Equity against Math acceleration
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Anonymous
Really? My HS BF, who ended up at MIT, was taking all his STEM classes at the local university in Midwest starting as soon as he got his driver's license (sophomore spring) and enrolled in every math competition he could find in the pre-internet era. He already knew a lot of folks when he started college as they had all met at math competitions. Perhaps it's changed, but not certain that's the case. |
Anonymous
He had a girlfriend? |
Anonymous
It’s not at all useless for placement into stats courses. Stats as a field was a bit underrated in the past but has grown in popularity recently due to data science and machine learning applications. |
Anonymous
My 2 cents. If your child has already gone through Calc BC and interested in advanced stats in college, I would take AP Stats rather than a high school’s interpretation of what linear algebra should cover. A non-calculus intro to stats is still useful and will cover slightly different topics than a calc based intro, hence most schools allowing students to take both for credit. Skipping the non-calc intro altogether might not be allowed, and even if it is, would probably be a bit of a disadvantage in most cases. |
Anonymous
Haha |
Anonymous
I agree. I think it's a good class, it teaches students to write qualitatively about math. Which is a very useful skill, and something some STEM focused kids are adverse to. Doing that in 10th grade while maybe taking AP physics to keep the calc skills fresh, is fine. The opprotuinity to take actual college classes in 11th & 12th is sufficient. |
Anonymous
That route to admissions has been flooded, which is why this thread exists. |
Anonymous
False. Ivies/etc discourage retaking if ready to move on, because if one is ready to move on, staying in the intro calc will not serve the students well who need to be there: it makes curving too hard. This is what the advisory deans tell the freshman in course planning. Many ivies/tops have placement tests, and the top kids, especially Stem kids, start post-BC calc. Ivies and the like have very rigorous Calculus, that goes beyond AP, but the better high schools teach beyond the AP and the kids can get an A in college math not repeating BC calc. Also, APs are not a box to check, no AO counts the AP total; rigor matters. Linear Algebra is much more rigorous on the transcript than AP stats. Mine is an engineer at an ivy and uses Linear Algebra all the time. They were glad they had it in high school, the college class far surpassed it but it was nice to have an introduction to it. Their prep school did not allow AP stats after BC unless it was alongside MV or LA or DEq, because they said it is not favorable on the transcript as the only math when one is already levels past it. Most mathy students take it in 9th or 10th there, as an elective /second math. Granted this is a top caliber high school and compared to ivy friends, not all come in with that same top level of preparation. Some had 5s on BC and did not pass placement, so starting in one of the intro calcs was the right challenge for them. |
Anonymous
This made me laugh. Depends how many kids you have. Harder to keep track the further down the line you go. Not to mention, you figure out all of the stress you had with the older kids wasn’t necessary. |
Anonymous
Our top caliber HS had no such concern with students taking AP Stats after BC. It sounds like your child ended up taking LA twice, once in HS and again in college. That's fine but some students might prefer not repeating coursework and also getting a sense of what stats has to offer before settling on a major (or even a school). A college counselor who compares calc progression to stats is comparing apples and oranges. They are different tracks, and calc students don’t see stats in their calc courses. Sure, if a student has already seen AP Stats by the time they finish BC they should try MV or LA if available, but that wasn’t the question. Stats is very broadly applicable and people educated 30 years ago don’t always appreciate the extent to which it is now finding new and important applications. If the high school LA or MV class were known to count for placement out of those courses in college, it would be a tougher choice. But a HS stats class that places a student out of introductory stats is going to be a more efficient use of time than a LA or MV class that doesn’t if the student wants to explore stats in college, which the prior poster indicated. Historically engineering hasn’t seen the relevance of stats, but there are new fields and it’s becoming more common for students to enter college with exposure to both calc and stats. |
Anonymous
LA in high school, which was a from a 4yr college curriculum(just not a top college) covered less than 1/3 of the topics covered in the semester at the ivy, which includes DEq and more depth on topics. A large percent of Engineering students have exposure to LA (and MV). The ones that do not are at a mild disadvantage, as the first few weeks are all new rather than a review. People underestimate how common LA and MV are in high school in the US, nevermind internationals who make a significant contribution to the Engineering cohorts at Top10s. They all have had LA and MV. I stand by the recommendation to take LA. |
Anonymous
Tippy top schools (Harvard, MIT, Chicago, even UMD) recommended retakes and also offer enriched first-year courses that go beyond high school / basic college course content, and are separate from the courses taken by students in the basic service courses. |
Anonymous
Coming from a parent whose DD took calc BC in 9th too, have him take AP stats. While it might not seem especially challenging, it’s pretty useful and any STEM-oriented kid will benefit from having a basic knowledge of statistics. |
Anonymous
| I would take linear algebra. The material covered in the stats class can be learned on-line in a weekend by math oriented kids - mine just sat for the AP exam without taking the class and got a 5. The stats class will be extremely boring and a waste of time... |
Anonymous
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