Am I not good enough? Algebra I as a freshman

ucbalumnus
Sat, 15 Aug 2015 05:12:07 +0000

maaz97:

Alegebra 1 as a freshman is okay, but definitely a bit behind if you’re applying to top schools. Most applicants to top schools have Algebra 2/trigonometry/precalculus as a freshman class.

Very few students are actually two years advanced in math (algebra 2 in 9th grade) and even fewer are more advanced than that. Being one year advanced in math (geometry in 9th grade) is reasonably common, though.

But except for a very tiny number of colleges that expect calculus in high school (e.g. Caltech, Harvey Mudd, Cornell engineering, WUStL engineering), the normal expectation is to be ready for calculus in college, with anything beyond that being a bonus. Algebra 1 in 9th grade leads to precalculus in 12th grade, so you should be ready for calculus in college.