Reaching Calculus one way or another before i graduate high school...

First off i live in Louisiana and Louisiana is ranked one of the lowest educaton-wise in the country(USA has terrible education too start with)

Im 16 years old and vietnamese and im a sophomore in Highshcool.  I got A's in all of my math classes i have tooken so far(pre-Alg, Alg1, Geometry)

I want to go to college for computer software engineering and that requires a lot of Math.  

Problem is, is that my Highschool only goes up to Advanced Math-Pre cal when you are a senior<<< ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!!

This is the track i am on right now:

9th-Alg1(got an A in the class and excellent on the End of course Test)

10th-Geometry(currenlty taking this class and is wayy too easy)

11th-AlgII

12th-Advanced math-pre cal.

^^So0o as you can see my school sucks monkey balls!  BUT WAIT- Louisiana has something called Louisiana Virtual School(link bellow)

http://www.louisianavirtualschool.net/

And they offer Pre-cal(advanced math) and Calculus!  I want to talk to my school Counselor and see if i can switch my track to this by using 
Louisiana Virtual school:

10th-Finish taking Geometry(with an A)

11th- first semester i take Alg II and second semester i take Pre-cal(aka advanced math) by my school or LVS.

12- Finally take Calculus using the LVS

So as you can see i have gotton all A's in my math classes so far and done well on the tests and if i continue to get A's and do good on my tests all the way up to pre-cal, should i have a problem with taking Calculus before going to college?

Also is MY way of completing Highschool better than my current track im in? Fell free to tell me anything else!

see if there's a program in your state that allows kids in high school to take classes at a community college free, that's probably the best way to get it donelamprey263

Well computer science involves less calculas and more discrete math and logic study. And depending on what you do, it may involve different parts of math (for example graphics involves lots of linear algebra and potentially calc ~3)

And no, you wont have an issue with calculus, calculus is relatively easy and its just learning the rules. Theres only so many types of problems they can give you, and once you see them all its pretty repetative and mechanic

I only got through algebra 1. I have no college math courses... youve already surpassed me. I have confidence in you. 

see if there's a program in your state that allows kids in high school to take classes at a community college free, that's probably the best way to get it donelamprey263

I also agree with this

You can stick with your school and take the Math SAT or take classes at a community colllege. 

First off, I commend you for taking education seriously.

To /begin/ calculus you need a good grasp of algebra and basic math.

To /advance/ calculus you need a good grasp of geometry and trigonometry.

Alot of people take calc 1 say "oh that was easy" then they take calc 2 and are completely lost because they forgot how to do trig.

ight thanks for the helpfull replay man.

The reason i take education seriously is becuase everyone around where i live just wants to drop out or finsish high school and/or go work off shore or go to a trade school and call it a day.

Which is fine by me but i want to become very succesfull and im looking VERY forward to college and not only to advance my education but also to meet new people and get new friends :)

With CS, it isn't necessary to have calculus finished by high school. Most of your programming classes will not be affected by calculus in the earlier semesters(I actually don't know of any CS or software engineering students using calc in their classes). However, if you are getting into software engineering, it involves a lot of number tracking, not necessarily calculus. CongressManStan

Yeah i have to confirm this i think you re worrying too much TC. There is a ton of math for sure i for one had to take cal, linear algebra, and physics. Im a CS major in my senior year by the way and there are plenty at my school who never took cal or even pre cal before college and some actually have to take college algebra depending on placement testing. Right now id actually say you re actually doing fine now  and if you actually do take pre cal before you graduate then your already ahead of the curve. If you are as good at math as you make it seem then youll breeze through it all unless you re trying to go to some super ivy league school or something like then that's different but otherwise i wouldn't break a sweat over it.

[QUOTE="CongressManStan"]With CS, it isn't necessary to have calculus finished by high school. Most of your programming classes will not be affected by calculus in the earlier semesters(I actually don't know of any CS or software engineering students using calc in their classes). However, if you are getting into software engineering, it involves a lot of number tracking, not necessarily calculus. Gen007

Yeah i have to confirm this i think you re worrying too much TC. There is a ton of math for sure i for one had to take cal, linear algebra, and physics. Im a CS major in my senior year by the way and there are plenty at my school who never took cal or even pre cal before college and some actually have to take college algebra depending on placement testing. Right now id actually say you re actually doing fine now  and if you actually do take pre cal before you graduate then your already ahead of the curve. If you are as good at math as you make it seem then youll breeze through it all unless you re trying to go to some super ivy league school or something like then that's different but otherwise i wouldn't break a sweat over it.

The reason i take education seriously is becuase everyone around where i live just wants to drop out or finsish high school and/or go work off shore or go to a trade school and call it a day.

Which is fine by me but i want to become very succesfull and im looking VERY forward to college and not only to advance my education but also to meet new people and get new friends :)

biggerdjam

[QUOTE="lamprey263"]see if there's a program in your state that allows kids in high school to take classes at a community college free, that's probably the best way to get it donethegerg

Like others have said, it's really easy (if you can handle pre-calc w/o difficulty, it shouldn't give you any trouble), and you can take it at a community college during high school.

