DC is getting a C+ in Advanced Calculus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids at Blair, RM, Wootton, and Churchill public schools routinely have taken such high advanced Calculus courses and differential equations prior to 11 th grade in the area public schools. I know a couple on the math USAMO teams. What’s the big deal here? All those power hitting high GPA kids are no longer deserving?

Same. Multi, linear eq, diff eq by junior year. Common at our public.

Good for them. Won't help. Up to BC with good grades is all the good schools want. Anything more can also be a negative if they are not involved in a lot of activities especially varsity sports showing they are well rounded.

Source?

Why would a college admit a kid who has already completed an undergraduate degree in math? It’s a waste of everyone’s time.

Your source is your conjecture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a sad statement of the world today (I'm not blaming you - I feel awful for you). One bad grade should not ruin a kid. I'm pretty sure I had multiple final grades of B or so (but still finished in the top few % of my class at a good public HS) and got into multiple Ivy+ schools in the 90s. A's weren't handed out like candy and any SAT score over 1400 was great. The process is just so awful. But I don't know the answer.

This isn't the 90s.

In the era of grade inflation, a C+ might as well be a D. Now, if the OP isn't obsessed with T10 schools like most DCUMers and puts a reasonable college list together, he/she will avoid some admissions pain.

I'm not saying it is the 90s. I'm just venting as to how awful things are. The kid is taking advanced calc as a junior. Pretty impressive. But one screw up and that's it. As you noted, there are lots of great schools out there and I'm sure DC will get into one. But it is a shame. That is all.

Why is taking the course impressive? And what does that even mean? Are you taking the course to “impress” other people or to learn? What a shallow statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids in NYC who enter SHSAT schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, etc.) from public schools end up doing calc as a senior. And these are the best and brightest.

The take calc early phenomenon is dumb. It is not proving anything.

Stuy is THE best STEM magnet school in the country, yet fcps moms say they are very behind.

Exactly. That is why I mentioned this. I live in NYC and have friends with kids at allegedly top suburban schools in VA, NC and MD who are obsessed with pushing their kids ahead and think it shows that their kids are so brilliant and their schools are so great. It really doesn't. But they are in their little bubble.

I have also heard that these kids who place into super advanced math sometimes end up struggling if they end up at top colleges because they aren't as prepared as they think they are.

We are not at a top school. It’s normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My white, completely unhooked kid was accepted this year to an Ivy engineering program after taking a max of calculus AB in high school. And no AP computer science either.

Engineering is different than cs. Why wouldn’t they take bc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is such a sad statement of the world today (I'm not blaming you - I feel awful for you). One bad grade should not ruin a kid. I'm pretty sure I had multiple final grades of B or so (but still finished in the top few % of my class at a good public HS) and got into multiple Ivy+ schools in the 90s. A's weren't handed out like candy and any SAT score over 1400 was great. The process is just so awful. But I don't know the answer.

This isn't the 90s.

In the era of grade inflation, a C+ might as well be a D. Now, if the OP isn't obsessed with T10 schools like most DCUMers and puts a reasonable college list together, he/she will avoid some admissions pain.

Rigorous schools do not have grade inflation.

A C+ at a "rigorous " school still sucks, so there's that.

Well, most kids don’t make it past calc BC either, and especially not an a junior. If he did well though BC I think he is fine

The kids at our school admitted to the highest ranked colleges did not take the hardest math classes offered. I don't know where people got the idea that this was needed. It has never been the case at our high school.

Exactly. Princeton, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Duke, Hopkins do not care about calculus. Take Algebra I, II, Geo/trig. Take precalculus as a senior. That checks the most rigorous box so no need for further.

That would be a year behind the standard math progression at DC’s private school, and my understanding of most private schools in the DMV. Stand is to have geometry in 9, algebra 2 (with or without trig) in 10, precalc in 11, and some level of Calc in 12. Yes, there is a track a year behind that many kids are on, but it’s essentially remedial and would not “check the most rigorous box.” And of course there are honors/AP sections of the standard progression, and there are also kids a year or two advanced who take Calc in 11th or even 10th and then take a year or two of post-Calc math.

I was assuming the “advanced calculus” that OP mentions was an honors non-AP class or the equivalent of an AP class in a school that doesn’t offer APs, but others seem to think it’s actually post-AP. It would be helpful for OP to explain what it actually is.

And, depending on the child and track that’s very behind public. I find it strange too privates water things down so much especially when they encourage redshirting. Between older kids and getting the brightest they all should be able to handle more.

Very behind public? lol

Public school kids can take whatever they want and get at least a B+ as long as they turned in hw on time. The whatever advanced courses offered there are too navigational to mean anything.

You clearly have no clue, a private school parent justifying paying a ton of money for a watered down curriculum with held back kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids at Blair, RM, Wootton, and Churchill public schools routinely have taken such high advanced Calculus courses and differential equations prior to 11 th grade in the area public schools. I know a couple on the math USAMO teams. What’s the big deal here? All those power hitting high GPA kids are no longer deserving?

Same. Multi, linear eq, diff eq by junior year. Common at our public.

