AP Computer Science
AP Literature
AP Physics
AP Government
physical education
AP stats or calc bc
My planned major = neuroscience/pre-med track
I initially forecasted for Calc BC because I did Calc AB this year but the teacher who teaches calc bc teaches in a really difficult way for me to understand (or at least when I had her for pre-calc but she also said her accelerated pre-calc class is harder than her calc bc class). I want to do ap stats because I’m worried about calc bc hindering my GPA (IT CANNOT GO ANY LOWER) whereas AP statistics is known to be a relatively easy class in general and at my school. Calc BC is the hardest ap my school offers in addition to ap chem which I did this year. Should I take calc bc for the sake of it looking good on my schedule/being able to finish calc in high school OR should I save myself some stress and do AP stats ( I personally want to do stats but some colleges don’t view it as a real math class) ? Advice ? Tips ?
I took AP Calc AB junior year, and BC Senior year. For me, first semester of BC was pretty easy, because the first semester of BC covers all of what I learned in AB. However, the second semester was pretty difficult to me because it had totally new concepts. It may just be because I’m not that great at math lmao. I would recommend taking BC because it shows follow through, and looking at your major you’ll probably be expected to take calc sometime in the future.
Where in the world did you hear that colleges don’t see statistics as math??!
In your case, especially the fear for your gpa, I’d say take AP stats.
Is calculus BC seen as more difficult than stats? Of course. But your admission decision will NOT hinge on that one class - you’re better off with an A in stats than with a C in calc bc, and thousands of kids are admitted to excellent universities including flagship honors colleges and top colleges with that exact combination.
(NO one is impressed with a C in an AP class and you already took calculus so basically you’d be taking a pointless risk).
As a pre-med you’ll take calculus1 and Biostatistics during your first year. You won’t need calculus 2(bc) unless neuroscience requires it, and in any case you’ll be taking classes in college in both subjects before you get to calc2.
However note that you posted in the math& CS major subforum: if you want to major in CS, you’d be more competitive with BC as long as you can get a B or higher without jeopardizing your other classes and your sleep hours (8 hours a night).
some of the colleges I might apply to do not consider AP Statistics as a math class. I considered doing calculus BC because then I’ll have more exposure when I do linear algebra in college but I’m still debating between my GPA vs. being prepared for college calculus/math. Thanks for your insight !
Thank you so much for your response I really appreciate it ! I’m in the same exact boat you were in. Do you have any recommendations to get through second semester of calculus bc ?
What major are you thinking of?
Calculus 1 = Calc AB (but more in-depth, depending on the college - and may include some BC topics)
Calc 2 = BC + extra topics
So, as a premed, you’d be required o have Calc 1 and Stats.