How Common Is Math Acceleration With DMV Families?

[Anonymous]

My son's school stopped being able to support his math acceleration beyond 2 years ahead. The rest we do outside of school through a private math tutor/program. I don't mind, he struggles/bored with language arts so having an "easy" class at school is welcomed.

[Anonymous]

So he will have finished high school math before starting high school? I think homeschooling is the right path for you with college courses if you can do that. How can a high school support someone who has essentially finished their curriculum?

[Anonymous]

Respectfully, before racing ahead further, please check with the schools he wishes to apply to and be sure he has done each subject thoroughly, both deeply and broadly, and has internalized the foundation of each course. This is something any school will want to verify.

He sounds amazing. In your shoes, I would take advantage of the opportunity to get that foundation rock solid before going further ahead.

What year is he in now? And to which year will he apply. It is difficult to answer your questions without knowing at what stage you will arrive.

[Anonymous]

Private schools might be willing to let him take math outside of school so he could continue beyond calculus, but that starts to make private school seem like a waste of money.

The most accelerated track i know in the local schools is BC calc junior year and some sort of linear algebra/multivariable options senior year.

TJ is probably your best bet to be more accelerated than that and you should probably post your question in the public school forum to get more feedback on those options.

[Anonymous]

Math acceleration is common; however not that kind of math acceleration. Also in lower grades, there is often conflict between parents who want more acceleration and educators who don’t think parents understand math education. Schools may not want to admit someone who will so obviously step into that conflict.

[Anonymous]

What’s the advantage of this much acceleration?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the advantage of this much acceleration?

IMHO, none. It's a race to nowhere for most students. Think of college: this kid will have to take 4 years of college level math during high school at a local community college or other DE program or worse, on line. So applying to college, the kid will be saying I've already finished years of your college's math curriculum (but not from anyone the level of your math faculty). Some colleges will give a student an opportunity to try to test out of their courses, but other than AP credit, they will require certain foundational classes. Even kids who simply get through linear algebra and multivariable in high school are often told by their college advisors to start the math sequence back a few levels in college IF they are majoring in something that actually uses math (whereas liberal arts majors can use this acceleration to opt out of taking any more math at all -- in which case, why go beyond AP calc anyway?). College math departments do not want their math and engineering majors to lack a strong foundation and generally distrust high school level acceleration UNLESS the student comes with a "math genius" recommendation and proves in on the college's own placement exams.

Here is what MIT has to say about it: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/credit/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s the advantage of this much acceleration?

None. And it's hard to believe that someone moving that quickly through the curriculum is really learning the why behind it, as opposed to just memorizing the how and what. That's doing him no favors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the advantage of this much acceleration?

IMHO, none. It's a race to nowhere for most students. Think of college: this kid will have to take 4 years of college level math during high school at a local community college or other DE program or worse, on line. So applying to college, the kid will be saying I've already finished years of your college's math curriculum (but not from anyone the level of your math faculty). Some colleges will give a student an opportunity to try to test out of their courses, but other than AP credit, they will require certain foundational classes. Even kids who simply get through linear algebra and multivariable in high school are often told by their college advisors to start the math sequence back a few levels in college IF they are majoring in something that actually uses math (whereas liberal arts majors can use this acceleration to opt out of taking any more math at all -- in which case, why go beyond AP calc anyway?). College math departments do not want their math and engineering majors to lack a strong foundation and generally distrust high school level acceleration UNLESS the student comes with a "math genius" recommendation and proves in on the college's own placement exams.

Here is what MIT has to say about it: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/credit/

Thanks for sharing that link. They don't even trust AP classes to teach at a college level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My family is moving from Chicago to DC. My son is 3.5 years ahead in math and is on path to complete Calculus II by 8th grade. I have him in a hyper-accelerated mathematics program so he can have an edge on his peers and begin exploring more complex topics earlier. Will this give him an advantage in private school if we were to apply? Also, how common is this style of acceleration in the DMV? I have heard it is academically cutthroat down there.

What math program is this?

We are using MathAcademy

I would want something that has depth not speed. Something like AOPS that has a higher pass rate for AP's and isn't focused on rushing. If kid wanted more math, I'd add something like competition math.

I agree that this will probably be a disadvantage in admissions.

[Anonymous]

From what I can tell, MathAcademy is similar to Duolingo – no human instruction, but highly adaptive. The fact that he's progressed so far on his own suggests that he is self-motivated and a strong math student, which are both awesome.

However, these programs aren't classes, and it's tough to say whether he's just figured out how to do the program OR whether he really understands Calculus on a fundamental level, to the extent that he could apply it in an unfamiliar context. I work at a school that has some very accelerated kids, and others who need a lot of support in math – but on both ends, I see kids who were previously moved through the levels too fast. While they can replicate a process just fine, they don't know why things work the way they do. And you need that "why" to do really high level math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the advantage of this much acceleration?

