Statistics is often a very useful elective in high school, but it is best to think of it as an additional elective, not a substitute for precalculus or calculus.
A good knowledge of statistics will be useful in medicine. You may have to take a calculus based statistics course in college.
So I would take that in addition to whatever math course I’m presently taking?
Also, do you advise that I take precalc over summer to advance my math classes?
What would you say Statistics is like?
I hope I’m not bombarding you with questions.
Summer precalculus is not generally advised around here, since it goes at twice the pace. Without it, you will still reach calculus in 12th grade after precalculus in 11th grade.
AP statistics is generally not considered to be that difficult a course; prerequisite is algebra 2.
Do whatever you would enjoy the most. As long as you have good grades, and good scores, you’ll get into a good school.
I don’t see any reason that you could not attend the Swarthmore program and write, too.
I think that the opportunities at Penn are excellent, and it really means a lot to be able to go home easily. Make sure that you apply there, when the time comes, in addition to your other reaches.
BTW, I’m an MD, and Calculus was of no use whatsoever in medicine - but I always regretted not having taken statistics, which is much, much more useful for evaluating the validity of scientific research papers.
The idea is to use every available class period in the registration lottery, and then drop a class (of course the worst one) because you’re overloaded. At my kids’ high school, people routinely took 6 classes plus a study hall plus a lunch - some even took only 5 classes. But my kids usually took 8 classes and no lunch, so that they could fit in all their music classes. If they wanted to drop something, they could, as long as they could still fulfill the school’s requirements.
Okay, if I don’t do that, will it hurt me?
“That” refers to what?
It looks like the swarthmore program is for incoming undergrads. Maybe im looking at the wrong one.
I’m sorry if this is a silly question, but how is statistics useful in medicine? I’m not like trying to sound rude but I honestly don’t know. The first thing that comes to mind is patient data and how medecine affects certain groups of people.
I was watching a video on genetics this morning (specifically Mendelian, my favorite; lol, that sounded weird) and they talked about probablity when using more than one combination of traits because the Punnett square would take too long
Is that the context?
If I don’t take the highest level of calculus possible, will it hurt me?
You will reach calculus in your normal math progression. It is not obvious whether getting to BC instead of AB by taking summer math would be a significant help in the eyes of college admission.
Okay, thanks. I wasn’t sure if it was important (well, it is important) but like really important because I want to be a STEM major. What if I choose to be in Biomedical Engineering? I would probably have to take more physics courses I suppose;
I’ll make that decision much later though. I should stress/burn out myself.
Many medical research papers (e.g. on COVID-19) make use of statistics to determine whether something (e.g. vaccine or treatment) is effective and how effective.
That makes a lot more sense. So if I do research related to medicine I would need to know some statistics.
Or even if you just practice as a physician without doing research, understanding the research papers can help you improve how you practice.
I sort of wish Covid would be over already so I could participate in more programs and stuff. I sort of know a little from reading, watching videos, and what my parents have said on what to expect but I want to experience it first hand even if it’s just following around a doctor all day.
It has to do with evaluating the validity of reported research. For example, lets say that one is trying to decide whether it’s a good idea to start using a certain new medication, versus older medications. The drug rep is telling you how wonderful the new medication is, but of course it’s a lot more expensive, and has no track record of safety. If you’re a conscientious doctor, you look closely at the published research, and you evaluate whether, statistically, the results with the new medication are better than with the old. There are various statistical analyses that tell you whether the results could have happened by chance, versus really being significant and valid. These statistical analyses are applied to all study data, and they determine whether the treatment works better than previous treatments, or than no treatment.
If you know the statistical analyses and their significance, sometimes you realize that the proposed medication, formula, treatment, etc. is really no better than what you’re already using, and is a lot more expensive, or inconvenient, or has significant side effects. Being able to understand the statistics used to analyse the study results makes you a better doctor, better able to see whether the study results are valid or not.
Soon, soon. Summer programs will run this summer. Do some googling about high school summer programs for STEM, including the ones geared towards AA girls. I know that Yale had one, but I think it wasn’t residential.
Thanks for the information. I’ll use as many resources as I can to work on my math skills, I recently took the PSAT 8/9 at school which I wish I’d prepare and didn’t do as well as I’d like;
My toral was 1160 (95th percentile) with my ELA being 620 (97th percentile) and math being a 540 (88th perctile);
I found a transfer chart for the SATs and it went over really low.
I signed up for the khan academy practice quizzes and I’m getting math tutoring outside of school, so that should hopefully help overall; I also don’t like shapes which makes geometry fun 
Wish it were something like Algebra II
I have a list but they’re mostly for general people and a lot are local because I have siblings and they have lives
My parents sometimes get anxious so I’ve never been to an overnight camp so I doubt they’d feel comfortable with me spending a week or more somewhere far
It’s not complete but this is what I found so far; assuming I wasn’t accepted the first year/it’s continual I had it recurring
9th Grade
Junior Volunteer Program at Pennsylvania Hospital
Jefferson Health Junior Volunteers
Get job/volunteer at library?
Allied Health Seminar I
10th Grade
UNIVERSITY OF Pittsburg Health Careers Scholar Academy
Junior Volunteer Program at Penn Hospital
Work
Volunteer at library
MedAcademy Rowan
Jefferson Helath Junior Volunteers
The Wistar Institue Higb Dchool Program in Biomedical Research
Allied Health Seminar II
Future Health Professionals Program
11th Grade
MedAcademh Masters
Junior Urban Medical Pioneer Rowan
Junior Comunteer Program at Penn Hospital
Short-Term Research Experienxe Program to Unlock Potential
Jefferson Helath Junior Volunteers
MITES Progeam
Allied Health Internship
Corrill Inditute for Medical Reaeach
My academy requires me to have an internship (I forget how many hours), so I’ll definitely be doing that
The fact that you have never been to an overnight camp, and that you doubt that your parents would allow you to go to a week long “sleep away” STEM program makes me even more sure that PENN is the place for you. My colleagues and I so often see young people who have not been allowed to go away from home until their first year of college, wind up back home after one semester. I’m hoping that you can find some STEM programs this summer that are overnight programs, and convince your parents to allow you to go.