<p>Is Calculus in high school absolutely neccessary? Is it ok to just take Pre-calc?
THanks</p>
<p>I would make sure that one of your courses at least included trig. I am not sure if calculus is required but I know it was highly recommended by admissions officer. If you aren’t going to take calculus you want to make sure you are taking other challenging classes. (ie AP/honors physics or chemistry) West Point stresses the math and science stuff.</p>
<p>Dont’ think of your academic courses “as necessary”. What West Point and other selective colleges want to see is that students are taking high level academic courses and challenging themselves in their coursework.<br>
You should be taking the highest level of courses that your school offers.
Some high school offer Calculus and some do not.
If you are on track to take Calculus and you choose not to then, yes that will be held against you.</p>
<p>Admission to West Point is a competition. You are competing against other kids who took or are taking Calculus.</p>
<p>Are you a rising senior? What did you take for Math this year? If you took pre-calc then I suggest that you take calculus.</p>
<p>Taking calculus in HS can only help you.</p>
<p>[USMA</a> Admissions: Start Young](<a href=“http://admissions.usma.edu/startyoung.cfm]USMA”>http://admissions.usma.edu/startyoung.cfm) </p>
<p>ACADEMIC PREPARATION
West Point encourages you to take a strong college preparatory academic program if you hope to apply and be a competitive West Point candidate. Your high school academic subjects should include:</p>
<p>Four years of English, with a strong emphasis on composition, grammar, literature, and speech.
Four years of math: algebra, plane geometry, intermediate algebra, and trigonometry.
Two years of a foreign language.
Two years of a laboratory science such as chemistry, biology or physics.
One year of U.S. history.
Courses in geography, government, and economics will be helpful as well. If your school includes a course in precalculus and calculus in its curriculum, along with a basic computing course, we suggest you consider taking those courses because they will be helpful during your first year at West Point.</p>
<p>Right now I am a junior and I am taking MAth B (its a NY state sequence). It basically includes everything( trig, geometry advanced/intermediate type algebra ec) on an above basic level. Next year i am scheduled to take pre-calc. I was thinking that I could take precalulus at the local CC and take ap calulus AB next year but in reality the CC summer thing would be considerably inconvenient. Definitely do-able, but also very inconvenient.So I was just wondering if I should bother…It’s definitely worth it for me to take the summer course if no calculus would keep me out of the academy! West Point is my first choice.</p>
<p>Not having calculus will not keep you out of an academy. However, you want to be the most competitive candidate possible and you know that WP will look favorably on a candidate who has made the effort to tackle an inconvenient challenge. So…</p>
<p>I do agree with the above posts that it would be advisable to take as high of math courses as possible throughout your 4 years of high school … however, some school schedules are simply not accommodating enough to get everything in. </p>
<p>We are on a 4 X 4 semester block system here, so a years-worth of material is taught in 90 minute classes for one semester. Our cadet candidate had Accel. Alg. I (8th grade, repeated in 9th by all students on the fast track as a refresher), Accel. II as a freshman 2nd block, Accel. Geometry -only taught 2nd block sophomore year, then Trig first block jr. year and Pre-Calc second block jr. year. Because the accelerated math taught in this manner moves at such a fast pace, very few kids (maybe 5 out of about 250 in the sr. class) continue with the Honors Trig and Pre-Calc and AP Calc. in their senior year. Since he had a few other required courses to squeeze in this year, his choices on regular level Calculus were pretty slim - in fact, most years they do not have enough students to even offer it, and I am not sure that was actually an option this fall. He did not take it, and still was admitted, but he is well aware that math will be his most difficult area academically. Probably what is most important here, though, is the recommendation from the math teacher. I would say a great recommendation carries quite a bit of weight when a student is iffy in the coursework taken.</p>
<p>You might want to talk to a local admissions officer or liasion for guidance in this particular situation. They would know what schools in your area typically offer course-wise vs. what newly admitted candidates from your area usually have taken.</p>