Skipping Pre-Calculus?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

Hi all,

I know the title seems very stupid, but please bear with me.

I am currently a sophomore in Algebra 2. I wanted to skip out and advance to pre-cal but the dates never worked out for me. I have learnt nothing new: my school has mediocre math courses until precal and cal so algebra 2 is basically Algebra 1 and a few additional topics. I constantly speed ahead in class and my average grade is literally 100. I didn’t want to skip into pre-pal because the school year already started and transferring into a class midyear has always been a sketchy thing for me.

I want to skip pre-cal in my Junior year and advance to calculus BC.

I know this sounds stupid, but it is only January and there are more or less 6 months before the new school year. In that time, I plan to use the Art of Problem Solving Intermediate Algebra and Precalculus books to prep myself, and I plan to take the advancement test at the end of summer. If I get above a 90 on the advancement test I think I will be ok to advance to BC. Also, I have 2 history AP’s this year, and I know that April and May might be filled up with AP studying, but I have found that to truly succeed in something, you need daily dedication, so I’m prepared to put at least an hour in everyday.

The reason why is because I want to do engineering in college and for this I want to advance faster in math. I’m not going to say I am anywhere close to USAMO level, but I am definitely above average. I know everyone says that technically you only need precal in high school even for engineering, but I want to go further and finish as much as I can in the rest of high school.

I was hoping someone could advise me on whether the AOPS Intermediate Algebra and precal books would be enough for the adequate precal knowledge. If this helps, my school offers Precal On-Ramps, which is a UT Austin supplied course (the problems and packets they do in class are given by UT Austin).

Would 6 months be enough for preparation?
Are there more tools to help me than just the AOPS books?
Does anyone have any previous experience with the On-Ramps program?
Is this even a realistic goal?

A lot of people might say that skipping straight into BC Calculus is a death trap, but again, I’m prepared for the workload; I just want to advance faster so I can be ahead of the pack (or on par with the advanced kids) in college.

It would really help if someone could advise me by the end of the month so I could start preparing.

2

If you really plan to put in the effort and work involved with preparing and learning any new topics covered in pre calc, you could be able to skip. However, I’m in BC right now and I would say that diving right in to the content and workload is a lot, and I took pre calculus. I would reccomend talking to the teacher that teaches AP Calc BC before making your decision, just to make sure you don’t regret what you decide!

3

@jsimon9 I heard as much from my school. Have you had experience with the AOPS series? I was hoping it would help a lot.

4

Pre-calculus is like the root of a tree when sprouting out. You can self-study if you want, but in my opinion I wouldn’t rush yourself in. Best of luck!

5

What advantage would you gain by taking calculus BC in 11th grade versus 12th grade if you do not skip?

For most students already on the +1 math track (calculus in 12th grade), there is little advantage to skipping courses or cramming courses in the summer to move to the +2 math track (calculus in 11th grade); the risks and disadvantages probably outweigh the advantages.

6

Then I guess I’ll self study the rest of this year and precal will be easy in junior year. Then I can use next year to prepare for senior year calculus.

7

If you were to take calc BC junior year, what math would you take senior year? Does your school offer calc 3? While advancement is nice, most colleges aren’t expecting math beyond calc BC in high school, and they won’t care what grade level you took it, i.e., there is no advantage to taking calc BC as a junior except for the opportunity to take more advanced calc as a senior and perhaps physics C, if your school offers it. If your school does not offer a calc course beyond calc BC, there is no point in trying to do precalc over this summer.

AoPS texts are wonderful but quite challenging. I have doubts about whether you can cover all that you’d need for precalc by August, especially considering that you have not yet finished algebra 2. Don’t forget there are pre-tests you can use to check your readiness for a particular text or class on the AoPS site and I believe AoPS still offers personal recommendations. For a list of chapters in those two books that you’d want to cover for precalc, see this discussion: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/361425-aops-or-college-algebratrig/?p=3744226 If time is short, consider another text/class/tutor.

8

@evergreen5 My school offers AP Stats so I was planning to stick that in senior year. Not to sound overconfident, but I’m fairly sure that my school’s algebra 2 has nothing more to teach me, except maybe extra practice with algebra. I have used AOPS before and although it is challenging, it leaves you with a nice, intuitive understanding. Thanks, I forgot about the are you ready pages, and I will be sure to use them.

9

@ILikeGoodGrades It is good that you are familiar. I agree about AoPS providing an intuitive understanding - I wish those materials had been around back in my day.

If your algebra 2 is an honors course, there may be an intro to trig toward the end of the course that will help going into precalc.

The problem with taking AP Stats senior year, with no calc 3/multivariable option, is that you are then taking a year off the calc sequence before you take more calc in college. That may not be the best preparation. Plus, your transcript wouldn’t be substantially more impressive than taking the regular route.

If you are bored in math, consider supplementing with AoPS or taking one of the unrelated AoPS courses (Counting and Probability, etc.) and continue on your school’s sequence.

10

Yeah @evergreen5 I will try to enhance my schools boring math system with AOPS, without calc in junior year. Thanks!