3 Years of Math vs 4 Years

ucbalumnus
Wed, 09 Aug 2017 20:26:41 +0000

Massmomm:

by my reckoning, he is one year, not two years ahead in math. Algebra 1 is taught in 8th grade around here, and he took it in 7th. Or is this not the case everywhere?

Normal progression in high school math is:

9th: algebra 1
10th: geometry
11th: algebra 2
12th: precalculus / trigonometry
college frosh: calculus

It is certainly possible that, in middle/high schools that are relatively elite academically, most students are on the +1 track starting algebra 1 in 8th grade reaching calculus in 12th grade. But remember that about 3.5 million graduate from high school each year, but between 400,000 to 500,000 take calculus in high school.