Four years of math??

Question

Ok... so basically colleges require three years and reccomend 4 years. I was advanced in math by a year, and so i took geometry as a fresh, advanced alg2 as a soph, and precalculs as a junior. Im going to be a senior and the only math classes available are ap calculus and normal statistics... with all my other classes i cant afford to do another A.P. And as for stats, there arent any periods that arent already being filled by a more important class.

Is it a huge problem if i dont take math my senior year?

i cant take just normal calculus... it has to be advanced placement... which is super hard and im already taking 3 other A.P.s

Answer 1

If you want to get into a good college, it very well may be. In my area, you're required to have 4 math credits to graduate. It's definitely better to take Calculus as a senior because you'll probably have to take it in college as well, so you'll know what's going on.

Answer 2

It depends on your major and if the high school will let you graduate with only 3 years of math.

Since you got accelerated then I don't think the high school is going to have any trouble letting you graduate. So the only factor to think of is your future career path.

If you are going to be a journalist, a history major, a linguist, or a park ranger then you have all the math that you need. Statistics might be helpful, but not necessary.

If you are going to be an engineer or a scientist then you need calculus and you are going to have to take it in college. In that case I would recommend taking it in high school so it will be easier in college.

At Texas A&M freshmen students in the Engineering Majors (half the school) must take calculus OR enough math so that they can take calculus. The engineering department uses calculus, already a tough subject, as a "weed out course." In high school the state is required to try and get people to graduate. In college the requirement is to prepare people for the professional world. If your high school education didn't prepare you for college then that is your problem.

I had problems with math, lots of problems. Basic algebra was a foreign language, but with some tutoring from my father I got through it. My next barrier was Calculus. It took me four tries and a tutor before I got through calculus. But, I needed it for my major, why I didn’t know, until after I had calculus.

All of classical physics relates to one formula F=ma or force = mass time acceleration. Even the famous E=mc^2 is just are really energetic equation for F=ma. All other formulas in physics are derived from F=ma. To do that you need to understand calculus.

A lot of engineering uses physics, physics is pretty basic as is chemistry, but chemistry doesn’t require calculus. The problem started with the invention of calculus and physics. Isaac Newton created F=ma and all of modern classical physics, but along the way he had to invent calculus.

You see that distance and velocity equations that you memorized in high school physics are true only for a specific point in time, or an average. To figure out the exact distance or velocity at a specific point you need calculus. Then there is the science of volume. You don’t see many rectangular or spherical containers in the grocery store. Milk comes in a rectangle, but almost everything else is in some sort of custom shaped object; like the wasp waste coke bottle. To calculate the volume of the coke bottle you need calculus.

A lot of engineering is the science of making and destroying things. To understand the strengths of the material you need calculus. To understand the flow of water and air you need calculus. You can use the basic equations in these sciences without calculus, but to understand where they all came from you need calculus. You see once again all those formulas are based on F=ma.

Even calculating the stresses on a building; the weight, the tension, the compression, and the torsion all require separate formulas. Formulas that are all related to each other through calculus. It is maddening; but calculus is a fundamental requirement for the understanding of most engineering and construction.

The first time I tried pre-calculus was in high school, and I didn’t do very well. Luckily, I had more than enough credits to graduate. When I met pre-calculus again, I was on territory I had already been exposed to, so it was easier. Each time I took a calculus class I got further and further.

I finally took the Engineering form of Calculus (the hardest version) because it had a lab to help with the homework. I was studying to be an architect, and calculating how a building is put together and the strength of the materials involved were all done with physics and formulas that were derived from calculus.

If you want to be an engineer then you need the advanced math.

Answer 3

Personally I would drop something else if you can't handle it. I was an engineering major who came into college without calculus (my high school didn't offer any calculus), and I was one of the few students who hadn't had calculus in high school in my college Calc I class. I really struggled even though I had previously been a great math student.
It is a really hard topic to start with and in high school you get to learn it over the course of a year instead of the course of a semester. Once you get the basics it gets tons easier...but that foundation is really tough to get (it takes a whole new set of logic). Once you get it though it makes Calc II and III a breeze (typically multi-variable calc and differential calculus).
So taking it in high school will give you an option of whether or not you would feel more confortable retaking it in college.

Answer 4

um i have to take precalculus as a sophmore so i have more of a problem than you. just take the ap calculus and suck it up. i will be taking 2 years of ap calculus on top of my other ap classes so i'll be sucking it up too. take the class, get over it.

Answer 5

As long as you're well-rounded in other areas, it's not a problem at all.