a senior, and then using any time saved towards extracurriculars? What am I missing?

TIA.

[Anonymous]

It is not Necessary unless caltech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just for discussion. Assume your child wants to pursue a liberal arts degree, and focuses on a state school like UVA. Also, assume your DC has the exact same high school GPA, but in one scenario they did Calc AB as a Senior, and in the other they did it as a Junior (and took, e.g., Calc BC as a Senior).

How important is this difference from an admissions standpoint? Anyone start a track at 7th/8th and see their DC later regret not being in the accelerated track because it made college admissions harder? How about the opposite, anyone regret pushing forward in 7th/8th and not seeing any benefit come admissions time?

Remember here, we are talking state school, no difference in GPA, and DC wants to major in history or poli sci in college. If there is no benefit to this type of individual, would DC be better off on a "less challenging" regular math track to AB Calc as a senior, and then using any time saved towards extracurriculars? What am I missing?

TIA.

Typically, students take AB or BC Calculus, not both. If a student takes Honors Algebra in 7th grade and and takes the sequential Honors classes, they would take BC Calculus their junior year and then Multivar Calc and Matrix Algebra in their senior year. If a student takes Honors Algebra in 8th and takes the Honors sequence, they would take BC Calculus their senior year. AB Calculus is taken by he student who take the general sequence or drop down from the Honors sequence.

In our scenario, if the students applying to UVA are on the bubble, then the one who took BC would win out because they chose the more challenging course. However, I would expect a student interested in Humanities to take more of the language APs and a student who is interested in STEM, to take more of the STEM APs.

[Anonymous]

+1 I don't see any advantage to pushing ahead in math to take extra math senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Remember here, we are talking state school, no difference in GPA, and DC wants to major in history or poli sci in college. If there is no benefit to this type of individual, would DC be better off on a "less challenging" regular math track to AB Calc as a senior, and then using any time saved towards extracurriculars? What am I missing?

TIA.

If your child wants to major in history or poly sci, then AP Stats would be a valuable course. Yes, you can use an elective slot for stats, but if your child has the math aptitude and is ready for algebra in 7th, it would be the easiest path to do calc as a junior and ap stats as a senior.

[milliekl13]

-People can take Algebra earlier than seventh. My DD had a friend who took it in fifth, but this is VERY rare and her friend was incredibly ahead of her peers.
-DD took it in seventh. She wasn't the best at math in elementary school, but did good on her Iowa test and qualified.
-The experience really depends on the school. Seems like kids at Rocky Run had a much harder experience with smart kids getting B- s, Bs, B+s. Longfellow kids seemed okay, but they mostly all had tutors. Carson kids had it best, they all mostly got A-s, As.
- In HS teachers recommend taking AP Stat over multi-calc and linear algebra

[Anonymous]

Can a senior just opt not to take a math class at all, if he/she already took BC Calc as a junior? Or is that not allowed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can a senior just opt not to take a math class at all, if he/she already took BC Calc as a junior? Or is that not allowed?

I think it is allowed, but it is not recommended b/c when applying for college, the college will ding your kid for not taking math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a senior just opt not to take a math class at all, if he/she already took BC Calc as a junior? Or is that not allowed?

I think it is allowed, but it is not recommended b/c when applying for college, the college will ding your kid for not taking math.

Facing this question now. DC loved math and ended up in Calc BC as a sophomore, but now doesn't really want to pursue math. Still, DC will be stuck taking two more really, really advanced math classes in high school, and will likely pursue a liberal arts degree. Total regret.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a senior just opt not to take a math class at all, if he/she already took BC Calc as a junior? Or is that not allowed?

I think it is allowed, but it is not recommended b/c when applying for college, the college will ding your kid for not taking math.

Facing this question now. DC loved math and ended up in Calc BC as a sophomore, but now doesn't really want to pursue math. Still, DC will be stuck taking two more really, really advanced math classes in high school, and will likely pursue a liberal arts degree. Total regret.

A lot of social sciences are using more advanced mathematical modeling. Have your child look at some game theory and statistical models used in economics or political science. Stats and matrix algebra are great classes that can really set a job applicant a part from others after college.

I have a PhD in Political Science and took 6 classes requiring calculus and matrix algebra in grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a senior just opt not to take a math class at all, if he/she already took BC Calc as a junior? Or is that not allowed?

I think it is allowed, but it is not recommended b/c when applying for college, the college will ding your kid for not taking math.

But wouldn’t they note that the kid was pretty advanced, given that he/she completed BC calc as a junior? Maybe the kid could then take two science classes instead?

[Anonymous]

I think a kid intending to continue in social sciences could get away with calc in 10th, AP stats in 11th, and AP comp SSCI in 12th. Statistical modeling is becoming a big thing in social sciences, and both the stats class and programming would support that. AP comp sci isn’t strictly math, but it may be close enough.

[Anonymous]

*. Comp sci