Calculus is just a continuation of everything else you've learned up to this point.

If your doing well in math now that will likely continue.

My calc teacher summed it up pretty well.

"In basic math you are given a straight triangle on a grid to find exact data on. In Calc your given a fluxating curved edge."

With CS, it isn't necessary to have calculus finished by high school. Most of your programming classes will not be affected by calculus in the earlier semesters(I actually don't know of any CS or software engineering students using calc in their classes). However, if you are getting into software engineering, it involves a lot of number tracking, not necessarily calculus. CongressManStan

This is a good note.  I did IT in college, and it HEAVILY mixed with the CS classes, and neither of these required any higher math, most students didnt take even calc 1 unless they felt like it (most didnt) because that kind of math never applied.  We had our own math courses called Discrete Mathematics, plus logic courses.

First off, I commend you for taking education seriously.

To /begin/ calculus you need a good grasp of algebra and basic math.

To /advance/ calculus you need a good grasp of geometry and trigonometry.

Alot of people take calc 1 say "oh that was easy" then they take calc 2 and are completely lost because they forgot how to do trig.

LazySloth718

I don't remember a lot of trig in calc 2....then again I just remember calc 2 as series and a bunch of miscellaneous crap left over from calc 1.

[QUOTE="CongressManStan"]With CS, it isn't necessary to have calculus finished by high school. Most of your programming classes will not be affected by calculus in the earlier semesters(I actually don't know of any CS or software engineering students using calc in their classes). However, if you are getting into software engineering, it involves a lot of number tracking, not necessarily calculus. wis3boi

This is a good note.  I did IT in college, and it HEAVILY mixed with the CS classes, and neither of these required any higher math, most students didnt take even calc 1 unless they felt like it (most didnt) because that kind of math never applied.  We had our own math courses called Discrete Mathematics, plus logic courses.

if you are a game designer for art the calculations for ssao and such require the use of line integrals, etc

also i can't imagine anyone who can program at low level and doesn't at least appreciate math

mips,x86, w/e

One of my friends was actually able to transfer schools to take calculus. Figure out if other schools in your area teach calculus and figure out how to get in them. If you can't do that Khan Academy has incredibly well done calculus videos and you can learn it on your own time. (you should probably watch these even if you get into a real calculus class)

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

[QUOTE="CongressManStan"]With CS, it isn't necessary to have calculus finished by high school. Most of your programming classes will not be affected by calculus in the earlier semesters(I actually don't know of any CS or software engineering students using calc in their classes). However, if you are getting into software engineering, it involves a lot of number tracking, not necessarily calculus. JigglyWiggly_

This is a good note.  I did IT in college, and it HEAVILY mixed with the CS classes, and neither of these required any higher math, most students didnt take even calc 1 unless they felt like it (most didnt) because that kind of math never applied.  We had our own math courses called Discrete Mathematics, plus logic courses.

if you are a game designer for art the calculations for ssao and such require the use of line integrals, etc

also i can't imagine anyone who can program at low level and doesn't at least appreciate math

mips,x86, w/e

Well computer science involves less calculas and more discrete math and logic study. And depending on what you do, it may involve different parts of math (for example graphics involves lots of linear algebra and potentially calc ~3)way2funny

First off i live in Louisiana and Louisiana is ranked one of the lowest educaton-wise in the country(USA has terrible education too start with)

Im 16 years old and vietnamese and im a sophomore in Highshcool.  I got A's in all of my math classes i have tooken so far(pre-Alg, Alg1, Geometry)

I want to go to college for computer software engineering and that requires a lot of Math.  

 

Problem is, is that my Highschool only goes up to Advanced Math-Pre cal when you are a senior<<< ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!!

This is the track i am on right now:

9th-Alg1(got an A in the class and excellent on the End of course Test)

10th-Geometry(currenlty taking this class and is wayy too easy)

11th-AlgII

12th-Advanced math-pre cal.

^^So0o as you can see my school sucks monkey balls!  BUT WAIT- Louisiana has something called Louisiana Virtual School(link bellow)

http://www.louisianavirtualschool.net/

 

And they offer Pre-cal(advanced math) and Calculus!  I want to talk to my school Counselor and see if i can switch my track to this by using 
Louisiana Virtual school:

10th-Finish taking Geometry(with an A)

11th- first semester i take Alg II and second semester i take Pre-cal(aka advanced math) by my school or LVS.

12- Finally take Calculus using the LVS

 

So as you can see i have gotton all A's in my math classes so far and done well on the tests and if i continue to get A's and do good on my tests all the way up to pre-cal, should i have a problem with taking Calculus before going to college?

