I am sort of shocked that anyone would assume that my 13yo is not up to the task of a major in applied mathematics on the basis of "only" starting as a regular freshman-- in calculus.
If there is a 3-year B.S. program in math starting with calculus, she will be able to start with calculus and complete it, but if followed by multivariable calculus and linear algebra the 2nd year, as Berkeley requires as a "LOWER-DIVISION REQUIRED COURSE", she would have only one year left for upper-division courses that have multivariable calculus and linear algebra as pre-requisites. This program has less depth than a 4-year one in which a student starts with MV calculus and linear algebra and spends the next three years taking upper-division courses, and it arguably leaves a student less prepared for graduate study in math or for a math-intensive career.
For many highly gifted students, their BA is effectively a master's degree, since they are taking graduate-level courses in their junior and senior years. I think that is what I'd like for my eldest.
Even with a 5 on AP Calculus BC, I was underprepared to study electricity and magnetism as a freshman, having never seen "Div, Grad, Curl, and All That" (there is a book with that title). I'd like my eldest to have at least informally studied some MV calculus before college.