Good for them. Won't help. Up to BC with good grades is all the good schools want. Anything more can also be a negative if they are not involved in a lot of activities especially varsity sports showing they are well rounded.

Agree. And I will take it a step further to say that any calc at all is all you need. Taking calc as a sophomore or whatever really isn't impressing anyone, and it is just setting your kid up for failure.

We purposely turned down a very elite magnet school to send our kid to private school to avoid the pressure to take calc as a sophomore, 15 APs, not have a lunch period, and whatever else. Yes, I am extremely privileged to be able to afford to do this. But people really need to chill.

You are making stuff up. Of course they have lunch and ap classes are normal for smart kids. That is why we did not go private. It’s dumbed down with rich bragging parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also when you apply to some large schools they may expressly say they will not recalculate advanced classes that are not AP.
They will only give a point extra for AP so your kid may not make it beyond the algorithm. Suddenly the kid who took basic math and got an A looks better than your kid who took Advance AB calc as a junior and got a C plus. This is just one example. This could be the case comparing other classes ex Advanced English to regular English . College has become so complicated that these issues have to be worked out from private schools to keep up. Again simply talk to your school on how they will figure this out for fairness for students who take on these classes. I feel like the kids who fare better have parents who bring this up right away. If you wait until senior year then college counseling is so busy and your recommendations already written. It makes it harder.

This has nothing to do with public or private and colleges want the most rigour at your school. What it comes down to is that this kid is struggling with Calc AB. Parents should have gotten a tutor but didn't. So, now they should get a tutor for the summer and have him take AB again or BC.

What school lets students retake a class?? Not many will unless you have a F or D.

Of course they will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids in NYC who enter SHSAT schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, etc.) from public schools end up doing calc as a senior. And these are the best and brightest.

The take calc early phenomenon is dumb. It is not proving anything.

Stuy is THE best STEM magnet school in the country, yet fcps moms say they are very behind.

Exactly. That is why I mentioned this. I live in NYC and have friends with kids at allegedly top suburban schools in VA, NC and MD who are obsessed with pushing their kids ahead and think it shows that their kids are so brilliant and their schools are so great. It really doesn't. But they are in their little bubble.

I have also heard that these kids who place into super advanced math sometimes end up struggling if they end up at top colleges because they aren't as prepared as they think they are.

I’ve heard quite a few cases where public school students failed miserably in college calculus class. The AP classes or whatever more advanced math courses offered in these public schools are not well taught. The foundation is just not there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids in NYC who enter SHSAT schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, etc.) from public schools end up doing calc as a senior. And these are the best and brightest.

The take calc early phenomenon is dumb. It is not proving anything.

Stuy is THE best STEM magnet school in the country, yet fcps moms say they are very behind.

Exactly. That is why I mentioned this. I live in NYC and have friends with kids at allegedly top suburban schools in VA, NC and MD who are obsessed with pushing their kids ahead and think it shows that their kids are so brilliant and their schools are so great. It really doesn't. But they are in their little bubble.

I have also heard that these kids who place into super advanced math sometimes end up struggling if they end up at top colleges because they aren't as prepared as they think they are.

I’ve heard quite a few cases where public school students failed miserably in college calculus class. The AP classes or whatever more advanced math courses offered in these public schools are not well taught. The foundation is just not there.

And, public and private school kids fail out all the time. There are far more public than private. College cal is hard to the foundation is good. And that’s why you want more cal exposure not less. Ab is watered down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids in NYC who enter SHSAT schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, etc.) from public schools end up doing calc as a senior. And these are the best and brightest.

The take calc early phenomenon is dumb. It is not proving anything.

Stuy is THE best STEM magnet school in the country, yet fcps moms say they are very behind.

Exactly. That is why I mentioned this. I live in NYC and have friends with kids at allegedly top suburban schools in VA, NC and MD who are obsessed with pushing their kids ahead and think it shows that their kids are so brilliant and their schools are so great. It really doesn't. But they are in their little bubble.

I have also heard that these kids who place into super advanced math sometimes end up struggling if they end up at top colleges because they aren't as prepared as they think they are.

I’ve heard quite a few cases where public school students failed miserably in college calculus class. The AP classes or whatever more advanced math courses offered in these public schools are not well taught. The foundation is just not there.

We did private school summer prep math classes at a local school. Some of the teaching was much worse than in public. It’s hit or miss regardless of the school on teacher quality and fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids in NYC who enter SHSAT schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, etc.) from public schools end up doing calc as a senior. And these are the best and brightest.

The take calc early phenomenon is dumb. It is not proving anything.

Stuy is THE best STEM magnet school in the country, yet fcps moms say they are very behind.

Exactly. That is why I mentioned this. I live in NYC and have friends with kids at allegedly top suburban schools in VA, NC and MD who are obsessed with pushing their kids ahead and think it shows that their kids are so brilliant and their schools are so great. It really doesn't. But they are in their little bubble.

I have also heard that these kids who place into super advanced math sometimes end up struggling if they end up at top colleges because they aren't as prepared as they think they are.

I’ve heard quite a few cases where public school students failed miserably in college calculus class. The AP classes or whatever more advanced math courses offered in these public schools are not well taught. The foundation is just not there.

