Should I take a high school geometry course over the summer, or take a computer science course from a community college?Answered
I am currently a freshman, going into my sophomore year this fall. Because of coronavirus, I have nothing to do this summer. I want to take a summer class to use up the time and so that it looks good for college. This fall, I am supposed to take geometry in school. I am considering taking it this summer since it would help me get a head start on the SAT (as geometry is part of the math section) and it would make me ahead of the math at my school. I really want to do that, but I couldn't find community colleges with geometry summer courses. I am worried that taking summer school instead of college for geometry wouldn't look as good for college. I want to do what looks best and is the most beneficial to me. My other option is to take a computer science class at a community college over the summer. This would be good as I am very interested in computer science and it might be my future major. But, it wouldn't help me with the SAT. It would allow me to do AP computer science at my school, but I don't know if that would look as good as doing geometry over the summer and then doing AP math junior and senior year. I want to do what helps me the most and looks the best if possible. If anyone knows of any community colleges (or normal colleges) that have summer geometry courses (not analytical geometry) that I could take, please let me know. I really think that geometry would be better for me if it was a college class, but I am trying to do what would help me get into colleges like MIT and Standford.
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3 answers
Considering you're a freshman, I wouldn't worry about the SAT just yet. Instead, plan for the PSAT, which is actually a great practice for the SAT itself. I'm a sophomore and I took the PSAT and thought it was great practice. You can also go on Khan Academy and sign up for SAT practice through CollegeBoard.
As for your classes situation, I would just take the geometry like normal and go for computer science. If you want to major in it, that will be really beneficial. I am currently taking honors geometry and will be taking AP math next year. You can still take the regular geometry your sophomore year, and if you're up for the challenge, take both AP Math and AP Computer Science junior year. Colleges will be so impressed if you take that route. However, it's totally your preference. Good luck!
As long as you can take the CS course with the math you've already learned, I would go for that. Don't worry about accelerating Geometry into the summer just for the SAT, because you likely won't be taking the SAT for at least another year if not longer (and we don't even know what the SAT will look like in a year or two). Pursue the thing that ties into what you're interested in—colleges like MIT and Stanford are going to care significantly more that you've demonstrated your interest in the subject you're applying for and worked to build up your skills in that over time than they will about one additional AP math course.
Hey, you're a junior now right? How'd it go?
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