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2 months agoJuniors
Juniors
[edited]

My school doesn't offer calculus and i am aiming for a math-heavy career or degree. What should i do?

Ok so for context, i am planning on going into a math-heavy career after high school. I really enjoy math and i am currently in precalculus this year. I took both geometry and algebra II last year and got As in both, gave up a couple electives to do that. However if you read the title, my high school doesn't offer calculus as i attend a small school in a rural area. They try to offer it but it gets cancelled every year because not enough students take precalc at the high school before senior year, and my school can't justify running a full-year course when less than 10 people sign up. The people that do sign up to take calculus each year usually get thrown into random electives instead. Also i heard there's going to fewer sections but larger class sizes next school year which likely means the minimum amount of signups needed to justify running a course will increase. My district recently had to go through some budget cuts.

I live in washington state, and we have a program called running start that lets students take college classes at a college campus for college credit, potentially earning their associates degree at the same time they graduate high school. I know i could take calculus there but i'm not sure if i'm ready for college coursework and sharing a class with people years older than me yet. Also i need this extra year to narrow my interests down before i apply to college, i wanna have a better idea what type of math i want to go deeper in. I don't wanna dive straight into college-level work in math-adjacent subjects i'll potentially not enjoy or do well in. I struggle in reading/writing-heavy subjects and i had a D in english 10 last year, so i don't think i can handle college english or humanities coursework. On top of that, the nearest community college is around half an hour away from my high school assuming no traffic and my house is an additional 20 minutes away. The overwhemingly majority of college-bound students at my school do running start as the high school doesn't offer many college-level courses, and people want to earn college credit. The only APs my school offers are AP english and the AP histories, and i know i can't handle those so i just take the regular version like most students. I plan on not doing running start next year as i still need to finish some graduation requirements at the high school (PE, social studies, english). Also, the high school life is catered towards teenagers like me and has experiences that colleges don't always get. I don't see the point of rushing through high school to go to college early and potentially miss out on opprotunites and such. I don't know if not doing running start will negatively impact my transcript, especially when my high school doesn't offer the courses i may need most.

I am thinking of taking the CLEP calculus exam at some point as i doubt my school will be able to run a calculus class next year if there are low signups again. I checked, and the nearest comminuty college accepts CLEP credits if i get a score of 50 or higher. I don't know if that's equivalent to calculus I or II, so i don't know what to self-study to if i go that route. I'm also thinking of taking classes at the community college this upcoming summer, but at that time i'll also be looking potential colleges i may apply to and getting ready for college applications so i'll be busy that summer.

My current unweighted GPA is about 2.88, but i've gotten As in every math course since algebra I freshman year. I'm not anything for anything selective or elite (that's unrealistic), just somewhere with a decent program in a math-heavy field i like, but even then, i don't know if i'll get accepted as i'll be competing with kids with access to relevant advanced courses. Any high school course reccomendations i should consider for next school year? Most academic subjects (especially if low-demand, optional, and have easier or more fun alternatives) that are offered only have one level with no advanced variants, though some of these courses can be rigorous and intended for college prep.

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2 answers

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2 months ago

If your school doesn't offer calculus, you can always do dual enrollment at a community college. If that doesn't work, then it won't hurt your chances of getting into university, and you can also learn it on your own.

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a month ago

Since you said that you probably wouldn't be comfortable taking college courses while in high school, it is perfectly fine to go into college without a background in calculus. Colleges look at the courses offered by your school when they are reviewing your application, so they won't count it against you if your school didn't have a calculus class. My advice would be to maximize the math and STEM classes that your school offers. If you've taken all the math courses, make sure that you take Chemistry and Physics, as they are math-adjacent. If your school has any STEM electives that interest you, take them. Even if they might not be directly relevant to Math, it'll help you stand out as a strong STEM student.

TLDR: Colleges won't count it against you if your school didn't offer high-level math courses, but you still need to make sure to take full advantage of as many math and STEM classes that your school does offer.

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Unweighted GPA: 3.7
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SAT: 720 math
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