Is a "Math 2" or "Math 8" in College, equivalent/exceeds Algebra 2 in High School?
Hi,
My son is currently in 9th grade in HS. We plan to do an "Algebra 2" or "Algebra 2 Honors" or equivalent over the summer under dual-enrollment in a college, so that we can go directly to Calculus AB in 10th grade, do Calculus BC in 11th grade, and do a college-level multivariate calculus class in his senior year in HS.
Challenge/Difficulty is not a problem because he has been doing outside classes (Russian Math) that exceed Algebra 2 and crushing them. (He's taking "Trigonometry" and "Precalculus" at Russian Math). If he were to take an Algebra 2 exam right now, I'm sure he would crush it.
The thing is the college (Saddleback/Irvine Valley) doesn't exactly offer a class that's explicitly labelled "Algebra 2 equivalent". Instead there are these two classes, MATH 2 and MATH 8:
MATH 2 - PRE-CALCULUS MATHEMATICS
Clearance from the current placement process or completion of Trigonometry or equivalent course with a "C" grade or better
TRANSFERABILITY***:*** CSU and UC
Topics include polynomial, absolute value, radical, rational, exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions and their graphs; analytic geometry, polar coordinates.
MATH 8 - COLLEGE ALGEBRA FOR BRIEF CALCULUS
Clearance from the current placement process or completion of Intermediate Algebra or equivalent course with a "C" grade or better.
TRANSFERABILITY***:*** CSU and UC
College-level course in algebra that also provides sufficient preparation for success in a brief calculus course. Covers polynomial, rational, radical, exponential, absolute value, and logarithmic functions; systems of equations and inequalities; theory of polynomial equations.
Which of the above two classes in your opinion is a better "Algebra 2" equivalent in your opinion? My son's Russian Math teacher thinks he should take "Math 2" and says it is actually harder than "Math 8" but more suited for my son's level/challenge, I think because it includes Trigonometry that my son is already doing. I wanted to double-check with you guys on what you think.
UPDATE: So the school tells me that it's "tricky/messy" to use Math 2 or Math 8 as an equivalent for Algebra 2 because they're... ahem... not equivalent. (As some of you have pointed out.) So I'll be looking for some accredited online high school thingie instead with an actual "Algebra 2 Honors" he can take. Thank you for your help.
A quick word: I'm not trying to accelerate my kid for no good reason. (That "Irvine" post made me laugh.) He's smart, and he has a ton of free time which he spends reading manga online. He's truly insufficiently challenged in school. We take Russian Math class outside of school so he already knows a lot of material. And it seems like there's so much redundancy in the high school pathway (like supposedly a big chunk of "precalc" is revising Algebra 2. And I just found out from a few of you that Calculus BC and Calculus AB overlap too.)
Even if we don't end up doing college-level multivariate calculus in his senior year at HS, he could do other classes to expand his mind. It could be non-math. I just don't see the point in him doing what amounts to revision for an entire year. Some of you did Algebra 2 in 9th grade. His school wants him to do "Algebra 2 Honors" in 10th grade... I think he can totally skip that since he did all of that stuff in Russian Math and more.