Pre-calc - is it essential?

[Connections]

Is pre-calc necessary for my strong humanities DS?

 

We both want for him to take AP STATS in 12th.

 

Does he need to double-up and take two credits of math that year to include pre-calc? He has many other humanities classes he would rather be taking. Is there a reason he should consider doubling-up?

 

Up to that point he will have had:

9th- DO Honors Algebra I

10th- DO Honors Geometry

11th- DO Honors Algrbra II

 

Would this specific decision negatively impact scholarships? Do scholarship committees look for specific courses?

[MarkT]

Stats may be the better choice in this case.  I assume your student is not going to be a STEM major in college.

[Lilaclady]

I don't think you need it if statistics is more suited to his plans. Most colleges want to see algebra and geometry and some math beyond that but not necessarily precalc.

[Mom22ns]

It might depend on the competitiveness of the college he wants to attend, but the reality is that stats is more useful to a humanities major than pre-calc. My humanities major took AP Stats instead of pre-calc with no regrets.

[EKS]

I'm of the opinion that you never know what a student is going to do in college.  

 

Anyone who knew me in high school would have said that I was a "humanities type" (in the words of my geophysicist father).  I ended up majoring in biochemistry.

 

That said, DO Algebra II, as long as he has done well with it, will be a solid base from which to learn precalculus if he ever needs to.  

 

Also, I think that *all* students could use a much better grounding in statistics.  I'd say to go for it.

[wapiti]

Look at the colleges he has in mind, both for admission requirements (and considering the level of competitiveness) as well as the specific math courses required for the major(s) he would be interested in.

 

Some majors will have their own specific stats courses, including stats courses that may be calc-based. Hard to be sure without looking, but if any math beyond algebra 2 is required, sure he could take it in college, but it may not make sense to pay tuition for something he could have easily learned in high school.

 

I don't know about scholarships, but if he is aiming for competitive schools, stopping the sequence at algebra 2 may be not the best idea. (Indeed, my kids' private high school has a new rule, anyone enrolling in AP stats must also continue with precalc or calc.)

[Guest]

Yes. It leaves the door open in the future

as the future starts with calc should he want a double major in business or an mba.

[Jann in TX]

If he has time I would suggest College Algebra (first semester of Pre-Calc) in addition to Statistics.

This would allow him to take Business Calc

 

In other words-- he would not need the Trigonometry part of Pre-Calc unless he is going STEM and will need a STEM Physics class.

 

 

[dereksurfs]

Do you have a general idea of the area of interest for his major yet? My only concern would be limiting his options based upon required courses. As with many kids, these interests can change over time.

[MarkT]

Do you have a general idea of the area of interest for his major yet? My only concern would be limiting his options based upon required courses. As with many kids, these interests can change over time.

Yes but this student could always take College Algebra in college like thousands of other students have done in the past.

[kiana]

I second the recommendation for college algebra. It will help keep his algebra skills sharp for the SAT/ACT (which helps with scholarships), and if he dual enrolls and/or passes a CLEP test which is accepted by his college, he may need to take no further math in college (some colleges and some majors require college algebra instead of statistics). There should be a fair amount of review of algebra 2 so it shouldn't be a large time-sink.