<p>I'm currently planning my senior schedule, and back in February during forecasting, I signed up for Intro to Calculus which is a new class offered next year. Previously, they offered AP Calc (or non-AP Stats) as the only options for seniors who had taken Honors Precalc, which I'm in right now. I've floated in the B+/A- range for math throughout high school, and it's definitely my least favorite subject. At our school, AP Calc is a grade destroyer - my boyfriend, a straight-A math student, ended last semester with a 2.8, and I know maybe two people who got an A. It seemed to me that taking Intro to Calc would be a good compromise - I have a 3.9 average that I'd prefer not to kill, and I am not considering going into anything STEM related (most likely English/Poli Sci/Theatre) - but will colleges see this as a huge negative, since I'm not taking "the most challenging courses available"? Should I suck it up, study my ass off and go for the AP, or will it not matter as much? I'm not aiming for Ivies, my top choices right now are probably Santa Clara and Occidental. I will be taking AP Lit, AP Gov, and AP Spanish Language next year, as well as a college-credit science (Addiction and the Brain). Thank you so much for your help!</p>
<p>For occidental and colleges like that, it’s definitely not necessary to take AP Calc. That being said, grades don’t matter as much senior year… so maybe “study your ass off” for the first half of the year and then take it easy? Another thing to consider is just taking normal calculus if your school offers it. (My school has Calc level 1, AP Calc AB, and AP Calc BC)</p>
<p>Thank you! Intro to Calculus is basically “normal calculus,” though I guess the name makes it sound a little less advanced. It’ll be the second highest math class at the school, and because I don’t have a passion for math, the one I’ll probably end up taking, unless going down in rigor will really hurt me.</p>