How important is Algebra 2?

You want to do it, some colleges will even require calc.

I’m not sure how basic algebra 2 is at your school, but in psychology you will almost certainly have to do some statistical analyses and knowing basic algebra is important for being able to do pretty much all other math. I’d recommend taking it, personally, but I’m not an expert on what your requirements will be in psychology.

If you’re hoping to start a four-year program for a psychology degree after you graduate high school, you will most likely be required to complete algebra 2 or an equivalent math credit while in college.

So you can either do it now, or do it while in college.

I also recommend taking it. Avoiding math classes will not look good to college admissions officers. Conversely, taking optional math classes will increase your odds.

Also, when it comes to math Algebra II is probably the most important foundation to have. If you change majors you’ll want to have that under your belt.

Yeah, if you hope to go into any STEM program, even psych, it will be well worth your time to begin mastering algebra now.

I’m a bit worried because I have 2 credits of Algebra 1 because I did one credit in a high school, then switched to a charter school and did another credit. my .5 is in discrete math. So I’d have 2 credits algebra 1, .5 credit discrete math, and 1 credit geometry.
I’m worried that having 2 credits of Algebra 1 will not allow me into some colleges.

Would I really be doing a lot of math as a psychologist? I’ve done a lot of research on what a psychologist does and it seemed to me that English, social studies, and science were the most important subjects for the field… maybe I wasn’t looking deep enough?

You could simply find out what you need from the colleges you hope to attend.

How important is Algebra 2? Why, it’s 2X as important as Algebra 1, obviously!~

But seriously… I recommend it if only as mental training and a means of helping to push your intellect in ways that challenge you, whether “needed” or not.

As for “what you may be doing with algebra later in life” ... probably not a lot. I don’t know a great number of people aside from the engineers I work with daily who use algebra frequently. I don’t, either. But it’s a great skill to have in any case because it helps with your approach to even non-mathematical problems later in life. Unfortunately I don’t have any ready examples at hand, but I know from my own experience that this is so. That is, having the foundation in algebra can help you formulate and set up solution sets to problems that are not strictly mathematical.

In addition to all of that, with a long life ahead of you (and have fun with that!) you may not be doing later in your life exactly what you expect to be doing in four, ten or even the next twenty years.

You may not be able to double count Algebra I, just because you took it twice doesn’t give you two credits.

You can’t take Freshman English twice to get two credits.

It’s transcripted as 2 credits. I got them in 2 different schools. I confirmed this with a teacher but I will confirm again.

You need Algebra 2 if you want to fly in the Air Force. You definitely need it before you take Calculus.

The majority of my friends had to take algebra in college, and it was a weeder course, and a lot of them struggled. Some had to change majors. I don’t know if they had taken algebra 2 or not in high school, all I can tell you is they had to take it in college.

I tell you all of this, because you likely will have to take it in college anyway. If you take it in high school you can learn it at a slower pace, and it will be much easier in college if you do have to take it. Maybe they will let you test out of it?

I think do it. I did algebra 2 in 10th grade and then I stopped because I was only required to take 2 years of math in high school. In my school the minimum expected was to get through Algebra 2 by the time you graduate, the algebra 2 class was mostly seniors.

It’s good when psychologists understand what goes into good research studies and statistics. You would need algebra 2 to take a stats class.

No bachelor of science program worthy of the name in any discipline, even psychology, will allow you to get the degree without taking mathematics through algebra 2 and beyond (either stats or calc). Moreover, if you want to be a therapist or researcher in psychology, you will need more than a BS, and you won’t get into grad school if you are mathematically incompetent. Even if that is not your goal, the ability to reason mathematically is important and valuable no matter what field you pursue.

How important is algebra 2? Important enough. Take algebra 2.

It’s like saying how important is it to know long division. I mean some animals get on fine without it, hahahaha!

At least here, in the social sciences you at least need math 111 at a college level. This is well beyond what a high school algebra 2 class will teach. Here algebra 1 was like some quadratic equation stuff. In college that bumps you into math 65 (assuming you retained it) and then you need 95 and then 111.

But I would talk the the college/university you plan to attend. They will know the specifics. People are paid to help you with this stuff.

In my opinion, it is of zero use.

Yes, you need it for college and for some professions. But I graduated from college in the mid-1970s and I can honestly say that I have never needed calculus at any point after college – including a masters degree and 40 years working.

Geometry has been useful. Algebra and calculus, not even one iota.

Well, I certainly use a good bit of the math I learned regularly, especially algebra and trig.

I only used advanced math to get points in this question.

Is statistics required for a psychology degree? It should be. It is not strictly necessary for practicing psychology, but it would help to be able to pick up a paper in psychology and understand things like normal distribution and correlation coefficient.