<p>Due to IB scheduling restraints, I can't take a math class senior year. I took AP Calc AB last year and was planning on doing AP Stats this year but in order to do that, I would have had to drop band. My mom says I should have dropped band but I really like band and I wanted to stick with it all four years. </p>
<p>She says that since UC schools recommend 4 years of math, a lot of them will look at my application and just disregard it cos I don't have 4 years of math. But I am taking 4 years of history and French, subjects which I enjoy much more than math. So I'm wondering does it really make a difference if I take 3 years of math vs. 4? I could attempt to self-study AP stats but I don't really know if that'll make up for taking a year of math. All opinions are very welcome. Thanks!</p>
<p>If you have a solid resume and essay you can fudge a bit with course requirements
case in point I got accepted to a number of UC schools even though I only technically had one year of Spanish and an accreditation for another year of spanish via an informal exam not proctored by the high school I was attending
for the sake of preparing for the rigor of a challenging UC school I would strongly suggest you pursue that auto-didactian endeavor of self-study AP stats if time and your social life permit
in fact I only took 1.5 years of science
and two easy non AP courses at that
and they overlooked that in their review of my applications</p>
<p>^Agreed. They won’t necessarily toss your application, but there are a lot of factors that come into play, such as the specific UC school you’re applying to (big difference between Berkeley and Riverside, for example), and what the rest of your application looks like.</p>
<p>It goes without saying that taking 4 years gives you a boost over taking 3 years.</p>
<p>I believe you already have 4+ yrs of math, since UC’s will consider the algebra I & geometry you took in junior high as fulfilling a - g requirements. But you should call the main UC admissions # a d double-check this.</p>
<p>UC and CSU allow completion of higher level math to validate lower level math courses. The three years of high school math minimum is algebra 1 and 2 and geometry, so precalculus would be the fourth year and calculus would be the fifth year. Completion of precalculus validates the entire math requirement (i.e. algebra 1 and 2 and geometry).</p>
<p>Foreign language is also counted by level completed at UC and CSU. E.g. a heritage speaker of Spanish who completes Spanish 4 as a high school freshman will be counted as having “four years” of language other than English.</p>
<p>you already have the equivalent of 4.5 years of math (AB is the equivalent of a half course). AlgI taken in middle school counts for UC, so math is fine.</p>
<p>But you do need to be concerned about senior year course schedule – senior rigor is an admissions factor. Make sure that you are taking as many academic solids as you can – at least 4 and preferably 5 for the top UCs.</p>
<p>Oh ok I didn’t know about the geometry and algebra counting towards the four years. Thanks a lot for clearing that up! And I think my senior schedule is rigorous enough since I’m taking 5 IB courses but I’m not sure if subjects like TOK and Psychology count as academic solids. I shall check up on that.</p>
<p>Hi to answer your question i graduated from highschool this year and I talk to my counselors alot and my pre college counselors as well. Whether you should be taking 3 or 4 years of math is up to you, but keep in mind that even though people say three years of math counts from algebra 1, geometry, alg 2 etc that is very low now a days to be applying to top schools. ( kids entering high school now a days enter 9th grade with geometry or algebra) You are on on a good track since your already in calcAB. Oh I would say keep band in your schedule if you really like it instead of the stats. I would highly suggest though to atleast self study the Ap stat test and give it a shot. You never know it could be the difference between getting accepted or not to a school like berkeley or LA because college admissions is tough. </p>
<p>I’m planning on majoring in English or perhaps double majoring in English/Psych. Definitely not anything math or science related, which is why I opted out of taking math/science senior year (it also didn’t fit with my schedule). </p>
<p>And nope I don’t have a leadership position in the band cos the directors have stated that one has to take both a marching band and a concert band position to hold a leadership position and with my IB class requirements I don’t have room for all that.</p>
<p><a href=“http://doorways.ucop.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://doorways.ucop.edu</a> can help you see which courses at your California public or private high school count as UC/CSU a-g academic courses (and which are considered “honors”).</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: Oh cool thanks very much for the link! I was unaware that TOK was counted as an honors course. So anything that meets the A-G requirements are regarded as solid academic courses?</p>