Sorry, for the second quote(below the underline), I used the wrong one, I meant to pick this "Will she need Calculus? Is AP bio enough as far as advanced science courses go? ".
Sometimes, threads arc into left field, well beyond the original scenario. Right, too soon to know her path. And most kids change a lot between 9th and spring of 11th, then a big jump between then and mid-fall of senior year. But if she continues the interest in humanities, the experiences of value will relate to humanities and her specific ideas. OP will try to guide her in the right ways, I am sure.
Cobrat has shared that he transferred into Oberlin - he attended freshman year somewhere else.
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Thank you for the interesting responses.
It’s true she probably won’t be interested in govt internships and she won’t end up in comm college.
d’s school gives lists of amazing internships to apply for. Some are specifically looking for kids from her school, like the 911 memorial. She will have many opportunities (if she qualifies.) She’s also interested in science. There are internships at ANNH which are popular. And she loves magazines! And theater! It goes on and on!
Her biggest things are writing, music and special needs children. She’s already done some interesting things all on her own with special needs kids - she approached a school and arranged to volunteer and didn’t tell me until it was done. She was dedicated and never missed a moment of work in a year.
I have an UPDATE
I heard back from the guidance counselor and she will be on track for calculus. She did not say if she scored in to geometry but she will get calculus.
So she’s off to a clean start. Now I am prepared to take her phone, help her stay organized and keep her excited but not crazed about Harvard or anything. My next concern will be EC’s since she wants to do all of them.
So does that mean she won’t do geometry?
@Lindagaf The email only said she will get to Calculus even if she starts with Algebra. The schedules aren’t done so we still don’t know what D will have. But the counselor assured me D will get calculus. I don’t know how though.
My daughter is still at camp and I looked at her Facebook page and kids are talking about this topic. Freshman are worried about how they did on that placement test. It was really hard. Sophomores are saying they thought they bombed it and ended up in geometry. Some did bomb it and ended up in algebra though.
I guess it isn’t totally clear on my part, but she will have to take geometry at some point. Colleges expect that. Stanford explicitly stated it on the recommend high school courses. Just FYI.
@Lindagaf Sorry, I wasn’t clear. She will take Geometry. The question was if she’d take it in 9th or 10th grade and I still don’t know, but I do know either way she will get Calculus, which the guidance counselor noted, the colleges like to see. This is an advanced math science school and geometry is required. Four years of math are required. I don’t know if she’ll have to double up later or if they will offer an expanded class to catch up kids who start with algebra.
My daughter took Alg freshman year at her school. This year she’s taking Geometry, and in Junior year she will take Alg/Trig and in senior year she takes either regular Calculus or AP Calculus. There is no pre-calculus. Maybe that’s what your D can do.
She took Alg in 8th grade, got a 90 in the class, but didn’t do great on the Regents. She took it over again in HS and did even better in the class and did very well on the Regents. That second year of Alg was very helpful in her case.
@citymama9 That’s probably it. She won’t have to take precalculus. I didn’t know that was done. I’m relieved to know that she’ll get to take calculus. It was good news.
She may have to double up on math one of the years (when done, it is usually done by taking geometry and algebra 2 simultaneously).
@ucbalumnus that sounds grueling, but that may be how they do it.
I really don’t think calculus is going to be what matters for her if she’s a humanities kid. Really not. Sure, colleges like to see it - especially as most students applying from stuy will apply for stem fields. Don’t obsess over it - anywhere from 30 to 50% Ivy League admits never took calculus. Doubling up in math means giving up a period that could be used to create her academic profile - if calculus won’t play to her strengths it won’t help her get in anywhere.
Now, at this point, she may or may not be a humanities kid for real (although, keep in mind that’s fairly rare nowadays - just ask the high performing kids you know and make a percentage, so in itself it can be an unofficial advantage) so it’s important the possibility remains, but please don’t stress out and don’t stress her out about a class that really is NOT necessary for admissions (even if she aimed for engineering - outside of Princeton, Cornell, and of course HarveyMudd and CalTech… Yes, many students start engineering without calculus, as long as they’re ready to take the class through a demonstrated strong background in pre-calculus.)
Really, relax about this.
My daughter has a lot of interests, so I don’t really know. She may be both science and humanities. I won’t worry about calculus and I’ll just see what happens. I’m happy to know she’s not cut off from it before she starts. She loves Greek Myths, philosophy, books, history, diseases, the brain, autism, music, theater… I really don’t know. Even if it’s writing I don’t know what kind.
I would ask how she will get calculus. They should be able to tell you this. I assume she will double up on math classes. This may not be your preference.
@MurphyBrown with good teachers high school can hold many surprises!
@mathyone I’m going to ask at orientation next week. I want to do it in person in case I have follow up questions.
That’s great, the 911 memorial is another great recruiting organization! The same with the American Diabetes Association and etc, they are all recruiting for students. May good fortune shine upon your child and yourself Bridgygo!
Some schools skip Pre-Calculus like how they skip Pre-Algebra. Pre-Cal, you learn 4-5 concepts from Trigonometry and then a few Calculus I problems.
This could be the math scheldule.
9th grade- Algebra
10th grade- Geometry
11th grade- Algebra 2/ Trig
12th grade- Calculus
Honestly, taking trigonomety or Pre-Calculus in your last year of high school isn’t a big deal. Many students from top schools haven’t taken Calculus or Pre- Calculus.
What you do get in by hs graduation matters depending on the tier you will aim at and the major. Let’s quit generalizing that X just “isn’t needed.” Or stating outright that it’s enough that somewhere some kids got into X without courses x and y (especially when you aren’t naming their majors ) Factor in also the competition to get an admit, what the other applicants may have and how some colleges can cherry pick
But OP is in a different situation where she’s now learning what her 9th grade D’s math path may be, at a tippy top hs. (She;s been assured she can hit calc and I’m guessing we’ll know more in a few weeks.) And her D is likely humanities. So far.
Btw someone can look at the Stuy math offerings. It seems some classes with ordinary sounding names are already accelerated. Maybe someone can weigh in about that.