Reply to What does it take for MCPS kids to get into UMCP?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]How rigorous a courseload are they looking for?  How many APs do you typically need to take to get in-- do kids sometimes get in with only a handful of AP classes or do they need to be closer to maxing them out?  Do they have to be on the advanced math track/make it to calculus by senior year to get in, or is it okay to be on grade level and just do pre-calc or AP Stats senior year (if not interested in STEM)?[/quote]

28:15 here, our kid had 12 APs, mostly humanities (not math/science), but also Econ, and got 5s on all AP exams, including micro and macro economics. [/quote]

My MCPS Wootton grad did not have close to 12 APs. Maybe he had 7?  He didn’t have all 5s for scores either. All his other courses were honors though, except the PE and art credits.  UMD wants to see rigor but is not over the top in expectations. He did have a great GPA (4.7 weighted) and a good SAT and I think that in recent years both have been required for admission. [/quote]

What year was this, and what subjects were his higher vs lower rigor classes in?  What was his highest class in math?  Thanks![/quote]

AP Precalculus. [/quote]

Thanks!  Was this in the last couple of years?  Can anyone else confirm that kids have been getting in with grade-level math (ending in pre-calc or stats) rather than accelerated to reach calculus in HS?[/quote]

For some majors and depending on the HS you are from/connections, its possible but its pretty surprising that that is considered rigor.[/quote]

What do you mean?  Whether or not you're going to be able to reach calculus in high school is basically already decided for you by the time you're 10 years old (if you don't get recommended for accelerated math at the end of 3rd and/or 5th grade.). Isn't rigor based on the most rigorous classes available to you (i.e. taking honors or AP math classes at the level you're currently at, whether on-grade or ahead)?  Or are kids really not able to be considered as taking a highly rigorous courseload if their 5th grade teacher didn't think they were ready for accelerated math at 10 or 11 and so they can't get to Algebra 1 until 9th grade?

[/quote]

Algebra 1 in 8th is the on level track in MCPS.  You can do Alg. 1 in 8th, leading to calculus with no summer classes, even if you didn’t do accelerated math at 10.[/quote]

No, totally inaccurate.  Algebra 1 comes after math 8.  To get into Algebra 1 in 8th grade you need either compression of 4-6 into 2 years in ES or compression of 6-8 into 2 years in MS.  (If you have acceleration/compaction in both ES and MS you will be 2 years ahead and take Algebra 1 in 7th.)  Not getting recommended for accelerated math by your 5th grade teacher means you miss out on your last chance to make it to algebra in MS and calculus in HS unless you take summer classes or take two math classes the same year or do some non-standard skipping that requires you to miss some math content in MS (none of which most kids will do.)

Can folks clarify how big of a disadvantage this puts you at for UMCP?  Will high schools not check the "most rigorous" box for kids who can't make it to calculus in HS because they run out of time?  Does UMCP care about the "most rigorous" box and/or the lack of calculus itself?[/quote]
DP.

Alg1 in 8th is on track - this gets you to calc in 12th grade
Alg 1 in 7th is advanced - this gets you to calc in 11th grade (that's both my kids)
Alg 1 in 9th is behind 
[/quote]

No, you are incorrect. That is actually what Jack Smith tried to do, and then when so many kids struggled in HS math had to pull back. They offer acceleration to allow kids to take algebra 1 in 8th grade when appropriate, but the on-grade level class is Algebra 1 in 9th. Kids who do compacted math in 4-5 and prealgebra in 6th can take compacted math in 7, and that is the super-accelerated track.[/quote]
Both  my kids took Alg in 7th grade. They both were in compacted math in ES.

Both my kids took Calc in 11th grade (one too Calc App and the other took BC calc).

This was when Jack Smith was superintendent. [/quote]
Updated Jan 2025 - there are only 3 tracks listed.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/district/curriculum/math/montgomery-county-public-schools_-prek-12-mathematics-program---google-docs.pdf

One of the pathways is Math 6+ > Math 7+ > Algebra -- > Calc in 12th grade -- on track

The  advanced track is Prealg 6 > Alg 7 >  Geometry 8th --> Calc in 11th grade

On track (the left most column) is Math 8 in 8th grade --> Precalc in 12th grade[/quote]

There is flexibility in the schools.  Super advanced at some schools start in 6th, some schools even offer Algebra in 5th.  Kids will also do summer school to accelerate.[/quote]

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