AP Calc BC in sophomore year?

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Appreciate all parents for sharing this valuable information. We will certainly explore the private route. Thank you!


I do not know that MCPS will accept the credit. Definitely check before looking in to it.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DC would like to take AP Calc BC in sophomore year. The pre-requisite for this is Honors Pre Calc. Can this be done in summer? We are in a W school.


DC may run out of math classes to take by year 4 and is required to take math every year of HS.


If that is DC’s trajectory then MCPS has an obligation to find a math class. That may mean paying for a college online course, a class at MC, a class that is offered at another high school, or DC takes an elective like AP Statistics. DC and parent should be talking with high school counselor to come up with the plan.


I should add, MCPS could pay for private school tuition if a program is found that meets DC’s needs that MCPS cannot provide.


GTFO. You must be new around here.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Honors Precalc is routinely described as the most difficult math course. Kid needs to be really motivated to do it in summer school!


Honors precalc is the hardest class at our DC private school. It was described as such by the math chairperson. My kid entered it in 9th (having been in the public track of algebra 1 in 6th).
After a month he dropped down to honors Algebra 2. It's been light years easier.

I would not rush either Algebra 2 or Pre-calc over the summer.
My other kid took honors geometry through Hopkins CTY over the summer and that was doable. Even so the material was truncated over a year-long course.
YMMW.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Appreciate all parents for sharing this valuable information. We will certainly explore the private route. Thank you!


I do not know that MCPS will accept the credit. Definitely check before looking in to it.


+1

We had once looked at this and learned that getting credit through summer courses is generally less of an issue for credit recovery or catching up. It seemed that MCPS generally frowns upon parents trying to accelerate their kids for other reasons. I think they were worried about encouraging a rat race of parents pushing their kids into summer math classes to skip math classes in school.

Also, it is pretty common for students to do both AP stat and AP calc even if they do precal in 10th. The prereq for AP stat is algebra 2. (In fact, there are students that graduate without AP calc but take AP stat.)

OP, your DC can take AP stat anytime in 10th, 11th, or 12th grades, though it is more common to take it in 11th or 12th.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Why is since he would like to take AP stats in Senior. We are trying for a path to reach this. Any other recommendations to get to this path?

You can take AP stats as an elective! No need to take as a math class senior year.
Anonymous
My current junior took both AP Stats and honors precalc last year as a sophomore. Agree that AP Stats can be taken any time -- it's a decent amount of work but nothing that's too hard when doubled up with another math class.

AP Calc BC is a brutal course. My current college student is very strong in math and had to work his butt off in Calc BC his junior year to get As. He then took multivariate calc his senior year. This was at WJ -- not sure which W school OP was referring to -- but I concur that there's not a good reason to rush through precalc to get to BC sophomore year.
Anonymous
Or they can do it for free on edx.org via university of Arizona. I would never pay 1800 for a generic pre calc class-especially if the child is a driven self learner.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:DC would like to take AP Calc BC in sophomore year. The pre-requisite for this is Honors Pre Calc. Can this be done in summer? We are in a W school.


Well, I took the equivalent of that as a 20 year old in college…that seemed like a more appropriate age/level for such material.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Or they can do it for free on edx.org via university of Arizona. I would never pay 1800 for a generic pre calc class-especially if the child is a driven self learner.


Who’s charging $1800?!
Anonymous
MCPS does not accept credit for summer courses in the way OP is proposing.
They allow it for catching up to grade level or credit recovery / to improve a grade that was low.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Why rush it? A solid understanding of math is so much more important than rushing ahead. Take AP Stats as an elective when it fits in the schedule.


Because that’s what parents want now. Pushing their kids like this for no sane reason.
Anonymous
If you wanted this path, should have gone to magnet. Blair and Poolesville offer this.
Anonymous
Just think a lot about the future. A friend's kid did this but now they are having a hard time filling out her senior year schedule and apparently she needs to have math for the kind of colleges she wants. It's not a great long term plan.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Just think a lot about the future. A friend's kid did this but now they are having a hard time filling out her senior year schedule and apparently she needs to have math for the kind of colleges she wants. It's not a great long term plan.


Do schools hold it against kids who literally run out of classes to take?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Honors Precalc is routinely described as the most difficult math course. Kid needs to be really motivated to do it in summer school!


I disagree with this. My daughter and I (30 years) ago both found Honors Algebra 2 the worst. If you can survive that, you can survive anything.


Agree 1,000 percent with this!
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