Senior year math?

[Sam2018]

I was in a very similar math situation in my senior year, and ended up taking Calc 3 and Diff Eq at a local college via dual enrollment.

Do you think they helped you now that you are at the academy? Which math did you test into? If you were only to take one of them, which one was more beneficial?
Thanks

 

[rkv]

Thoughts

Another thought as to courses for you son to take during senior year would be for to look at the USAFA curriculum handbook and identify core courses for which he might be able to take a course during his senior year which would allow him to validate the USAFA core course. I don't know if he has looked at academic majors yet, but the USAFA core curriculum requirements are broader and occupy more of one's course time than the typical university. By validating some of those courses your son may gain additional degrees of freedom to pursue other courses, many of which are unique to the Air Force Academy, as well as making it easier to pursue a major/minor degree path.

 

[wildblueyonder]

Do you think they helped you now that you are at the academy? Which math did you test into? If you were only to take one of them, which one was more beneficial?
Thanks

During BCT, USAFA has two different math placement tests. Everybody takes the first one (to possibly validate Calc 1), and those who do well have the opportunity to take another test (to potentially validate Calc 2). I passed both tests (which put me into Calc 3) and didn't try to validate any more than that. I realized I would already have a crammed schedule during my first semester and wanted to be careful not to overload myself with even more techy courses. Looking back on it, that was probably one of the best decisions I have made here so far. Since I was already familiar with the concepts, I had no problem with Calc 3 and was able to earn a good grade in it fairly easily when many of my peers were struggling.

I am now in a similar situation with Diff Eq. It is harder than USAFA's Calc 3 (for me, at least), but I have background in the math concepts we are learning, which certainly helps. I definitely don't regret the decision to retake Diff Eq. I have chosen a very technical major that will require me to know this kind of math inside and out, so reviewing the concepts again can only help.

I honestly think your DS would be just fine taking either math, and I wouldn't say that one is "better" than the other. However, there are some concepts in Diff Eq that can be slightly easier to understand with a prior knowledge of Calc 3. It's really up to him, though...both courses are designed to be taken after Calc 2.

Hope this helps! Good luck to you and him!

 

[Sam2018]

Hope this helps! Good luck to you and him!

It does, thank you!

 

[USAFA10s]

I would say take calc 3 over differential equations for a couple reasons. First, it is the next course in the math progression at USAFA after calc 1 and 2. Second, it is a killer at USAFA because of the pace, while typically differential equations is taught at a more reasonable tempo (at least in my experience). Having a familiarity with multi-variable calculus prior to entering USAFA (even if he hasn't mastered it yet) will serve him well. Definitely DON'T give up sports to take a class, and DO find at least some high level math to do over the next year.

For reference, I was a physics/math double major at USAFA. I took AP Calc BC my senior year in high school and validated calc 1-3 but opted to take calc 3 anyway (glad I did, it was one of my favorite courses) my first semester, as a good review and because I was considering a math or physics major.

 

[Sam2018]

Thank you! The plan now is for him to take an online Calc 3 class in the fall and maybe something in the spring as well.

 

[navyafgirl]

I will add:
2 years varsity spring track, captain and varsity letter senior year
4 years winter track, captain and varsity letter senior year
Freshman and JV Lacrosse
President NHS
Student council
Eagle Scout with lots of different leadership positions
member of various school clubs and over 400 hours of community service.

So his EA were not zero, but not the best, Boys State would have helped. Having winter and spring track may not have counted as 2 sports. And I do agree that the 680 hurt. DS regrets not trying harder to get that above 700. He was convinced that have 800 math would make up for that less than stellar CR score. It did not. No sour grapes here. I just wanted to share DS story. He is very happy with NROTC and the civilian college he has been admitted to. I just want to make sure that others don't get too confident that a high SAT score is good enough and hopefully others can learn from what my DS now wishes he would have done.

is your son white?

 

[rkv]

is your son white

I'm puzzled by this question.

As with 5Day's son, there are many exemplary applicants who are not successful in gaining an appointment each year. The same can be said of civilian universities as well. While many of us focus on the various quantifiable metrics I suspect one factor which may weigh heavily in the SA process are the various interviews the candidates must go through.

 

[navyafgirl]

I'm puzzled by this question.

As with 5Day's son, there are many exemplary applicants who are not successful in gaining an appointment each year. The same can be said of civilian universities as well. While many of us focus on the various quantifiable metrics I suspect one factor which may weigh heavily in the SA process are the various interviews the candidates must go through.

haha sorry it was a joke since I know a lot of people from my area joke about how much harder it is for white males to get into the academies as opposed to others

 

[goforspaatz]

haha sorry it was a joke since I know a lot of people from my area joke about how much harder it is for white males to get into the academies as opposed to others

Probably not the best taste in humor... chalking up someone's admittance or rejection to race or gender is not really fair to them. It often boils down to not enough spots for so many amazing candidates.

 

[5Day]

It's ok. White Male. But, I know of 3 others that were appointed from my district that were also white males.
The point is even with that 800 math score, that 6XX verbal score may not be good enough, and working on that verbal score is more important that any senior math class.