<p>DS is a junior interested in applying to Wharton next year. He is taking Calculus AB, the highest level at his school. He will take AP Stats next year. He would prefer to not take the AP Calculus AB exam, since he has so many other AP tests to study for. His reasoning is that Wharton does not give credit for a 5 in Calc AB, only for a 5 in BC, so he would have to start at beginning Calculus anyway. He also figures that he would start at the beginning Calculus class no matter where he went to college, since it would have been so long since he had taken it. Would it look odd to Admissions to take Calc AB and not take the exam? He will take the exam if it really needs to be done. Also, he has an A-, so he is doing fine in the class. </p>
<p>Thanks for any advice. Our AP registration is due on Friday, so nothing like waiting until the last minute to ask. :)</p>
<p>I would lean towards taking the exam because: (1) No matter how strong your son is, Wharton admissions are extremely competitive. Unless your family donated significant money or there is some other major hook, one should not do anything on the assumption that he or she will be accepted and be going to Wharton. (2) Schools like Wharton may look for AP math scores, I’m not sure. You should speak with your son’s HS guidance counselor or try to get in touch with Penn Admissions to see if junior year AP scores are a factor in admissions.</p>
<p>I do understand what you are saying though…my D is not going to take the AP Chem exam because her HS teachers advised her that as a chem major she would be better off re-taking the class at college next year because it is a sequential course and different schools can have different areas of emphasis. However, she is a senior and has already been accepted ED to her first choice college. I would give you a different answer if your S was already accepted into Wharton.</p>