navy/airforce-hopeful man
Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2022
- Messages
- 126
Hello everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
I am currently a re-applicant to USAFA for the class of '28. I will be attending a local state school in the fall, and I'm in the process of selecting my courses. I didn't take many advanced math courses in high school, and when speaking with USNA admissions about how to improve my application they said that my STEM high school course load was a large weakness, particularly in that I never took calc. The only AP stem class I took was Stats, and it was my lowest grade of high school.
Right now I'm facing a bit of a conundrum. I have the choice of either taking pre-calc this fall, or possibly getting into regular calc-1. I have received a brief course overview from a math professor at the school I will be attending and I'm familiar with almost nothing that he went over (logs, derivatives, rational functions, etc.) I'm not usually an anxious or self-doubting person, but I really don't know if I'll be able to get an A if I take regular calculus this fall, and I know that all A's on first semester college grades are what USAFA admissions is looking for.
So, I ask this: Is it hypothetically better in the eyes of USAFA to get a lower grade in calculus, or a higher grade in pre-calc? Let's for the sake of argument just say B- for calc and A+ for pre-calc are my capabilities. (I obviously have no idea, that's just a guess.) I'm willing to put in however much work it takes to get a good grade, I just want to do what will give me the best chance at getting into USAFA.
I plan on doing more research about this and also consulting with USAFA admissions if possible. Currently I'm leaning towards trying to get into regular calculus-1. I just thought it would be good to run my thoughts by the forum first, since this place always has some great thinkers.
For background info: I will also be taking AFROTC classes, Chemistry, English Comp, Physics (possibly).
18M, turned down last year for weak CFA, poor HS STEM course load, bad essay, not enough ECA's. Action taken so far: consistent improvements in the gym, 34 ACT score, volunteer work, job experience.
I am currently a re-applicant to USAFA for the class of '28. I will be attending a local state school in the fall, and I'm in the process of selecting my courses. I didn't take many advanced math courses in high school, and when speaking with USNA admissions about how to improve my application they said that my STEM high school course load was a large weakness, particularly in that I never took calc. The only AP stem class I took was Stats, and it was my lowest grade of high school.
Right now I'm facing a bit of a conundrum. I have the choice of either taking pre-calc this fall, or possibly getting into regular calc-1. I have received a brief course overview from a math professor at the school I will be attending and I'm familiar with almost nothing that he went over (logs, derivatives, rational functions, etc.) I'm not usually an anxious or self-doubting person, but I really don't know if I'll be able to get an A if I take regular calculus this fall, and I know that all A's on first semester college grades are what USAFA admissions is looking for.
So, I ask this: Is it hypothetically better in the eyes of USAFA to get a lower grade in calculus, or a higher grade in pre-calc? Let's for the sake of argument just say B- for calc and A+ for pre-calc are my capabilities. (I obviously have no idea, that's just a guess.) I'm willing to put in however much work it takes to get a good grade, I just want to do what will give me the best chance at getting into USAFA.
I plan on doing more research about this and also consulting with USAFA admissions if possible. Currently I'm leaning towards trying to get into regular calculus-1. I just thought it would be good to run my thoughts by the forum first, since this place always has some great thinkers.
For background info: I will also be taking AFROTC classes, Chemistry, English Comp, Physics (possibly).
18M, turned down last year for weak CFA, poor HS STEM course load, bad essay, not enough ECA's. Action taken so far: consistent improvements in the gym, 34 ACT score, volunteer work, job experience.