I was wondering if me dropping AP Calc AB for AP Stats is a deal breaker for schools. I am a senior this year and am enrolled in AP Calc AB, but math is my worst subject and I’m miserable. Switching to AP Stats would do wonders formy schedule and me, but I am looking at the most selective schools out there and do not want to not be admitted because of this switch. I am in all other AP classes this year so my course load is certainly rigorous, and I am not applying for math but for an English major. Would Stats make it so I wouldn’t get into somewhere like UCBerk or Yale? Also, I feel as though I could get a better GPA with Stats, but my course rigor would obviously go down. Thanks.
AP Calc AB is universally considered to be more rigorous than AP Stats – that’s just a fact. Will it affect your college admissions? Maybe… But you have to ask yourself what looks better: a lower GPA with a harder class, or a higher GPA and an easier class.
This is something to really talk over with your guidance counselor before making any changes, but in my opinion (having taken both IB Calc HL1 and IB Stats HL2), Stats would probably be more useful for your intended major than Calculus. It’s a lot more logic- and writing-based than Calc, which is straight up math 95% of the time.
I can give you one data point: at an information session at Brown last winter, an admissions officer said that not taking calculus is the “kiss of death” for an application.
For someone whose college major will not require calculus, statistics will be of more general usefulness. However, if you do need to take calculus for whatever reason, high school calculus AB will cover the material at a slower pace than college calculus, so it will be a more gentle introduction to calculus.
For very selective college admission, AP calculus AB will generally be viewed as more rigorous than AP statistics, though if the college uses counselor recommendations, what your counselor will indicate (“most demanding” course selection or otherwise) likely matters most here.
I am gobsmacked that the admissions counselor made that statement at Brown, which prides itself on “holistic” approaches to admissions and curriculum. This is a recurring theme on CC. My son opted for AP Stats, but he wasn’t applying to any “HYPS”-level colleges or STEM programs. I doubt that it was the deciding factor in his rejections from his three reach schools. It was adequate for Tulane and UCSD, which we considered high-match/low-reach colleges. He was in the full IB program, which qualified as “most demanding/rigorous available” courseload.
My son did the same thing, opted for AP Stats instead of AP Calc in his senior year. He then regretted it, and ended up taking AP Calc AB online through the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth. It was costly, but he was able to fit in the whole course in about 4 months’ time, and it was rigorous enough to get him a 5 on the exam! So if you are having second thoughts about not having the calculus, maybe take it as an additional course?
I think they expect a very rigorous schedule. Unless you have something very extraordinary in your application, I just don’t think you will compare to the strong pool of applicants. Being holistic doesn’t mean it isn’t still very competitive.
AP Stats is a joke. You could teach yourself the whole class in about 20-30 hours of self-study. Maybe even less. I took AP Calc and AP Stats simultaneously during my junior year and had no trouble at all.