Im going into 11th grade and im unsure if i should take calculus bc or ap stats. The issue is that if i take AP stats then i wont have a 4th year of math and if i take calculus bc this year then i will have a 4th year of math but i struggled in calculus ab in my previous year and i am pretty sure that if i take bc then i wont do good. So im wondering what looks best if i take ap calculus bc and not do so good or if i take ap stats and not have a 4th year of math? I know that the minimum is 3 years of math but since 4 is recommended then i feel like that is what colleges want. Ive taken algebra in 7th, geometry in 8th, and advanced math in 9th which is a mix of precal and trig and algebra 2, this helped me go on to AP calculus in 10th grade so im not sure that if by me doing that and having an advantage compared to other students that it would count as 4 years. I would like to get into a uc or usc if that matters.
What do you want to study in college? Understand your concern about getting into college, but if you’re looking to go engineering, STEM, or a field requiring heavy math the fact you struggled (by your definition) is a flag. You really need a SOLID math/calc foundation if you’ll be taking more in college. Would it be possible to retake calc 1 at a local CC to fill in the holes of your knowledge? Even if you don’t get credit for it - and you may - just gaining the knowledge may be $ and time well spent.
AP Stats should count as a math. Statistics is a mathematics course at every college I have ever known, and is listed in the math department of every high school in my metro area.
I agree with @JustGraduate, if you’re planning on going into a major that requires math like engineering, physics, or chemistry, you’re going to need Calc BC. You could also take Calc 1 at the community college if you’re able to do so. The credits might transfer over and you won’t have to suffer as much in BC.
Personally, I’d stick with BC since you took AB this year. BC is basically AB plus three or more chapters (it’s been two years since I took BC). I think the UC’s and USC want to see four years of math, BUT check the admissions requirements to see how many years of math you’ll need.
Hope this helps and best of luck!
I’m pretty sure that AP Stats counts as math…what else would it be?
AP Stats would give a 4th year of Math.
I believe the OP means that if they take Calc BC, their high school offers a math class past that which would then be a fourth year of math, whereas if they take Stats they will not have a math class to take after that, and therefore they would only have a total of three years of math. I could be wrong though, correct me if I am mistaken OP.
Odd that your schools put you in the two-grades-ahead math track and into the advanced math course that compresses two years into one year if you “struggled” in math. But if you need calculus for whatever you study in college, you may want to take the second half of calculus BC in high school, since your high school teaches calculus at a gentler and slower pace than how colleges teach calculus.
However, in math, the level completed is often more important than the number of years. Calculus is already more advanced than most high school students reach in high school.
What about dual enrollment, retaking calc 1 to solidify knowledge then either in the spring or senior year, calculus 2?
@ucbalumnus , by my reckoning, he is one year, not two years ahead in math. Algebra 1 is taught in 8th grade around here, and he took it in 7th. Or is this not the case everywhere? My kids’ track went: pre-alg (7th), alg 1 (8th), geometry (9th), alg 2 (10th), trig/pre-calc (11th) and calc (12th). Within each math course, there were levels (college-prep, honors, AP, etc.), but everyone followed this track.
OP, if you exhaust your school’s math offerings, you will be fine. It doesn’t matter if you do it in three years. Colleges won’t penalize you for starting the math track a year early. Calc BC is only a month’s more material than AB, so a lot of the beginning will be review for you if you take that.
Normal progression in high school math is:
9th: algebra 1
10th: geometry
11th: algebra 2
12th: precalculus / trigonometry
college frosh: calculus
It is certainly possible that, in middle/high schools that are relatively elite academically, most students are on the +1 track starting algebra 1 in 8th grade reaching calculus in 12th grade. But remember that about 3.5 million graduate from high school each year, but between 400,000 to 500,000 take calculus in high school.
^^It can’t be just the middle/high schools that are “elite,” @ucbalumnus . It has to start earlier than that or the kids wouldn’t be prepared. Every district in the area where my kids grew up started kids in algebra 1 in 8th grade. The slower kids got extra help, but they still took it. Maybe it’s a MA or a New England thing in general? I know of three families who moved to other parts of the country (AZ and FL) and found that their kids were well ahead.
My high school follows the same trend as massmomm’s highschool does, where you are considered behind if you aren’t taking geometry freshman year.
@callogan44 you are exactly right. The reason why i wont be able to take a 4th year of math if i take ap stats in 11th grade is that there are only few students who have taken AP calculus AB during their 10th grade year and if i were not to take BC in 11th grade then their are not enough students to be able to make another class in my senior year. I dont now if i made sense but Im really dreading taking BC and i dont really think i want to have a career in math but id like to keep my options open.