AP courses for a potential Statistics Major

<p>I am currently a high school sophomore and I plan on majoring in statistics in college. I have already taken AP Human Geography and AP US History.</p>

<p>Next year, the AP classes I am planning on taking are AP Statistics, AP Chemistry,
AP Calculus AB, and AP Microeconomics/AP Macroeconomics (2 semester courses)</p>

<p>Of the other AP classes my school offers, which ones would be best to take for a potential statistics major?</p>

<p>AP English Language
AP English Literature
AP Calculus BC
AP Biology
AP Physics B
AP Physics C
AP Environmental Science
AP Computer Science A
AP Spanish Language
AP Spanish Literature
AP French
AP Chinese
AP Music Theory
AP Studio Art (2D, 3D, Drawing)
AP Art History
AP Psychology
AP Comparative Government
AP US Government
AP European History
AP World History</p>

<p>AP Calculus and AP Computer Science. Calculus is the foundation of statistics, after which you will also take linear algebra before moving on to Probability and Statistics I. If you’re majoring in statistics you will also be using a couple of different statistical software programs and some computing. You’d probably want to take a class on C++ in college.</p>

<p>But to be honest, there’s not much you can take in high school to prepare for a stats major other than the two I mentioned. Once you enter college just be sure to start with Calculus and nothing lower than that. It will save you a lot of time. Even if you don’t get AP credit for calc, make sure to take the math placement test as many times as you need to get into calc. If you get AP credit, then great. And also be sure to be familiar with the required courses (it should be on your college’s website) for stats and the recommended courses along with it.</p>

<p>The only AP courses that will remotely prepared you for a degree in Statistics are Calculus and Computer Science.</p>

<p>Even with that said, unless you are a math god, I wouldn’t start beyond Calc I or II when you get to college. I saw many freshmen in my Calc III class struggle. They weren’t use to the rigor of college level math classes, despite their passing grade in AP Calc BC.</p>

<p>Computer Science will get you a head start on programming classes required for a Statistics degree. Honestly, the more computer science (programming) classes you take the better off you will be in the real world. I had to take 2 or 3 programming based classes for my Stats degree. They were time consuming so I started to dislike them. However, when I got out in the real world I found them extremely useful. You will look like an Excel GOD to all of your coworkers if you know basic programming and data structures (which you will with a Stats degree). Like it or not, Excel is the most used data program in the real world. Learning computer science and statistical programming, and then dropping back and using Excel in the real world is like playing NCAA level football and then dropping back and dominating pop warner games.</p>