IMHO, none. It's a race to nowhere for most students. Think of college: this kid will have to take 4 years of college level math during high school at a local community college or other DE program or worse, on line. So applying to college, the kid will be saying I've already finished years of your college's math curriculum (but not from anyone the level of your math faculty). Some colleges will give a student an opportunity to try to test out of their courses, but other than AP credit, they will require certain foundational classes. Even kids who simply get through linear algebra and multivariable in high school are often told by their college advisors to start the math sequence back a few levels in college IF they are majoring in something that actually uses math (whereas liberal arts majors can use this acceleration to opt out of taking any more math at all -- in which case, why go beyond AP calc anyway?). College math departments do not want their math and engineering majors to lack a strong foundation and generally distrust high school level acceleration UNLESS the student comes with a "math genius" recommendation and proves in on the college's own placement exams.

Here is what MIT has to say about it: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/credit/

This says nothing about early acceleration being bad, just that programs vary widely, and each department will determine whether or not transfer credit is given.

Acceleration can be both good and bad. Tiger parents pushing their kids too hard, moving so fast that they don’t actually master the material at a deep level? That’s bad.

A truly gifted student who needs to be challenged appropriately, despite being young (a Young Sheldon)? Of course these opportunities should be available to them.

And FWIW, MIT will know the difference in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the advantage of this much acceleration?

IMHO, none. It's a race to nowhere for most students. Think of college: this kid will have to take 4 years of college level math during high school at a local community college or other DE program or worse, on line. So applying to college, the kid will be saying I've already finished years of your college's math curriculum (but not from anyone the level of your math faculty). Some colleges will give a student an opportunity to try to test out of their courses, but other than AP credit, they will require certain foundational classes. Even kids who simply get through linear algebra and multivariable in high school are often told by their college advisors to start the math sequence back a few levels in college IF they are majoring in something that actually uses math (whereas liberal arts majors can use this acceleration to opt out of taking any more math at all -- in which case, why go beyond AP calc anyway?). College math departments do not want their math and engineering majors to lack a strong foundation and generally distrust high school level acceleration UNLESS the student comes with a "math genius" recommendation and proves in on the college's own placement exams.

Here is what MIT has to say about it: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/credit/

This says nothing about early acceleration being bad, just that programs vary widely, and each department will determine whether or not transfer credit is given.

Acceleration can be both good and bad. Tiger parents pushing their kids too hard, moving so fast that they don’t actually master the material at a deep level? That’s bad.

A truly gifted student who needs to be challenged appropriately, despite being young (a Young Sheldon)? Of course these opportunities should be available to them.

And FWIW, MIT will know the difference in a heartbeat.

That's what I said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s the advantage of this much acceleration?

IMHO, none. It's a race to nowhere for most students. Think of college: this kid will have to take 4 years of college level math during high school at a local community college or other DE program or worse, on line. So applying to college, the kid will be saying I've already finished years of your college's math curriculum (but not from anyone the level of your math faculty). Some colleges will give a student an opportunity to try to test out of their courses, but other than AP credit, they will require certain foundational classes. Even kids who simply get through linear algebra and multivariable in high school are often told by their college advisors to start the math sequence back a few levels in college IF they are majoring in something that actually uses math (whereas liberal arts majors can use this acceleration to opt out of taking any more math at all -- in which case, why go beyond AP calc anyway?). College math departments do not want their math and engineering majors to lack a strong foundation and generally distrust high school level acceleration UNLESS the student comes with a "math genius" recommendation and proves in on the college's own placement exams.

Here is what MIT has to say about it: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/credit/

This says nothing about early acceleration being bad, just that programs vary widely, and each department will determine whether or not transfer credit is given.

Acceleration can be both good and bad. Tiger parents pushing their kids too hard, moving so fast that they don’t actually master the material at a deep level? That’s bad.

A truly gifted student who needs to be challenged appropriately, despite being young (a Young Sheldon)? Of course these opportunities should be available to them.

And FWIW, MIT will know the difference in a heartbeat.

MIT will know the difference because you will take their math placement tests and in theory ace them all.

They won’t magically know the difference otherwise…maybe if you solve impossible Math problems on the chalk board outside the head of the department’s office.

The problem is it’s literally 1 out of maybe 100,000 that is truly gifted.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that the kid will need to take a placement exam. If he surpasses all expectations the school will see what they can do for him. It may be dual enrollment (at a local college), a live online course, or a high school course. If you're set on private, make sure you choose one that goes through 12th.

I don't know any local private schools that have arrangements for dual enrollment, fwiw, only publics. But my kid is at grade level, so I wouldn't necessarily be in the know.