Hi, I am currently in 8th grade and taking algebra 1 this year. I am wondering if I should try to take the CTY online geometry course. I qualified for the online courses last year, and I have taken Russian School of Math for about three years now, which would most likely fulfil the algebra 1 requirement. I am doing this because I want to be able to take AP calc and AP stats in highschool, so I would need to take algebra 2 freshman year. I would take algebra 2 and geometry freshman year, but there is a special class for the math team that I would need to take.
Any thoughts to how this would work out? Has anyone done anything similar? I go to a public school, and I have not been cleared to do so by the guidance counselor, but I would assume that as long as I pay for it and take the honors class final exam, I will be good.
@halcyonheather I know but I already have a rough idea of what classes I want to take.
My ideal set up
Freshman year
Algebra 2,honors
Biology, honors
English 1,honors
Spanish 2, honors
World history,honors
Required math class for freshman wanting to do math team
Sophomore year
Pre calculus, honors
AP biology
English 2,honors
Spanish 3, honors
US history, honors
Chemistry, honors
Junior year
AP calculus BC
AP chemistry
AP physics C
Spanish 4,honors
AP English language or English 3,honors
AP US history
Senior Year
AP stats
Anatomy and physiology
AP Spanish
AP English literature
AP psychology
Class that will meet requirements for computers/art to graduate
If I had to take AP Calculus senior year, I would take almost all AP classes senior year.
There’s no benefit to taking AP Calculus BC as a junior unless you want to take a higher-level class as a senior, such as multivariable calculus at a local college. If you want to do this, you might be able to take both geometry and Algebra II in your freshman year.
Otherwise, I would recommend taking geometry as a freshman, Algebra II as a sophomore, pre-calculus as a junior, and AP Calculus BC as a senior without worrying too much about AP Statistics. It’s an algebra-based class aimed mostly at students who aren’t planning to take calculus, so it won’t really add to your college applications. Since you’re taking calculus, it would be better to learn statistics in a calculus-based class once you get to college.
My son took a schedule almost identical to the one you posted and he accomplished this by taking CTY’s online geometry course the summer after 8th grade. We had to jump through a few hoops to have the HS approve this, as they had not done so before.
One advantage of taking BC Calc Jr year is that it will allow you to take AP Physics C at the same time. My son’s school offers Physics C E&M as a separate full year course, so the students who have accelerated through the math program have E&M Sr year in addition to multi-variable calc.
I believe that you will be able to complete geometry during the summer as an online course because it is a course that really isn’t very important to other math classes you will take. I actually was able to skip geometry my first three weeks of 8th grade (no studying in the summer) and in Algebra 2 it almost didn’t affect me at all. I’m a freshman now and I don’t think I am any behind anyone else in my precalc class.
Also, I admire how many AP’s you want to take, but I would say prioritize based on your interests and what you want to do when you grow up because you don’t need to take so many AP classes. It also depends on how tough your school is. If it is a highly ranked school (like mine) then taking so many AP’s will be very hard because teachers will make you study. Also, I recently moved to this school district and my older sister says that the AP’s in this high school are much harder that where i used to live.
Freshman
Geometry Honors
Biology Honors
English 1 Honors
Spanish 2
World History Honors
Required math class for freshman wanting to do math team
Sophomore
Algebra 2 Honors
Chemistry Honors
English 2 Honors
Spanish 3
US History Honors
Junior
Precalculus Honors
AP Biology
AP Physics 1
AP Spanish Language
English class
AP US History
Senior Year
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemistry
AP Physics C
AP English Literature
AP Statistics
Class that will meet requirements for computers/art to graduate
Here’s proof that you can take both Statistics and Calculus BC without taking a summer class.
@CT1417 thanks for the insight! The AP physics C is the same reason I wanted to do this, or else I would have taken 5-6 AP classes senior year. I go to a public school where calc BC is the highest level math program, so I’ll either take AP stats or multi variable calculus in CTY online or at a community college. Also, what were some of the hoops that you needed to jump through to be able to take the online geometry?
@Muufeen thanks for revised schedule, I will consider some of the points added. Another reason I want to skip geo is I have taken geometry classes at Russian School of Math for three years now, and will continue to take them, so I feel that geo freshman year will be unnecessary and I would just rather take a harder math class, since the math classes in middle school have been a joke to me.
@qwerty919191 – the hoops were imposed by my son’s HS. They had not allowed a student to take an online course in lieu of taking a course during the school year. They were happy to allow my son to take Geometry & Alg II concurrently, but he did not want to do that, hence the struggle to convince the school to approve his request.
After completing the CTY course, the school asked him to sit for the honors geometry final that is administered at the end of the school year. He was fine, and has progressed w/o issue through the math curriculum.
@Ynotgo — that is interesting and something I did not know. We have a group of perhaps 25 students who complete geometry in middle school and start HS in Algebra II. Middle school courses do not appear on their transcripts, so I am guessing none of these students have attended the UCs. Good thing Berkeley was already struck from the list or we would have a new problem! Thanks for sharing.
@Ynotgo if I do take it, I will make sure my high school will have it written on my transcript saying I completed it through CTY. I want to go into premed, so I am thinking about UCLA.
@CT1417 The UC application has a page for listing 7th/8th grade courses in math and languages other than English. You don’t have to list the grade or submit the transcript. You do have to have the transcript/report card or be able to get one in case they ask as part of the spot verification process. Middle school courses are not listed on our HS transcripts here, either.
@Ynotgo
My dd completed Algebra 1 in Grade 6, Algebra 2 in Grade 7 and taking Geometry Grade 8 and Pre-Calculus in Grade 9. We just need to entered the name of the math course in UC application. We don’t need to ask the school to include the Algebra 2 and Geometry to the high school transcript. Is that correct?