Anonymous
03/03/2020 17:06
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is in honors precalc (MCPS). Wondering what he should take Junior and Senior years. He is more interested in humanities and social sciences but is decent in math. Wants to be competitive for selective liberal arts colleges. Should he take AB Calc or BC? What’s the difference? Or both? (Meaning AB Junior and BC Senior). If he takes one year of Calc Junior year then should he take AP stats?
Really just asking for college admission purposes.
If he is in honors pre-calc as a 10th grader, he is more than just "decent" in math.
That's the typical 10th grade math class for most college-bound kids. My kid got As in Honors Precalc in 10th (and earlier math classes), but is finding AP Calc AB significantly more challenging this year. He'll take AP Stats senior year.
Precalc is not typical 10th grade math at any normal high school in the US. Precalc in 11th is typical college bound. Precalc in 12th is typical across the board. Precalc in 10th is the gifted/advanced track.
It's a year ahead of on-level, which is what most MCPS college-bound kids are. Kids who had compacted math in 4th and 5th (which is a lot of kids) get to Precalc in 10th.
Well, "on level" is actually ahead. Not too long ago, and still in many places, Algebra I in 9th was on level. Pre-calc. was on level for 12th.
Now MCPS's goal is to have students complete Algebra I by 8th grade.
Anonymous
03/03/2020 14:06
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is in honors precalc (MCPS). Wondering what he should take Junior and Senior years. He is more interested in humanities and social sciences but is decent in math. Wants to be competitive for selective liberal arts colleges. Should he take AB Calc or BC? What’s the difference? Or both? (Meaning AB Junior and BC Senior). If he takes one year of Calc Junior year then should he take AP stats?
Really just asking for college admission purposes.
If he is in honors pre-calc as a 10th grader, he is more than just "decent" in math.
That's the typical 10th grade math class for most college-bound kids. My kid got As in Honors Precalc in 10th (and earlier math classes), but is finding AP Calc AB significantly more challenging this year. He'll take AP Stats senior year.
Precalc is not typical 10th grade math at any normal high school in the US. Precalc in 11th is typical college bound. Precalc in 12th is typical across the board. Precalc in 10th is the gifted/advanced track.
It's a year ahead of on-level, which is what most MCPS college-bound kids are. Kids who had compacted math in 4th and 5th (which is a lot of kids) get to Precalc in 10th.
Well, "on level" is actually ahead. Not too long ago, and still in many places, Algebra I in 9th was on level. Pre-calc. was on level for 12th.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 12:16
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Is there a typical math path that a selective liberal arts college looks for? Is BC Calc necessary for admission? And what about a second year of Calc?
For science or engineering oriented students, calculus is generally expected at the most competitive colleges if your high school offers it. Calc BC is the equivalent of first year college calculus and covers both differential and integral calculus. Calc AB is mostly just differential calculus and is generally equivalent to just first semester college calculus. So taking AB and then BC in high school is not really taking two years of calculus - more like taking 2 years in high school to cover 1 year of college math. A post calculus class would be linear algebra, differential equations, or multivariate calculus. While many STEM students at the most selective colleges take those classes in high school, there are big advantages for non-savants to retaking them in college. Some students choose to take AP stats after calculus. AP stats is a non-calculus based class that is not really college material at the most competitive colleges. It is perfectly fine for students who are clearly humanities oriented who can take more advanced classes in their fields of interest. But I think the majority of humanities students at the most competitive colleges took calculus in high school these days.
But do these humanities students need BC or is AB ok?
AB is fine. One other option, if you're in MCPS, is a course called Calc with Apps, that's a non AP intro to calculus. Taking that junior year followed by Calc AB, would ensure a strong senior schedule without pushing too far into math that's not of interest. AB is enough background that college options wouldn't be limited if interests or requirements change.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 11:07
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Is there a typical math path that a selective liberal arts college looks for? Is BC Calc necessary for admission? And what about a second year of Calc?
For science or engineering oriented students, calculus is generally expected at the most competitive colleges if your high school offers it. Calc BC is the equivalent of first year college calculus and covers both differential and integral calculus. Calc AB is mostly just differential calculus and is generally equivalent to just first semester college calculus. So taking AB and then BC in high school is not really taking two years of calculus - more like taking 2 years in high school to cover 1 year of college math. A post calculus class would be linear algebra, differential equations, or multivariate calculus. While many STEM students at the most selective colleges take those classes in high school, there are big advantages for non-savants to retaking them in college. Some students choose to take AP stats after calculus. AP stats is a non-calculus based class that is not really college material at the most competitive colleges. It is perfectly fine for students who are clearly humanities oriented who can take more advanced classes in their fields of interest. But I think the majority of humanities students at the most competitive colleges took calculus in high school these days.
But do these humanities students need BC or is AB ok?
Anonymous
03/02/2020 10:08
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Is there a typical math path that a selective liberal arts college looks for? Is BC Calc necessary for admission? And what about a second year of Calc?
