At Pleasant Valley, students only need three years of math credit in order to meet graduation requirements. Because of this, many people decide not to take a math class their senior year, which can hurt them later on in college.
All colleges require general education credits which students must take before starting into more specific classes for their degree. These GenEd courses include math, english, science, social sciences and humanities. This means almost every student will have to take a math class while at college.
Most degrees need at least 3-6 math credits, so students who don’t take four years of math in high school, often struggle getting back into math.
“Four years of math is important for anyone going into college. Every major will require some kind of algebra and/or statistics, so either getting that fulfilled in high school or getting prepared from classes is so beneficial,” math teacher, Julie Spelhaug, said.
Students like to take easier senior schedules in order to have an effortless last year of high school, but that means they aren’t taking advantage of everything PV offers.
Senior Anna Griffin, who is currently in calculus, explained, “If you can take a college course for free at the high school then I think everyone should take advantage of that. It is a great way to get GenEds out of the way, regardless if you want to major in something math related or not.”
Often times, seniors regret their decision of not taking any sort of math during their last year of high school. “I wish I would’ve taken a math class my senior year because now I am nervous that it will be really hard once I get to college. I know I will struggle getting back into it after taking a year off from the subject,” senior Allie Zucker stated.
Rory Donahue, a PV graduate and freshman at University of Wisconsin, said, “I took calculus 1 and 2 in high school and that was such a good move for me. Having the credits transfer allowed me to start in calc 3 at Wisconsin which is normally a sophomore class, so now I’m a year ahead. Also by not taking a year off I didn’t have to reteach myself any new material or try to think in math terms again.”
