<p>Situation: Senior year girl needs to decide between the two classes after taking:
- Freshman: Geometry & Algebra 2
- Sophomore: Precalculus & AP Statistics
- Junior: AP Calc BC (overall grade: C, AP BC score: 4, AP AB subscore: 4)-- MP1 got a 55 turned it around to an 87 MP4</p>
<p>Multivariable Calculus/ Calculus 3:
PRO: I've had the teacher before for BC, high in rigor, course not offered at most schools, "Hey Colleges I'm actually good at math," I actually want to take this class and do ridic well in it
CON: Don't want to get a bad grade and ruin my chances of college since MP1 grades are sent to RD schools </p>
<p>APCS:
PRO: guaranteed 90+ MP1, Girl in Comp Sci
CON: I don't want to look like I've given up in math, harsh teacher </p>
<p>Multivar, most colleges won’t consider APCS as a math class. It is much more impressive on apps. Don’t worry if you find yourself with a lower grade (I’m talking B range), colleges know that it is a difficult course! However, I would recommend if you can fit it in to take APCS too. What other courses are you planning to take (it may make a difference workload wise)?</p>
<ul>
<li>AP Lit, AP Physics C, AP Biology, other honors classes I have to take for my school</li>
<li>APCS is considered a math at my school, not sure if that matters much. </li>
<li>I can only choose one unfortunately</li>
</ul>
<p>I would definitely go with multivar then. You’d be surprised how well it ties in with AP Physics C (I’m assuming both exams?). Taking the two together will deepen your understanding of both IMO. I have had many friends that did that at my high school. Vector fields are an important aspect of electromagnetic fields. </p>
<p>I also think continuing with math is the rigorous thing to do and much more impressive. APCS is just an elective. So while you have completed Calc BC, you won’t have a math class sr year since you have already burned off AP Stats. Colleges will not consider APCS a math. If it has a good reputation at your school then maybe take it if you don’t want to push yourself, but I just don’t read good things about the structure of that class and wonder if it could turn people off. It seems like a good idea to get some idea of CS but I don’t know why this wasn’t done as an elective. Maybe your school somehow does a good job of it despite having to follow the curriculum. My kid didn’t have it and majored in CS, btw. She went to a college that is very proud of the way they conduct intro CS courses in an integrated fashion and I think it was just as well she didn’t get a crappy introduction. YMMV (god I loath that acronym but…)</p>
<p>I’m gonna go the other way and say Comp Sci.</p>
<p>Comp Sci is more fun, less stressful, still looks pretty good, and is probably more useful in the long run. MV calc’s usefulness is field dependent but the logic and reasoning skills you pick up from programming are going to be useful no matter what you do. </p>
<p>Frankly, colleges aren’t going to reject/accept you over one class. And it’s not like you’re dropping MV for study hall - it’s an AP. You’ve been doubling up on math every year before this, too, and have completed more math than most people. </p>
<p>I also hate to tell this to you but…multivariable may be too large a load for you. My school offers it too and I’ve heard that it’s many times harder than BC Calc. You got a C and got a 4 on the AP exam - an AP exam that half the people who took it got a 5 in. Are you sure you want to put a class many times harder than the class you’ve struggled the most with on your schedule? You know your own limits best, though, so take this paragraph with a grain of salt. </p>