Also is MY way of completing Highschool better than my current track im in? Fell free to tell me anything else!

biggerdjam

[QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"]

[QUOTE="wis3boi"]

This is a good note.  I did IT in college, and it HEAVILY mixed with the CS classes, and neither of these required any higher math, most students didnt take even calc 1 unless they felt like it (most didnt) because that kind of math never applied.  We had our own math courses called Discrete Mathematics, plus logic courses.

stanleycup98

if you are a game designer for art the calculations for ssao and such require the use of line integrals, etc

also i can't imagine anyone who can program at low level and doesn't at least appreciate math

mips,x86, w/e

First off i live in Louisiana and Louisiana is ranked one of the lowest educaton-wise in the country(USA has terrible education too start with)

Im 16 years old and vietnamese and im a sophomore in Highshcool.  I got A's in all of my math classes i have tooken so far(pre-Alg, Alg1, Geometry)

I want to go to college for computer software engineering and that requires a lot of Math.  

 

Problem is, is that my Highschool only goes up to Advanced Math-Pre cal when you are a senior<<< ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!!

This is the track i am on right now:

9th-Alg1(got an A in the class and excellent on the End of course Test)

10th-Geometry(currenlty taking this class and is wayy too easy)

11th-AlgII

12th-Advanced math-pre cal.

^^So0o as you can see my school sucks monkey balls!  BUT WAIT- Louisiana has something called Louisiana Virtual School(link bellow)

http://www.louisianavirtualschool.net/

 

And they offer Pre-cal(advanced math) and Calculus!  I want to talk to my school Counselor and see if i can switch my track to this by using 
Louisiana Virtual school:

10th-Finish taking Geometry(with an A)

11th- first semester i take Alg II and second semester i take Pre-cal(aka advanced math) by my school or LVS.

12- Finally take Calculus using the LVS

 

So as you can see i have gotton all A's in my math classes so far and done well on the tests and if i continue to get A's and do good on my tests all the way up to pre-cal, should i have a problem with taking Calculus before going to college?

Also is MY way of completing Highschool better than my current track im in? Fell free to tell me anything else!

biggerdjam

I'm taking IB Calculus as a senior and I took Geometry my freshman year (completed Algebra I in 8th grade), so I was on track to take Calculus (which I can get college credit for if I pass the AP exams). This is the way that most schools work as far as I know. It's not unheard of for people to have taken Algebra and even geometry in middle school.

Are you sure that your school does not offer Calculus? I find that hard to believe. If it's possible I think that you should double up on Algebra II and Pre-Calc your junior year, and then take Calculus your senior year. It'll be hard because algebra II provides a foundation for pre-calc, but if you're willing to put some time in you should be fine.

Also, grades are arbitrary. They won't have an effect on whether or not you get college credit unless your school is distinguished enough that colleges respect it. If your school is as you say one of the lowest quality in the US, you are not getting college credit unless you pass the AP or IB exams (whichever your school offers).

AP Calc online.

Won't be free (maybe) but it will be worth it

[QUOTE="biggerdjam"]

First off i live in Louisiana and Louisiana is ranked one of the lowest educaton-wise in the country(USA has terrible education too start with)

Im 16 years old and vietnamese and im a sophomore in Highshcool.  I got A's in all of my math classes i have tooken so far(pre-Alg, Alg1, Geometry)

I want to go to college for computer software engineering and that requires a lot of Math.  

 

Problem is, is that my Highschool only goes up to Advanced Math-Pre cal when you are a senior<<< ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!!

This is the track i am on right now:

9th-Alg1(got an A in the class and excellent on the End of course Test)

10th-Geometry(currenlty taking this class and is wayy too easy)

11th-AlgII

12th-Advanced math-pre cal.

^^So0o as you can see my school sucks monkey balls!  BUT WAIT- Louisiana has something called Louisiana Virtual School(link bellow)

http://www.louisianavirtualschool.net/

 

And they offer Pre-cal(advanced math) and Calculus!  I want to talk to my school Counselor and see if i can switch my track to this by using 
Louisiana Virtual school:

10th-Finish taking Geometry(with an A)

11th- first semester i take Alg II and second semester i take Pre-cal(aka advanced math) by my school or LVS.

12- Finally take Calculus using the LVS

 

So as you can see i have gotton all A's in my math classes so far and done well on the tests and if i continue to get A's and do good on my tests all the way up to pre-cal, should i have a problem with taking Calculus before going to college?

Also is MY way of completing Highschool better than my current track im in? Fell free to tell me anything else!

ROFLCOPTER603

I'm taking IB Calculus as a senior and I took Geometry my freshman year (completed Algebra I in 8th grade), so I was on track to take Calculus (which I can get college credit for if I pass the AP exams). This is the way that most schools work as far as I know. It's not unheard of for people to have taken Algebra and even geometry in middle school.

Are you sure that your school does not offer Calculus? I find that hard to believe. If it's possible I think that you should double up on Algebra II and Pre-Calc your junior year, and then take Calculus your senior year. It'll be hard because algebra II provides a foundation for pre-calc, but if you're willing to put some time in you should be fine.

Also, grades are arbitrary. They won't have an effect on whether or not you get college credit unless your school is distinguished enough that colleges respect it. If your school is as you say one of the lowest quality in the US, you are not getting college credit unless you pass the AP or IB exams (whichever your school offers).