<p>Another back in the Stone Age story, good midwest suburban high school, no APs, late 1970s. The math sequence for good math students was:</p>
<p>8th-Algebra I
9th-Geometry
10th-Algebra II w/Trig
11th-Intro to Analysis/Analytic Geometry
12th-Calculus</p>
<p>Kids who didn’t get placed in Algebra I in 8th grade but still wanted to get to Calculus by 12th would double up Algebra II and Geometry in 10th grade. Few did. They also offered an Intro to BASIC course that was a double one semester class. Dot matrix printer/keyboard combo connected to a PDP-11 via 300 baud modem. In senior year, they got a B&W screen, to save on paper costs. I can still hear the scream of that printer and the joke messages one could send when you discovered the joy of the Form Feed command.</p>
<p>The high school math graduation requirement in those days was two math credits, I believe. (And only one science!) You only needed 20 credits in those days, vs. 25 now. A few kids would graduate in 3 years every year.</p>
<p>But back to the original question, I know over on the W&M forum, W&M Admissions specifically states they prefer kids with Calculus in high school, preferably AP Calc, and they really almost require pre-calc. You’re at real disadvantage if you can’t step right into a Calculus course, 1st Semester, Freshman year.</p>