High school math courses for College entrance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd took algebra 1 honors in 7th and geometry honors in 8th. She got a B in both and pass advanced on the SOLs.
I have no intention of expunging them or having her retake them. She did great and I'm sure she will get into a great college that's a good fit.

When did anything less than perfect become something to hide? When did a B become "doing badly?" There's a lot more to life than UVA.

Don't be so sure she will get into a great college. The competition is brutal. Unless your kid got B's in middle school Alg/geom AND got into a selective school dont be so quick to bash others.

Are you kidding me???? Look outside the top 15 schools in the us and this child can into extraordinary schools pretty easily. Open your mind and look outside VA for better and more reasonable options in terms of acceptance rates.

[Anonymous]

McLean HS.
Applied/Acepted/Attended
2011 110/50/37
2012 107/37/27
2013 142/47/29
2014 138/54/33
2015 134/50/31

Ever hear of self-selection? No one below the top 1/4 of the class is going to bother applying. Ok, so McLean had 50 acceptances. I said 30 - - so 30-50 from, at our HS a class of 580 seniors virtually all college bound.And "much better results applying out-of-state" meant NoVa students have much better results when they apply to out-of-state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth, my kid just got into Georgia Tech EA. I was astounded by the stats. 96% of the accepted EA kids had taken AP Calculus. And on average, 10 or more "college-level AP courses".

By "had taken AP Calculus," are you saying they had taken it in HS before starting college or they had already taken it BEFORE applying (as in they had taken it their Jr year)?

[Anonymous]

Probably most are taking AP Calculus currently (senior year).

To take Calculus senior year, you just need to take Algebra 1 in 8th. OP, it sounds as if your daughter does not want to take it in 7th. I would definitely not push it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:McLean HS.
Applied/Acepted/Attended
2011 110/50/37
2012 107/37/27
2013 142/47/29
2014 138/54/33
2015 134/50/31

Ever hear of self-selection? No one below the top 1/4 of the class is going to bother applying. Ok, so McLean had 50 acceptances. I said 30 - - so 30-50 from, at our HS a class of 580 seniors virtually all college bound.And "much better results applying out-of-state" meant NoVa students have much better results when they apply to out-of-state schools.

But UVA is Virginia's flagship university, and a small be at that. Do you really think they should be accepting more than the top 10% or so of students from any given high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Or Discrete Math. Sadly, the top universities want to see calculus finished and with an A too, before appication whic means by end of jr. year. DC did that and is now taking college chemistry so to hit the chemistry subject matter test hard in the fall. It's a brutal college app. world out there.

It's only brutal if that's the path you take. There are plenty of good universities, or colleges and majors within certain universities, which are perfectly fine with completion of pre-calculus before college. Unless your DC is applying for engineering at a Top 10-15 school, they can probably do just fine if they take Algebra I in 8th grade. My DD took Algebra I in 8th grade, didn't take honors math at all, has never gotten an A in a math course, and is not taking calculus in high school (although she will take AP Stats as a senior). As tragic as this is, I fully expect her to be able to attend a decent school.

It is not even needed for some of the top ten engineering schools. DC is attending a top ten engineering school in the fall and just finished BC Calc this year.

Well, for what it's worth, 96% of the accepted EA students at GA Tech had taken AP calculus. They also had on average 10-11 AP courses. That's your competition. And a lot of it is coming in from China and India

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd took algebra 1 honors in 7th and geometry honors in 8th. She got a B in both and pass advanced on the SOLs.
I have no intention of expunging them or having her retake them. She did great and I'm sure she will get into a great college that's a good fit.

When did anything less than perfect become something to hide? When did a B become "doing badly?" There's a lot more to life than UVA.

Don't be so sure she will get into a great college. The competition is brutal. Unless your kid got B's in middle school Alg/geom AND got into a selective school dont be so quick to bash others.

So true. Would you believe that 96% of the accepted early action students for Georgia Tech 2020 has taken AP Calculus? Also most have taken "at least" 10 college level AP courses.

