How to manage a MS that doesn't offer geometry and HS/college admissions

[Anonymous]

My DD is currently a 7th grader at a school that goes through 8th grade and their math progression does not include geometry. However, the two private schools she is most likely to attend and our zoned public school build their curriculum around the expectation that the highest-level freshman have already taken geometry.

I have concerns about my DD's potential math track and what I'm hearing about college counselors checking/not checking the "highest rigor" course selection assessment on college applications. There is one set of summer geometry classes for middle school students in our area but she didn't get a spot from the lottery.

Has anyone dealt with a feeder school that didn't math a high school's math progression, and did it hurt you child's college applications? DD is objectively high-scoring as measured by things like SSAT scores, ERBs, WISC testing, etc., gets excellent grades, and seems to have a strong understanding of math, so this isn't an issue of not being ready for more math but rather not having access to it in middle school. I'm strongly considering enrolling her in some kind of online program but it's not clear to me if that will be taken into consideration by high schools when they're determining placement.

[Anonymous]

I'd be asking myself whether the current school has been offering the right level of rigor compared to the high schools you're considering.

But to your problem: yes, enroll her in private geometry, and include that documentation with her application. If they're honest, the high schools will take that into account.

[Anonymous]

Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be asking myself whether the current school has been offering the right level of rigor compared to the high schools you're considering.

But to your problem: yes, enroll her in private geometry, and include that documentation with her application. If they're honest, the high schools will take that into account.

That’s good advice about the documentation, thank you. Re: rigor- it was a tradeoff. Some aspects are more rigorous than the other choices, and the social climate and depth of curriculum are way better. We knew we would be making tradeoffs but weren’t sure how it would play out until she was further along.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

A parent of a HS senior told me that if she didn’t take calculus junior year, she wouldn’t have “highest rigor” or whatever selected on her college apps and that would take many competitive colleges off the table. DH and I don’t expect her to follow in our footsteps (HYP, unfortunately) because we’re realistic about the new landscape of admissions and her interests, but we also don’t want to close any doors for her when she’s only 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

A parent of a HS senior told me that if she didn’t take calculus junior year, she wouldn’t have “highest rigor” or whatever selected on her college apps and that would take many competitive colleges off the table. DH and I don’t expect her to follow in our footsteps (HYP, unfortunately) because we’re realistic about the new landscape of admissions and her interests, but we also don’t want to close any doors for her when she’s only 13.

I think that parent gave you bad information. In the majority of private schools in this area, it is quite uncommon for more than a few students to take Calc in 11th. Some schools don’t even offer post-Calc classes. If you’re really concerned, contact the high schools in question and ask how many students take post-Calc classes and whether not doing so automatically disqualifies them for “highest rigor.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

It's "fine" if you aren't worried about college prestige. Remember there are a lot of public school kids taking accelerated math tracks. My kid is one of them, taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade, then multivariable with different equations, then probably calculus 3. The OP is right that colleges consider "highest rigor" as checked by the counselor. If her kid isn't at the top of her class in her high school and doesn't have a hook, that will have repercussions for admissions, since there are soft quotas in all schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

It's "fine" if you aren't worried about college prestige. Remember there are a lot of public school kids taking accelerated math tracks. My kid is one of them, taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade, then multivariable with different equations, then probably calculus 3. The OP is right that colleges consider "highest rigor" as checked by the counselor. If her kid isn't at the top of her class in her high school and doesn't have a hook, that will have repercussions for admissions, since there are soft quotas in all schools.

Students are only compared against their school peers and what the school offers. It doesn’t matter what the AP arms race public schools are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

It's "fine" if you aren't worried about college prestige. Remember there are a lot of public school kids taking accelerated math tracks. My kid is one of them, taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade, then multivariable with different equations, then probably calculus 3. The OP is right that colleges consider "highest rigor" as checked by the counselor. If her kid isn't at the top of her class in her high school and doesn't have a hook, that will have repercussions for admissions, since there are soft quotas in all schools.

Students are only compared against their school peers and what the school offers. It doesn’t matter what the AP arms race public schools are doing.

It does, because quotas for privates will slowly get smaller.

[Anonymous]

There are kids in hell holes that don't ever offer calculus and the kids take the most rigorous stuff they can and get into MIT. Yeah it would have been better to have calculus but it was a small town and I didn't know what I was missing. First generation college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

It's "fine" if you aren't worried about college prestige. Remember there are a lot of public school kids taking accelerated math tracks. My kid is one of them, taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade, then multivariable with different equations, then probably calculus 3. The OP is right that colleges consider "highest rigor" as checked by the counselor. If her kid isn't at the top of her class in her high school and doesn't have a hook, that will have repercussions for admissions, since there are soft quotas in all schools.

Students are only compared against their school peers and what the school offers. It doesn’t matter what the AP arms race public schools are doing.

It does, because quotas for privates will slowly get smaller.

Not true.

Anonymous wrote:There are kids in hell holes that don't ever offer calculus and the kids take the most rigorous stuff they can and get into MIT. Yeah it would have been better to have calculus but it was a small town and I didn't know what I was missing. First generation college.

Irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

My child goes to a K-8 that doesn’t offer geometry in 8th and still got into the top private schools. I was worried it might be a factor but it wasn’t. The top schools seem to want incoming 9th graders who have a strong and deep foundation in algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and have her take geometry in the summer if that’s what she’d like to do, but do know that taking geometry in 9th still puts you on track for Calculus in 12th (whether that’s standard level, AP AB, or AP BC - or whatever advanced versions the HS offers) and that’s plenty of rigor. Post-calculus math in HS is not required.

This is the answer. Geometry in 9th grade is fine, everywhere.

It's "fine" if you aren't worried about college prestige. Remember there are a lot of public school kids taking accelerated math tracks. My kid is one of them, taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade, then multivariable with different equations, then probably calculus 3. The OP is right that colleges consider "highest rigor" as checked by the counselor. If her kid isn't at the top of her class in her high school and doesn't have a hook, that will have repercussions for admissions, since there are soft quotas in all schools.

Students are only compared against their school peers and what the school offers. It doesn’t matter what the AP arms race public schools are doing.

It does, because quotas for privates will slowly get smaller.

Lol—is that what you public school parents are telling yourselves now? With the economic landscape colleges are facing now (eg, federal funding cuts, targeting international students who are cash cows, etc) being a full-pay independent school student will become an even stronger hook.

[Anonymous]

Take summer geometry for credit somewhere like Landon (think they let girls attend summer school too, but am not 100% on that).