At what point do you drop down in rigor?

[Anonymous]

DS (10th grade) has his first A- and he is fighting HARD for it. His grade should be lower but the teacher gives some freebies that raise grades if you put in the work. This is AP precalc. Previous plan was BC calc next year and now he is talking about taking AB instead. Obviously both would be AP so same grade bump. Likely humanities major. DH and I disagree on how to advise.

[Anonymous]

What else is he taking? What are his other activities? Does he want to spend the extra time that BC calc would require?

[Anonymous]

I believe my senior’s only A- was in AP precalc. She took AB junior year and is now taking BC, with solid As in both. I don’t think there’s any need to freak out after first quarter of 10th grade. Just see how the year progresses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS (10th grade) has his first A- and he is fighting HARD for it. His grade should be lower but the teacher gives some freebies that raise grades if you put in the work. This is AP precalc. Previous plan was BC calc next year and now he is talking about taking AB instead. Obviously both would be AP so same grade bump. Likely humanities major. DH and I disagree on how to advise.

It depends on your HS I think.

At our private, it would be ok to do AB Calc equiv as a junior and then AP Stats equiv as a senior - if a humanities major - and still be competitive. Assuming rigor in humanities.

[Anonymous]

We off tracked earlier (and our oldest is unhooked at an Ivy).

They started HS with honors geometry, alg2/trig sophomore year, AP PreCalc junior year and AP calc AB senior year. The school tried to push the younger one up a level but after a semester he wasn’t happy.

My kids are very strong in science and very solid in math (5s AP exams, high standardized math scores) and it didn’t affect admission to T10/20s. But, they had no plans for engineering or CS, etc

[Anonymous]

Do AB then BC.

Better to understand the material.

No reason to skip AB.

Does not matter whether they are a humanities major or any other major take AB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS (10th grade) has his first A- and he is fighting HARD for it. His grade should be lower but the teacher gives some freebies that raise grades if you put in the work. This is AP precalc. Previous plan was BC calc next year and now he is talking about taking AB instead. Obviously both would be AP so same grade bump. Likely humanities major. DH and I disagree on how to advise.

Depends on longer term college tier aspirations and what other peers at your kid's high school are doing, I suppose. I would recommend taking AB next year and BC senior year. BC is hard and that is for students who are good in math. For a humanities major, not as much need to do BC in 11th grade. Our DC is doing BC now in the 12 grade after taking Math Analysis SL for 2 years (IB school only options) and was planning on AP Calc AB. DC couldn't get into offsite Calc AB class, so ended up bumping up to Calc BC vs doing online AB afterschool which conflicted with other ECs. BC is/can be hard and half of BC is covered in the IB math analysis class so going over same/similar material again. AB will be a better transition in 11th grade and cover material better in order to be able to then go into BC for 12th grade if desired and have a better foundation. This path is still rigorous in the grand scheme but may depend on college targets - others on this forum will say go the harder route for HYPSM esp if your DC is at a private where BC in 11th grade is the norm for all rigorous students.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't consider it until they are making Cs.

[Anonymous]

If he can retain the A-, stick with pre-calc. I would take Calc AB next year, then take Calc BC. If humanities major, you will not get dinged for only having completed AB.



That being said, what is your school like? What is the Calc AB participation rate? BC? Is he a junior applying ED next year? If so, first semester grades are not seen so you can throw him into Calc BC and get the gentleman's C. No school rescinds for a C.

[Anonymous]

What is the purpose of dropping down in rigor? Sacrificing high school education in hope for a better/safer college result?

I don't think it's worth it. As long as you can maintain B and above, I would go ahead and challenge myself.

You may end up at a slightly lower ranked school but you will be much better prepared for college. And college performance is where you should care about the most.

T20 or T50 doesn't make too much difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do AB then BC.

Better to understand the material.

No reason to skip AB.

Does not matter whether they are a humanities major or any other major take AB.

This issue is our school has AP Precalc AB and AP Precalc BC, which moves faster and covers the A part of Calc. that is what he is taking now. But if he went with AB next year, he would then take BC. Already taking AP Stats as an elective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he can retain the A-, stick with pre-calc. I would take Calc AB next year, then take Calc BC. If humanities major, you will not get dinged for only having completed AB.



That being said, what is your school like? What is the Calc AB participation rate? BC? Is he a junior applying ED next year? If so, first semester grades are not seen so you can throw him into Calc BC and get the gentleman's C. No school rescinds for a C.

what if deferred or rejected ED? lol

And is it true no school rescinds for a C?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of dropping down in rigor? Sacrificing high school education in hope for a better/safer college result?

I don't think it's worth it. As long as you can maintain B and above, I would go ahead and challenge myself.

You may end up at a slightly lower ranked school but you will be much better prepared for college. And college performance is where you should care about the most.

T20 or T50 doesn't make too much difference.

The purpose is that with math, it benefits kids to have a very strong foundation before moving up a level. Some kids benefit from a slower intro of new concepts and speed of is e even if they end up in same place later.

Our school district found the heavy push in acceleration in middle school had worse outcomes in high school then when they backed off. Too many kids were pushed ahead without clear grasp of algebra basics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of dropping down in rigor? Sacrificing high school education in hope for a better/safer college result?

I don't think it's worth it. As long as you can maintain B and above, I would go ahead and challenge myself.

You may end up at a slightly lower ranked school but you will be much better prepared for college. And college performance is where you should care about the most.

T20 or T50 doesn't make too much difference.

The purpose is that with math, it benefits kids to have a very strong foundation before moving up a level. Some kids benefit from a slower intro of new concepts and speed of is e even if they end up in same place later.

Our school district found the heavy push in acceleration in middle school had worse outcomes in high school then when they backed off. Too many kids were pushed ahead without clear grasp of algebra basics.

This is not the OP's case. OP is freaking out by an A-. If it's a C that is concerning. Since when A- is a sign for lacking strong foundation?

[Anonymous]

Do AB, then decide between BC or Stats for senior year.