Well, GA Tech is an engineering school, and early action is tougher than general admission, so I might believe the Calc piece for early admissions. But DH grew up in Georgia, so I am sure that the 10 college level classes is BS-- most HSs in Georgia do not begin to offer that level of course work, so it would be impossible for a good chunk of GA admits to access it. I'm betting you're looking at a pretty narrow range of kids-- like OOS or FCPS admits, and probably Engineering school admits, not general college admits. So-- source please.

Easy Peasey. Oh, sorry it was 97% HAD taken AP calculus or math above and on average 10 college level classes. http://www.news.gatech.edu/2015/01/12/tech-accepts-5273-students-early-action-admission

[Anonymous]

OK. But if you are not a STEM kid, you do not need calculus, IF the applicant has great grades, scores, ECs and recommendations. My DC from a big 3 got into 2 top ten schools without it. He is a poly sci major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD found Alg 1 super challenging in 7th, with an extraordinary amount of work managed to finish with an A (good life leson for sure), really aced Geometry Intensified in 8th and is really struggling with Alg 2/Trig Intensified in 9th. She has a tutor this year who is finding that DD has a weak foundation in Alg 1. I think she was not intellectually ready for Alg 1 so early and while she managed it from a GPA perspective, she did not really learn it. We will see how this year goes But will likely hop off this fast track next year.

DC entered big 3 and struggled so she went back TWO years and started again. The combination of better teaching and a more mature brain worked and she graduated with good grades in math and high SAT math score and got into top 10 school without calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK. But if you are not a STEM kid, you do not need calculus, IF the applicant has great grades, scores, ECs and recommendations. My DC from a big 3 got into 2 top ten schools without it. He is a poly sci major.

BUT OP doesn't know yet if her kids is going to gravitate towards stem or engineering at this state of development. If you had told me my DC would be doing civil engineering when he was a freshman in high school I would have laughed. Today he wants to be a Nuclear or Aerospace Engineer. To get into this programs you do need to ahve had calculus. And it certainly helps with your entire application if you can show rigor in all areas of academia. http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/importance-of-calculus-for-college-admission/. DC had finished calculus by end of junior year but also took a college chemistry course (real college chemistry) during the summer. That kind of drive and initiatve is what all schools like to see. As a result, he got into all six of his EAs, including UVA. Now DC is waiting to hear from four Ivies. I get the impression that many parents don't want to hear the message but you must excel and take the most rigorous courses possible across the board if you want to get into some of these prestigious schools, Tech or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not about the risk/benefit in 7th grade.

It's the risk/benefit in 12th grade, and where she will be in the sequence - beyond calculus. Is she THAT good a math student?

Doesn't statistics count as a math class? Super useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd took algebra 1 honors in 7th and geometry honors in 8th. She got a B in both and pass advanced on the SOLs.
I have no intention of expunging them or having her retake them. She did great and I'm sure she will get into a great college that's a good fit.

When did anything less than perfect become something to hide? When did a B become "doing badly?" There's a lot more to life than UVA.

Don't be so sure she will get into a great college. The competition is brutal. Unless your kid got B's in middle school Alg/geom AND got into a selective school dont be so quick to bash others.

So true. Would you believe that 96% of the accepted early action students for Georgia Tech 2020 has taken AP Calculus? Also most have taken "at least" 10 college level AP courses.

Please provide a link to both statistics. (The 96% and the "at least 10" APs)

Yes, please do. I seriously doubt this is true. And, even if it is true, GA Tech is, last I checked, a top rated STEM university. It's hardly a typical college/university, nor even a typical elite one.

I've never called anyone a moron on DCUM, but you are a moron. GA Tech is no. 1 pubic university in the U.S. And no. 2 in the nation for Aerospace Engineering, which is 97% of the kids applying have taken Advanced AP Calculus and al east 10 collegee-level courses. http://www.businessinsider.com/smartest-public-colleges-in-america-2014-10