Students who took more math courses in high school did better in all types of science when they got to college, two researchers said in a recent study.
The study also found that while high school courses in biology, chemistry and physics improved grades in their collegiate counterparts, taking a high school course in one science did not improve a student's performance in any of the others.
Philip Sadler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Robert Tai of the University of Virginia surveyed 8,474 students taking introductory-level courses at 63 colleges and universities across the United States.
Their findings were reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science. Using a scale of one to 100 points, the researchers found that every year of high school math a student took added 1.86 points to his or her grade in a college chemistry class. When students took a high school chemistry class, it added 1.72 points to the college grade, but high school biology and physics classes did not impact the college chemistry grade.
Students taking a college biology class added 1.84 points to their grades for each year of high school math, and 1.35 points if they had taken a biology class in high school.
For a college physics classes, each year of high school math added 1.28 points and high school physics gave it a 1.32-point boost.
High school math classes are very important for students, especially those in science and engineering courses, said Rick Robinett, director of undergraduate studies for the Penn State physics department.
"Clearly, students who have had calculus do better," he said.
Robinett said that to be placed in a college introductory chemistry course, such as CHEM 012 -- now CHEM 110 (Chemical Principles) -- students have to do well on both the chemistry and math sections of their First-Year Testing, Counseling and Advising Program tests.
"The more math the better, especially in physics," he said.
Some students said taking extra math and science in high school did not help them very much in their college classes.
Jill Pollok (sophomore-division of undergraduate studies) said she took chemistry and Advanced Placement calculus in high school, but it didn't help her much in CHEM 012.
"I did not do well at all [in CHEM 012]," she said. "It was my worst grade."
Pollok also said the AP calculus class she took in high school did not help her in college chemistry.
"It helped me in calculus, but not in chemistry," she said.
However, Maria Hall (senior-nutrition) said her high school math classes helped her in her college organic chemistry class.
"Organic chemistry was one of the hardest classes I had," she said. "Math is what saved me."
Hall said excellent math teachers in high school helped her in college chemistry.
"I was able to get through it because I had a strong math background," she said.
