Reply to Skipping fcps math classes

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Another thread brought this to my attention, and I wanted to get other opinions on it. DC is in 7th and is on track to take geometry in 8th, Alg2 in 9th, precalculus in 10th, then calc bc in 11th. But DC does outside math enrichment and is already up to Alg2. DC enjoys math enough that he will probably continue that sequence regardless of what his FCPS track is. Since elementary school, DC knows that FCPS math class is "for review" and treats it as such. So we assumed he was going to stay on the track above, like everyone else in his AAP class.

But some DCUM posters are saying it might be advantageous to take geometry in the summer so that DC would be in Alg2 in 8th. I guess that would free up 1 year of math in high school... Are there any other pros/cons?  He might lose some WGPA because he loses the WGPA bump from honors Alg2? Note that there is no concern about whether he can handle a skip - as mentioned above, [b]DC is already a couple years past the FCPS curriculum track and is aiming for USAJMO, so fairly advanced in math[/b].[/quote]
USAJMO is completely a different ballgame. If that's truly his motivation, I would recommend he find a strategy to maximize his time spent working and thinking about hard problems (AIME to USAJMO difficulty). This means minimizing the "distraction" from school math. Summer is often a perfect time to make significant math progress  toward his goal, as he can spend a lot of time doing that without dealing with school (and also have leftover time for summer fun). So definitely do not recommend wasting 5 weeks on FCPS summer geometry. If he is good enough where he has taken a rigorous geometry course, such as AoPS, you/he should try very hard to petition the school to just have him take a test to get out of it.. why waste 5 weeks relearning material taught at a more basic level?

My assumption is that he truly enjoys math/math contests and wants to excel at a high level in them, and he doesn't care about acceleration for acceleration sake, like many on these threads. If so, he should cut out "time sink" activities that he doesn't really enjoy/care about and also just worry less/don't buy in to the college race craze..[/quote]

Op here. Thanks for the reply..  I wrote my 19:52 response before reading this one. Ssuppose DC tests outt of geometry (he could very well test out of Alg2 too)... Does that help him in high school ( insofar as building a resume for his dream school MIT)?

It might be "better" just to check off boxes by taking the FCPS math courses in the usual sequence, right? Even if these courses aren't helping much.[/quote]

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