For most freshmen, math at Princeton High School starts with either Geometry or Algebra, depending on what they took in middle school. However, some students skip Geometry over the summer between eighth and ninth grade, granting them the opportunity to finish the math curriculum at PHS by junior year and take a Princeton University math course as a senior. However, at recent school board meetings, the administration has considered taking action to prevent students from taking this path. If they eliminate the option of taking Geometry over the summer, the school would effectively remove the track that allows students to enroll in university math their senior year.

I wholeheartedly support this plan because it will reduce a source of stress on students. A big problem with the system is that many parents (including my own) pressure their kids to put disproportionate focus into math to reach the highest level. This is detrimental, but removing the option to skip Geometry before 9th grade would alleviate this problem. While it is inevitable that some parents will pressure their children, by taking this position, the school can minimize the damage. We certainly need to keep a distinction between different tracks to let people focus on their interests, but that would still be possible without the university math track.

When the top students are rushing ahead to university level math, we risk making that the new standard. So many people are completely overscheduled with extracurriculars and high-level courses that further inflation in expectations is dangerous. The availability of the college math track propagates a cycle where people are pressured to overwork themselves and feel more pressure because of other people who are doing the same thing. By removing the option for rising 9th graders to take Geometry over the summer, that pressure can be alleviated.

Opponents of this new idea might argue that eliminating the option to skip Geometry stops students from reaching their potential in their subject of interest; while this change may be somewhat limiting, any students performing highly enough to take college courses in high school will certainly get the chance to take those courses when they are in college. No one is set back by having to wait one more year to take courses at the college level. Multivariable Calculus, the course taken by most advanced senior math students, is already extremely rigorous—even more so than the AP-level math courses—so making provisions for students to take a class above that level in high school is unnecessary, and in many cases, stress-inducing. On the contrary, the absurdly high pressure caused by the availability of college math courses in high school pushes students to increase their heavy workloads even further, inducing significant harm to students’ wellbeing. We must step back and acknowledge that most ninth graders who skip Geometry do so because of a frenzied race to get into college rather than a passion for math.

Eliminating the option to skip Geometry over the summer doesn’t do away with the possibility for students to pursue their interest in math. Students can continue to participate in programs outside of school or extracurricular activities that allow them to flourish in a field that they are actually interested in. However, since such things would not be part of a school transcript, the motivation of appealing to colleges would be taken out of the picture, or at least dampened. The school’s decision would, therefore, encourage students to take advanced math courses based on interest in the subject rather than as a way of boosting a college resume. As a result, students would have less of a motive to take on work beyond their capacity. To help reduce stress without significant drawbacks, I highly recommend that the school proceeds with this change and implement it as soon as possible.