For science or engineering oriented students, calculus is generally expected at the most competitive colleges if your high school offers it. Calc BC is the equivalent of first year college calculus and covers both differential and integral calculus. Calc AB is mostly just differential calculus and is generally equivalent to just first semester college calculus. So taking AB and then BC in high school is not really taking two years of calculus - more like taking 2 years in high school to cover 1 year of college math. A post calculus class would be linear algebra, differential equations, or multivariate calculus. While many STEM students at the most selective colleges take those classes in high school, there are big advantages for non-savants to retaking them in college. Some students choose to take AP stats after calculus. AP stats is a non-calculus based class that is not really college material at the most competitive colleges. It is perfectly fine for students who are clearly humanities oriented who can take more advanced classes in their fields of interest. But I think the majority of humanities students at the most competitive colleges took calculus in high school these days.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 09:56
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:To clarify, he needs 4 years of math to graduate. It’s a state requirement.
Chances are, his middle school algebra or algebra 2 will count toward that four years. You don't necessarily need to take math all four years of high school to fulfill the requirement.
That said, I think every smart student (STEM or not) should take at least a year of calculus, just to appreciate the beauty of it. But I was a physics major, so I'm a little biased.
In MD you need four years of math in high school (grades 9-12) to graduate.
Correct! It's absurd because the content goal for graduation is algebra. It drives me crazy that the entire school system is oriented towards things my DC learned in middle school. You used to be able to waive the requirement if you took a full year of calculus.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 09:17
Subject: Re:Math classes
My humanities oriented DC took calc AB junior year, calc BC senior, this gave her a strong background to complete college work. She ended at a school with a math requirement regardless of AP credit. Going straight to BC takes dedication, it's possible, but more for the highly motivated math student, there's overlap in the classes, so BC moves very fast. AP Stat, is good for a humanities student. Depending on the teacher it can be as much of a writing and reasoning class, as computation. It fills the math requirement, of course, but doesn't do a lot to keep math skill honed. It's more of a math elective, and not very challenging as it's a low level college intro stretched to year length. My younger DC, who is more math oriented, is taking it now and doesn't enjoy it, says the (mostly) seniors in the class are noticeably unmotivated.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 09:06
Subject: Math classes
Is there a typical math path that a selective liberal arts college looks for? Is BC Calc necessary for admission? And what about a second year of Calc?
Anonymous
03/02/2020 09:05
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:My child took an AP Calc and AP Stats his junior year. There is no right or wrong answer here. Perhaps ask his current math teacher?
So what did they take Senior year?
Anonymous
03/02/2020 09:05
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Sorry to hijack this but my kid is at an independent school in MoCo. She wants to be able to take AB Calc next year but needs to take pre-calc over the summer to do so. Does anyone have any suggestions of where she could do that?
Thanks.
Sidwell and Landon both offer Pre-Cal. Just as a warning though it's not up to par with a full year class. I'd recommend making sure you have a tutor next year to fill in the gaps.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 09:04
Subject: Math classes
The high school math teachers aren’t going to know about what colleges are looking for, especially for a student who isn’t interested in a math or stem focused major.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 09:03
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:To clarify, he needs 4 years of math to graduate. It’s a state requirement.
Chances are, his middle school algebra or algebra 2 will count toward that four years. You don't necessarily need to take math all four years of high school to fulfill the requirement.
That said, I think every smart student (STEM or not) should take at least a year of calculus, just to appreciate the beauty of it. But I was a physics major, so I'm a little biased.
Doesn’t count. Still needs 4 years taken while in high school to graduate.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 08:35
Subject: Math classes
My child took an AP Calc and AP Stats his junior year. There is no right or wrong answer here. Perhaps ask his current math teacher?
Anonymous
03/02/2020 08:16
Subject: Math classes
Sorry to hijack this but my kid is at an independent school in MoCo. She wants to be able to take AB Calc next year but needs to take pre-calc over the summer to do so. Does anyone have any suggestions of where she could do that?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Anonymous
03/02/2020 07:47
Subject: Math classes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My sophomore is in honors precalc (MCPS). Wondering what he should take Junior and Senior years. He is more interested in humanities and social sciences but is decent in math. Wants to be competitive for selective liberal arts colleges. Should he take AB Calc or BC? What’s the difference? Or both? (Meaning AB Junior and BC Senior). If he takes one year of Calc Junior year then should he take AP stats?
Really just asking for college admission purposes.
If he is in honors pre-calc as a 10th grader, he is more than just "decent" in math.
That's the typical 10th grade math class for most college-bound kids. My kid got As in Honors Precalc in 10th (and earlier math classes), but is finding AP Calc AB significantly more challenging this year. He'll take AP Stats senior year.
Precalc is not typical 10th grade math at any normal high school in the US. Precalc in 11th is typical college bound. Precalc in 12th is typical across the board. Precalc in 10th is the gifted/advanced track.
It's a year ahead of on-level, which is what most MCPS college-bound kids are. Kids who had compacted math in 4th and 5th (which is a lot of kids) get to Precalc in 10th.