Yeah, I didn't find the precalc book as hard as Intermediate Algebra. IIRC, they cover roots of unity in precalc, and the author (Richard?) steps you through it in such a nice gentle way, beginning with some specific examples, then generalizing, then generalizing some more. I've been meaning to go back and rework that section again, because it really is so lovely.

I consider myself to be pretty mathy, and we've been using AoPS at home since prealgebra. I worked through Intermediate Algebra with one dd and my other dd studied it independently of me. If I recall, this is the first book in the Intermediate series? It's a big jump up from the Introduction series. I have it open on my lap now, and there is a problem from Putnam, HMMT, and... Canada. (We joked that these countries that were cited were lobbing weapons of math destruction on us.) I have penciled in to a problem (incidentally not a Putnam or HMMT problem) "I don't understand the solution :-( " There were a lot of problems that I couldn't understand, even with the solution. But we were mellow about that, though somewhat less mellow about no fewer than 4 chapters about polynomials. But it's good for you, because polynomials come up a lot on the AMC 12. (And the Putnam, apparently.) My dd's are much stronger in polynomials than I am. If you haven't used AoPS before, why are you switching now?

To this point, here's a relevant slide from a Richard Rusczyk talk.

You are obligated to be honest in your application. You are obligated to present your student in the best possible light. (Think of it as a fiduciary responsibility.) You are not obligated to present a confessional, describing every negative part of his personality. I agree with PPs: only include anything negative if he has grown from the experience: learned from it, changed as a result, etc. I also agree that a B does not require any additional comment. Now: focus on how your student excels!

Bumping. And barring that, perhaps a textbook that would be appropriate for self study?

Penrose the Cat Family Math Number Devil

I'm not sure if this is relevant to the discussion, but the chief of police of my town retired after vesting for retirement, and then turned around and took a job with the sheriff's department. He pointed out to us (friends at my tennis club) that since they have a different retirement system, he can vest there and augment his benefits. <shrug.> I don't view it as immoral, since he's following the rules. And police work is dangerous no matter how you slice it, so I don't begrudge him a generous pension. But it's also not an ideal situation for taxpayers. I think if we had stronger unions and more widespread participation, we'd be less inclined to hold a grudge against those who are lucky enough to still have union advocacy.

Mentioned in the article is Girls Angle. They didn't mention that Girls Angle published a hard copy journal that is accessible for high school students who enjoy reading about math and math research.

Ooh, ooh, pick me! I started my daughters on python when they were in late elementary, and I used the book Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael Dawson. It isn't written specifically for kids, but it does use creating games for their programming examples, which makes it kid friendly. Plus, we went through the book slowly at our own pace. We followed that with the AoPS online python courses, beginner and advanced. They are fast-paced, so it can be helpful to have some programming experience before enrolling. YMMV. Finally, when they were in 8th grade, I had them do the AP CS A online course at Edhesive. That was nice because all they needed to learn at that point was anything that Java specific; they had all the basic programming down. From there, they've taken various online classes and MOOCs. You can also try USACO. Or robotics software programming. Before python, you can also try MIT's App Inventor which has a more visual drag and drop interface for programming mobile apps, and is more kid friendly. HTH!

I agree that college costs are out of control, due to pension and health care obligations and perhaps a bloated bureaucracy. But I will also argue that our relatively low inflation in the US in the past decades is making college appear even more expensive. Everything is cheap nowadays, due to outsourcing. "Low inflation has become the standard condition across the developed world, and some economists see the rise of the developing world as the most likely explanation. The threat of outsourcing helps to hold down wages, while the flood of cheap goods from foreign countries helps to hold down prices." Things that are not cheaper are services that can't be outsourced: plumbers, car repair, and college professors.

Ha! I wonder what a zucchini activity fee would get me! (A mandoline and maybe someone to operate it?) Some colleges (not all) are not only selling you an abstract algebra class, but are also selling you a group of smart, talented peers for your student to take abstract algebra with and to bond with, so when you are all graduated, you'll have them as high quality professional and social connections. Hence the activity fee so you can do fun things together and bond?

My dd is looking for an online multi variable calculus course. She is looking for: She'd like it to be self-paced and online so she can take it this summer. She's particularly interested in CTY, but wants to hear about other options. Thanks!

We subscribe to our local paper daily, WSJ daily, and the NY Times Sunday edition. With the Sunday NYT subscription you can read everything else online or on your phone. I'll sometimes read articles to the kids from my phone. The Atlantic is also great!

You can also customize her education by taking a look at MOOCs which often offer unusual courses that could reflect your student's interests. For example here's a cool class about animal behavior. You can also find good electives in books. I used Make: Electronics by Charles Platt to create a multi-year elective course.

I have a reluctant math student, and we're slowly going through 2A while he's in 3rd grade in regular school. It's starting to sink in.

BFSU because I don't mind all that crazy planning that's involved. I love planning.

My older daughter had a classroom of friends in preschool. But this was the exception that proves the rule. The teachers were so amazed at how nice all the kids were, they would tell us parents they couldn't believe this was a real class of actual students in real life (not some fantasy dream world), and they couldn't believe they (the teachers) were being paid to teach this class. Because it is so very rare.

I weight AP, AoPS, and anything a vendor calls "honors." But i like the idea of above of presenting both weighted and unweighted gpas.

We need more options for AP classes. PAH dominates the market, and there are a few other sources, but no one else really competes at the same level with PAH.

Oh and I've written about this before, but a few years ago I was chatting with a surgeon who is on the admissions committee at a top 10 med school. He raved about an applicant who attended CC before transferring to state university. The student explained he did it to save money and get smaller classes that are better taught than the large auditorium classes at the university. Plus he still gets the more prestigious university degree. The doctor was impressed with how well this student considered his options and made such a rational choice, particularly given the additional expenses of med school. I don't know anything else about this student--he was probably also impressive in other areas--so take with a grain of salt.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure taking AP biology in high school and then applying to med school is not an option, LOL!

This reminded me of an article from a few years back about an erstwhile rock star, who ended up becoming a dentist and pursues his rock star lifestyle on the side. The title of the article? Reality Bites

I will disagree with this. When you start taking those bio and chemistry classes in college, you want to arrive as well prepared as possible, because you'll be competing for A's with students who have already had AP chemistry or AP biology in high school. When I'm feeling particularly disillusioned, I surmise that few if any premeds taking college chemistry are actually learning the material for the first time. Those that are get weeded out. And you want to have high grades, not just in your core premed classes, but also in your major of study. So arrive as a freshman having prepared for college as much as possible. You don't want to begin your career as premed engineer with a C in physics. Challenge yourself in high school, take those difficult AP and honors classes at the risk of getting a lower grade, if only to better prepare yourself to get higher grades when it counts: in university.

What is SDN? Is calculus not required for premed? Is the psych and sociology requirement new?

Is she getting stuck on the starred problems or the challenge problems? You can skip those, or perhaps don't have her do them independently, but maybe work through them together. I also like the idea of slowing down your pace, if that works for your schedule. I believe that sleeping after learning something new helps students to retain the info. It also allows you to review a bit before plunging into the problem set. (But that's just stuff I've heard on the internet.)