#math4

Response from Padma:

Response from Penelope:

I think I answered this question a few months ago but I cannot find the ask for the life of me so I'll just probably say the same things again. But again, I'm pretty boomer now, so this is all based on when I took the class in fall 2019...

I thought it was around the same difficulty as all of the tests — fairly representative of the problems (and similar question types). You're still going to have a difficult vectors problem written by Auerbach! However, they will not go great lengths to make your life painful for a specific topic, because it covers so much material. You'll probably end up doing the same if you study the same, a little better if you spend more time / have a more refined studying tactic, or worse if you end up not really studying that well.

Response from Penelope:

Keep in mind that I am kind of old! I took it in Fall 2019 (lmao) but it was fully in person and the whole nine yards of the Math 4 experience.

I thought the final was a little bit easier than the tests (since it doesn't go as in-depth as each test), but fairly representative. For example — Auerbach wrote our vectors test, and a question similar in style to the FRQ on the test popped up on the exam. It's not one of the easier exams you'll take in your time at TJ, but the questions aren't coming out of nowhere.

Response from Penelope:

Judging by how it's halfway through the semester, I'll take a gander and make the assumption that a C is a 75 and you have ... 2 tests and a final left. Whatever your grade is before the final is worth 80% of your final grade and your final is worth 20% (I think? I don't have a syllabus on me).

Let's say hypothetically you get full scores on every exam. Maybe they're curved, maybe they're not. This depends a lot on the teacher and a lot on the year — my vectors test many moons ago was curved 13 points, while another class' was curved 5. I'm of the opinion that one should never rely on a curve, so let's assume there is no curve. With those two exams, you get (100 * 0.4) + (75 * 0.6) for your final grade before the final, since your earlier average was a C and you're averaging 100s on your tests now! Multiply that by 0.8. On your final, you get 100, so that's 100 * 0.2.

Sum that all up, and you get your final grade. That comes out to 88. Of course, there's like homework and quizzes and curves and whatnot. So what you get out of all of this is that yes, it's probably technically possible, but you'd have to get in a mixture of an extreme amount of effort, really good understanding of the material (which is also cumulative — a problem often in math), and a great dose of luck.

Response from Al:

      Congrats on your performance in Math 4 so far. Yeah, the vectors test was hard for me too when I took math 4, but hey we both got through it. As for deciding between BC and AB, I would personally say take BC if you’re comfortable in your math abilities and want a good challenge. BC takes on a faster pace than AB, since BC covers the equivalent of an entire Calculus course at college and AB covers around half of that much. AB on the other hand is best for people who like to learn slowly and carefully. To give you some reference, I personally felt the pacing of BC felt more or less similar to that of Math 4 / Math 5.