Calculus in High School

[FantasyVesperia]

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Math at my school is very competitive. I know a kid who is taking Calculus and he's a Sophomore! I know that going into the medical field requires Calculus. I'm only in Algebra II, right now and plan on taking PreCalculus and Calculus I (AB) Junior year.

Is this doable? Any response is appreciated.

 

[DaRocket95]

Of course it's possible...right now I'm in PAP Geometry and PAP Alg 2, that way I can take Pre Cal as a Junior, and Calculus as a Senior

 

[Cephal0pod]

Personally, I just winced at the thought of taking both pre-calc and calc 1 at the same time. Please don't be afraid to protect both your sanity and your GPA by taking Pre-Cal your junior year and then Calc 1 your senior year. Seriously. From one overachiever to another, you are not a slacker if you want to do that. Promise. 👍

 

[I'm No Superman]

Block schedule or traditional? Because calc and pre calc at the same time would suck.

 

[FantasyVesperia]

@I'm No Superman My school has blocks, you take 4 classes each semester.

@Cephal0pod Thanks

 

[Lil Mick]

Actually, many medical schools do not require calculus. Most require 1-2 semesters of math (usually including a statistics course). Also, if you're not a math person and do want to attend one of the schools requiring calculus, I'd suggest waiting until college, as many schools do not accept AP credit for prerec courses. Take Calc I (and Calc II if necessary for your major) during college--much better teachers, much more comprehensive, less work (might be a little biased as a college math teacher right now) 🙂

And don't worry about what other people are doing. It will save you a lot of neurotic moments in college and medical school. If you're like most people, there will be people doing better than you and people doing worse than you. That's adulthood...

 

[Glazebrook]

I placed out off Calc I in college because of AP Calc AB and wish I hadn't. I ended up getting owned by Calc II during my first semester and withdrew from the course within a month. Statistics was much more manageable, applicable, and was a nice sGPA boost as well.

 

[dantemac]

Calc I and calc II isn't required by too many dental schools, and if it is, AP credits usually won't count. Just a heads up.

If your dream is Harvard, that is one of the rare schools that requires it.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Calculus is not required by most medical schools. However, it may be requires for your major and having a background in calculus will make the class a lot easier in college.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Also why would you take calc and precalc at the same time? How would you take calc without coming in with a working knowledge of trig and advanced algebra?

 

[FantasyVesperia]

I think I should take PreCalculus my Junior year and possibly Calculus AB senior year. Also thanks for the information.

 

[Cephal0pod]

I think I should take PreCalculus my Junior year and possibly Calculus AB senior year. Also thanks for the information.

Good plan. 👍 Best of luck to you!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Yes, sounds good, I highly recommend doing this, and if you're going into chemistry or engineering I recommend doing everything to get into BC, if only for the experience.

 

[FantasyVesperia]

Thanks again.

 

[I'm No Superman]

I'm not saying this is better, but it's an option: If your calc class is only a semester long (I have block schedule also but my calc class is 3 terms), you could take pre calc first semester and calc second semester without too much difficulty. In fact, you may do better in it due to pre calc being fresh in your mind.

 

[FantasyVesperia]

I'm not saying this is better, but it's an option: If your calc class is only a semester long (I have block schedule also but my calc class is 3 terms), you could take pre calc first semester and calc second semester without too much difficulty. In fact, you may do better in it due to pre calc being fresh in your mind.

That could work too but Calculus is year long I found out. You have to take Calculus I (AB) first semester and Calculus II (BC) second semester. I wouldn't have enough space to have PreCalculus and Calculus the same year.

 

[deleted393595]

Math at my school is very competitive. I know a kid who is taking Calculus and he's a Sophomore! I know that going into the medical field requires Calculus. I'm only in Algebra II, right now and plan on taking PreCalculus and Calculus I (AB) Junior year.

Is this doable? Any response is appreciated.

Sounds doable. Go for Calc BC if you can.

 

[BrandonR]

The general trend in my High School for the mathematically capable kids is to take Calc AB in junior year and Calc BC or Stat in senior year.