Anonymous
Post 01/17/2021 23:53     Subject: Math path for UVA/WM
Anonymous wrote:My kid was just accepted ED to W & M. It was very clear from her application that she will not be a STEM major.
She took Alg 1 honors in 8th grade, Geom Honord in 9th, Alg 2 Honors in 10th and nonhonors Precalculus and Applied Calc in 11th and 12th. She got As and Bs.
She took 8 AP classes and has an above 4.0 but not amazing GPA. She has participated in the highest academic level classes and has a long experience with activities related to her potential major. She attends a FCPS HS that is well-regarded as being an academically strong school.

I cannot speak to future STEM majors or to UVA expectations, but it is possible to get in to W&M without killing yourself over math.


Thank you for this post. We'll be looking at W & M too.
DC and I were discussing the Math path today.
DC is currently in HN Pre-calc. Has made A or A- in Math so far but he will not be a STEM major. He will go into Humanities.
We are considering Applied Calculus for 11th grade, along with 3 APs, 2 DEs and 1 HN (Science).
He will likely end up with 8 APs by end of HS.

You're right about not killing yourself over Math. I'm just really encouraged that scaling back on Math is doable.
Anonymous
Post 01/17/2021 14:49     Subject: Re:Math path for UVA/WM
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Son just got into UVA ED, and he is taking Calculus A/B this year. He applied to the College of Arts and Sciences. His counselor told him he needed to take Calculus this year to be credible for UVA and William & Mary.


I’ve always wondered why students who are interested in a humanities major (not STEM) have to take calculus at all. What is the point?


🙄 wow


Wow yourself.


We have to take a lot of classes we don’t need. Do we really want people to be graduating from high school never having taken a math or science class?

That said, calculus is the wrong one. We need to be taught statistics. It would make our society so much better.


And that was exactly my point. Nowhere did I say kids should graduate without taking math or science classes. The point is that there are math and science classes that suit everyone - and calculus and physics are not at all the best choices for kids not planning on a STEM major.