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Highest-level math course
sqdwfe13
Registered User Posts: 1,261 Senior Member
Would it hurt me a lot at selective colleges if the highest-level math course I took was Precalculus before I graduated?
Post edited by sqdwfe13 on
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Replies to: Highest-level math course
It certainly won't help.
and to graduate u have to have 4 years of math, and she already maxed out all the math available seeing ap calc bc is the highest level
so she applied to ap stats to fulfill the requirement
and results came out thursday as who got in, or was waitlisted for ap stats
and i was like uhh jinzhao it says here u are waitlisted
and she was like WAHTTTTTT HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE (SPASM)
then i was like jk
ok that was random lol
It's going to be reeeally hard for me to fit in AP Calc BC because I'd have to sacrifice a lot of other things I am doing.
But if I was well-rounded in every other way, would a selective college actually REJECT me for not taking Calculus?
That said Econ is becoming an increasingly quantitative field. Hopefully, other parts of your application convey some strength in mathematics.
I took (just fyi): Geometry, Algebra 2, Functions/Trig/Statistics, and AP Statistics.
The first three classes were all basically "easy" math classes - but I just don't understand math well, so I didn't see the point in struggling (and probably getting Cs no matter how hard I worked) in a different track. AP Stat is a challenge for me but I'm doing well. It makes a lot more sense to me than other math classes have. :)
At our school precalc is the fourth year:
Algebra 1
Geometry
Algebra 2
Precalc
"and she already maxed out all the math available seeing ap calc bc is the highest level"
Is this common at most schools? At our school you can go to multivariable calc as the highest level. Plus we have to take Algebra AB to take Algebra BC, except for special circumstances.
Like others have said, including GCs I've talked to, taking Calc in high school is pretty important. Schools do frown upon not taking it, and yes it could hurt you.
I'm not trying to scare you or upset you but give you the honnest truth. Mostly it depends on the type of schools that you are applying to. Most of the schools that "stereotypical" CCers apply to think it is important.
Good luck with everything.
There is Calc AB in my school (as of next year). However, it will only be offered as AP Calc AB online, and I don't believe a single student has signed up to take it next year, not even the few students who like math.
Personally, I don't believe colleges will discount me because I chose not to take an AP online course for Calculus. Most of the seniors who've applied to college this year (most of which are in Pre-Calc now or who took it last year and no math this year...because there was none above PreCalc this year) have been accepted to most of the places they applied to.
I don't think the colleges that I'll apply to next year will toss my app because I didn't take Calculus. Then again, I don't know about the Top school because I'm not a future Ivy applicant and such.
I actually have a full course-load next year (6 classes, because DE classes are two periods). I don't believe colleges will think I'm slacking off at all.
Maybe it depends on the college? Probably. Some won't care as long as you've completed your requirements and have good grades and rank and GPA. Some are pickier.
David Bressoud's Launchings from the CUPM Curriculum Guide
for the number of students who have taken more advanced math courses. Different colleges look for different student characteristics, but it's not a bad idea to challenge yourself in math.