One big issue with public schools is that the teachers teach to the AP tests. But AP Calculus test is NOT Calculus. There is no real understanding of Calculus being taught there. Same issue with the more advanced math courses offered in public schools. The more exposure to it, the worse the consequences.

Elite private schools like PEA PAA teach Calculus on the same level of college Calculus. If the students passed their class, they would do well in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very risky move to take Advanced Cal in junior, which is equivalent to AP Cal BC or even harder. We had a senior taking it who was admitted to Princeton, she pulled a C. Luckily the offer was not rescinded. Had she taken that course in Junior, she would be going to Rochester this Fall!

She doesn't sound like Princeton material if she can only get a C in Calc BC as a senior. What kind of school are you going to with that high grade inflation? My public school kid took it as a sophmore with an A but they also were in tutoring as the teacher wasn't strong.

Advanced calc is NOT calc BC. Advanced calc is a much harder and comes after BC.

So, what is it? MV?

My kids go to a special magnet STEM school. They offer Calc AB, Calc BC, Advanced calc, MV, and DE. You can take Adv Calc after BC, or after taking both AB and BC. It’s like a Calc 3 or C/D if you will. It’s extremely challenging and most kids opt for a different math after calc BC (MV, DE, stats) or stop at BC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids in NYC who enter SHSAT schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, etc.) from public schools end up doing calc as a senior. And these are the best and brightest.

The take calc early phenomenon is dumb. It is not proving anything.

Stuy is THE best STEM magnet school in the country, yet fcps moms say they are very behind.

Exactly. That is why I mentioned this. I live in NYC and have friends with kids at allegedly top suburban schools in VA, NC and MD who are obsessed with pushing their kids ahead and think it shows that their kids are so brilliant and their schools are so great. It really doesn't. But they are in their little bubble.

I have also heard that these kids who place into super advanced math sometimes end up struggling if they end up at top colleges because they aren't as prepared as they think they are.

I’ve heard quite a few cases where public school students failed miserably in college calculus class. The AP classes or whatever more advanced math courses offered in these public schools are not well taught. The foundation is just not there.

We did private school summer prep math classes at a local school. Some of the teaching was much worse than in public. It’s hit or miss regardless of the school on teacher quality and fit.

This. Publics do better with math and science, and privates almost always do better with English and social sciences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids in NYC who enter SHSAT schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, etc.) from public schools end up doing calc as a senior. And these are the best and brightest.

The take calc early phenomenon is dumb. It is not proving anything.

Stuy is THE best STEM magnet school in the country, yet fcps moms say they are very behind.

Exactly. That is why I mentioned this. I live in NYC and have friends with kids at allegedly top suburban schools in VA, NC and MD who are obsessed with pushing their kids ahead and think it shows that their kids are so brilliant and their schools are so great. It really doesn't. But they are in their little bubble.

I have also heard that these kids who place into super advanced math sometimes end up struggling if they end up at top colleges because they aren't as prepared as they think they are.

I’ve heard quite a few cases where public school students failed miserably in college calculus class. The AP classes or whatever more advanced math courses offered in these public schools are not well taught. The foundation is just not there.

I think this applies more to kids who try to get into third semester or more advanced calc where they were expected to have learned calculus really well in high school. Kids who take Math 1 or Math 2 in college don't have this issue as much.

I told my kid to basically start over in most areas if possible when they got to college (Ivy+). They went to a great HS with excellent teachers but still better to refresh the material at college with the professors there, unless it meant stepping way back and being totally bored. College is hard enough as it is. No need to rush through.

Relatedly, these issues particularly apply to kids who take APs classes early in HS, then haven't really thought about the topic in a few years then have to start again in college, and at a higher level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids at Blair, RM, Wootton, and Churchill public schools routinely have taken such high advanced Calculus courses and differential equations prior to 11 th grade in the area public schools. I know a couple on the math USAMO teams. What’s the big deal here? All those power hitting high GPA kids are no longer deserving?

Same. Multi, linear eq, diff eq by junior year. Common at our public.

Good for them. Won't help. Up to BC with good grades is all the good schools want. Anything more can also be a negative if they are not involved in a lot of activities especially varsity sports showing they are well rounded.

Agree. And I will take it a step further to say that any calc at all is all you need. Taking calc as a sophomore or whatever really isn't impressing anyone, and it is just setting your kid up for failure.

We purposely turned down a very elite magnet school to send our kid to private school to avoid the pressure to take calc as a sophomore, 15 APs, not have a lunch period, and whatever else. Yes, I am extremely privileged to be able to afford to do this. But people really need to chill.

You are making stuff up. Of course they have lunch and ap classes are normal for smart kids. That is why we did not go private. It’s dumbed down with rich bragging parents.

My kid has a number of friends at Stuy and Bronx Sci who have classmates who don't have lunch periods so they can squeeze in a fifth AP or whatever. This is not necessary or healthy. Their parents argue it is because they are "curious" or "highly motivated." Socializing with your peers and taking some down time at lunch is more important to your development as a human being than yet another AP class.