How much Math ?

Marian
Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:03:08 +0000

I don’t think it is necessary to sacrifice two summers to math, especially if there are more interesting things that your son could do in the summer. What about taking Honors Algebra 2 as a junior and Honors Precalculus as a senior? Then, if he really feels that he wants to have first-semester calculus out of the way before enrolling in college, he could take it in a local college’s summer session. This way, he kills only one summer instead of two.

Plenty of people go to college – even near-the-top colleges like Georgetown or Cornell – without having taken calculus. Take a look at Cornell’s course-tne-time roster for this semester: 404 | CUinfo | Cornell University. There are 20 sections of Math 111 (first-semester calculus, equivalent to AP Calculus AB). Figure 20 students per section. That’s 400 kids taking first-semester calculus. Your son would not be the only one (if he ever even takes it at all; with his interests, he might not need to).