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Courses should be offered by the mathematics department. If a ”mathematics based
course,” is offered outside of the mathematics department the high school transcript should
indicate that the high school considers this a “comparable mathematics course” which can
be used to meet the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s mathematics
admissions requirement.
4. If Algebra I is offered as a two-year as opposed to one-year course, and a student
successfully completes this course by the end of the sophomore year and then
completes Geometry or Trigonometry, Algebra II, and another mathematics course
during the senior year, will they meet the four-year mathematics requirement?
Yes. If Algebra I or II and Geometry or Trigonometry is offered as two-year courses by the
high school, and the student successfully completes all required mathematics courses by
the senior year, they will meet the requirement. Given differences among high schools with
regard to course structures and schedules, the total number of years of math completed by
the student, not the duration of the courses, will be considered by admissions officials.
5. What exceptions, if any, are made for students who are unable to take
mathematics in the senior year?
Generally, students admitted to four-year institution of public higher education in
Massachusetts are required to pass four mathematics courses (including Algebra I and II
and Geometry or Trigonometry, or comparable coursework) including during the final year of
high school.
In limited cases, where a student has taken and passed four years of high school
mathematics based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks including coursework
beyond Algebra II (for example, pre-calculus, calculus, AP Calculus/Statistics, trigonometry)
by the end of their junior year due to the organizational structure of a high school (e.g. block
scheduling), that student may be considered to have met the minimum requirements for
admission if there are no other available mathematics courses for the student to complete. If
a student falls into this category and is unable to enroll in a math course in their senior year,
the student/high school should address this early in the admissions process.
6. What types of science courses meet the requirement that students must complete
three science courses (drawn from Natural Science and/or Physical Science and/or
Technology and Engineering), including three courses with laboratory work? In
addition, how should these courses be labeled on high school transcripts?
In Massachusetts, district and high school administrators have the flexibility to offer courses
that are aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks but also include additional
topics. As such, high schools can offer a wide range of science courses and science lab
courses in the Natural and Physical Sciences as well as Technology and Engineering, and
decisions about which courses are designated as science or science lab courses are made
by district and school administrators.