Math up to Prec-Calculus

[Anonymous]

No, My kid got accepted to 6 out of 7 schools, with only taking pre-calc. UMD, Ohio State, Pitt, and Penn State are all in the top 100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, pp here and I misremembered. What Wisconsin says is “Courses that will not fulfill this requirement include statistics.” When my kid was applying, he was an intended humanities major who wanted to jump off the math train and went back and forth about what math to take senior year.

For him, the choice was between Calc and Stats so he took Calc bc of that language on the website. So I remembered it as needed Calc (but I was wrong). Sorry to worry anyone!

That confusing verbiage is saying that the student must complete geometry and Algebra 2 or equivalent, and "alternative" statistics that doesn't have an Algebra 2 prereq doesn't count. Taking statistics after Algebra 2 is fine a as an annual math course.

https://admissions.wisc.edu/first-year-academic-requirements/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, My kid got accepted to 6 out of 7 schools, with only taking pre-calc. UMD, Ohio State, Pitt, and Penn State are all in the top 100.

Applying from MoCo?

What were the applicants highest-acheiving subjects? AP English? Social studies?

[Anonymous]

Colby and Hamilton offer Calculus I. Presumably some of the students taking this course will not have taken calculus in high school. In any case, I would say that it's usually a bad idea to believe that the absence of a single non-required course will derail an otherwise strong application. Nonetheless, the sub-15% overall acceptance rates at Colby and Hamilton can represent a challenging hurdle for many applicants. If feasible for your circumstances, strongly consider an ED I application and, if needed, a subsequent ED2 application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different poster with a junior in a very similar situation. DC just wasnt tracked into advanced math in 6th grade and is currently in Honors Algebra 2/Trig with the advanced kids from the grade below. Otherwise, doing well in all honors/APs. I feel so guilty for not pushing it earlier as I'm afraid this will be an issue in college applications. We're not looking at top schools but are looking for merit or honors colleges in probably 60-120 flagships/national universities.

Your DC will be fine for those schools. Typically, merit for those schools will be awarded based on GPA, test scores, and an enrollment management algorithm that tells the school how much you'd need to be offered to be interested in enrolling.

Neither Colby nor Hamilton offer merit scholarships. And while not having Calculus will probably not be a dealbreaker, it is likely a benchmark that many admitted applicants will have achieved. Wesleyan, another NESCAC school, provides data showing that 85 percent of accepted applicants this pst cycle had taken calculus. I suspect numbers at other top 25ish LACs would be similar.

https://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/class-profile.html

It's not especially important, but that poster was referring to a different set of schools.

[Anonymous]

As a form of perspective, whatever expectations might be the case at Colby and Hamilton also might be the case at schools such as Haverford, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Colgate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a form of perspective, whatever expectations might be the case at Colby and Hamilton also might be the case at schools such as Haverford, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Colgate.

I am sure all schools accept kids without calculus but I would be surprised if schools like Notre Dame and Georgetown are accepting kids without calculus from schools where multivariable and BC Calc are offered (and I think the entire DMV area offers BC Calc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, pp here and I misremembered. What Wisconsin says is “Courses that will not fulfill this requirement include statistics.” When my kid was applying, he was an intended humanities major who wanted to jump off the math train and went back and forth about what math to take senior year.

For him, the choice was between Calc and Stats so he took Calc bc of that language on the website. So I remembered it as needed Calc (but I was wrong). Sorry to worry anyone!

Wisconsin changed their language last year! They used to flat out say that they expected calc if offered. You remembered correctly.

[Anonymous]

This was a huge question for us going into admissions last year and people were insistent that our kid’s choices would be limited without calculus. His school did offer AP calculus and he chose not to take it. He took honors pre-calculus junior year and regular stats senior year (no honors or AP offered).

He was not an athlete, no hooks, did not apply ED anywhere.

Accepted Tufts, Emory Oxford, Wisconsin, Georgia, Ohio State. Waitlisted UVA, Emory main campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, pp here and I misremembered. What Wisconsin says is “Courses that will not fulfill this requirement include statistics.” When my kid was applying, he was an intended humanities major who wanted to jump off the math train and went back and forth about what math to take senior year.

For him, the choice was between Calc and Stats so he took Calc bc of that language on the website. So I remembered it as needed Calc (but I was wrong). Sorry to worry anyone!

Wisconsin changed their language last year! They used to flat out say that they expected calc if offered. You remembered correctly.

Thanks! You made me feel less crazy this morning. I have a tendency to gaslight myself (which is what I did when I went to the website to try and be helpful).

[Anonymous]

If you are very worried, it might make sense to double-up math next year and take pre-calc and AP Stats as well to show quantitative capability. Most humanities majors are going to need to take Stats eventually anyway.

[Anonymous]

In truth, the high school calculus is often performative for rigor, and many serious STEM students repeat their level when they arrive at uni in order to settle into that uni's teaching style, especially covering a year's worth of high school calc in one semester. Unless there's some reason to push ahead for a certain major, it can be smart to slow the roll in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2nd tier state schools and the equivalent privates.

Ignore this poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are very worried, it might make sense to double-up math next year and take pre-calc and AP Stats as well to show quantitative capability. Most humanities majors are going to need to take Stats eventually anyway.

No need to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are very worried, it might make sense to double-up math next year and take pre-calc and AP Stats as well to show quantitative capability. Most humanities majors are going to need to take Stats eventually anyway.

What do you think humanities majors are?