Hey guys, I’m not sure if I have seen this on a thread or not, so I thought I would just make a new one and ask.
I’m currently a junior, interested in going into nursing, and thinking about my senior year schedule.
I know taking a stats class is important for nursing so taking one in high school looks good to colleges. My school offers an “advanced algebra and statistics” and AP statistics.
Math is not my best subject, and I heard AP stats is incredibly difficult at our school (a top 5 school in my state).
My question is, will colleges see advanced algebra and stats as a stats class or just another math class? I know AP would look better, but I don’t want to risk my GPA dropping senior year.
It’s hard to say. This is actually a question I would ask a college admissions officer. They are usually happy to help.
Also, you might want to consider taking the statistics class over the summer at your local community college. Community college classes can be less difficult than AP classes and look just as good, maybe even better, on your transcript. The credit also transfers in without you having to get a 4 or 5 on the AP exam and depending on the nursing curriculum you may never have to take another statistics class. Also, if you take it over the summer you can focus on just that class. My D took a math class at her local CC this past summer and said the class was much easier than the honors math classes she had taken in high school.
AP stats is a good class to take, but don’t take it if you feel it will hurt your other grades. AP bio is a higher priority, and you want to have time and energy to do well in it.
Maybe the AP stats teacher could be of help - they could show you the textbook, etc…
Remember that even if you don’t earn AP credit, it still will make it easier in college because you will be re-learning the same material. When I went to college, we used the same textbook I had used in my AP-level math class.
I know you didn’t ask the question, but calculus has little value for nursing.
My dd is currently taking AP Stats & she is finding it extremely difficult but there are other factors involved and she says that not only her but the entire class is struggling. First off, the teacher who taught the AP Stats class last year for the first time was a newly credentialed teacher and new to the school. She was hired one week before school started in 2014 because the previous AP Stats teacher quit [probably got a better contract elsewhere]. So, the newly credentialed teacher accepted the challenge of “baptism by fire.” Apparently, the 2015 AP Stats pass rate at the school was very low. The teacher was given the option for the 2015-2016 school year if she wanted to continue to teach AP Stats and she decided to and the school sent her for AP Stats training during the summer. But, since this is only her 2nd year of teaching, she still does not have the years of experience behind her that most AP teachers have. My daughter is having a tougher time with AP Stats than she did with AP Chem or Honors Math Analysis [both teachers had years of teaching experience]. If we had known about the low 2015 AP Stats pass rate [found out in October - we should have asked sooner about the pass rate - our bad], my dd may have just taken regular Stats. She is in AP Stats tutoring twice a week. Her tutor, who teaches at a local university in the am and has years of experience with a masters in math, told us that most math teachers do not have a solid background in Stats & may have only taken 1 Stats class in college for their math major, thus teachers find Stats hard to teach since they do not have a full understanding of the course material.
So, at your school you may want to find out the reasons why AP Stats is incredibly difficult - find out the AP Stats pass rate at your school. If you took AP Stats & had a tough time, would outside tutoring be an option to keep your grade up? The Advanced Algebra & Stats class you mentioned… would you take that after Algebra 2 or precalulus? If you are taking Algebra 2 this year, you possibly could take precalculus [math analysis] senior year instead of advanced algebra and stats which would be a challenging alternative for a senior math class. My dd has always done well in math up to Honors Math Analysis which definitely challenged her but now she is at her math plateau as her counselor has said but hopefuly she will have an easier time with Stats in college.