Is Skipping Pre-Calc Worth It?

Studentstress
Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:50:25 +0000

Hey there! Long time creeper, first time poster.

I attend a moderately sized (~1200 students) high school in Ohio. As part of the accelerated math program, many students take precalculus in their sophomore years and go onto Calculus BC as juniors, then, usually, taking Stat as seniors. However, due to a scheduling conflict, I could not take precalculus as a sophomore but, instead, an alternative that focuses on algebraic skills as well as trig and some stat.

To be clear, the class was not devoid of precalc aspects. We dealt with trig identities, the unit circle, and so on; however, it did not encompass the entirety of the precalc curriculum. For example, we did not explore matrices, ellipses, vectors, etc. Nor did we explore into great detail limits (although we did superficially go over them).

However, I find it difficult to warrant taking an entire year of precalculus when I have learned so much of it already, and would not a one-month “review” cover all that I need to know? Thanks!