My daughter is a Junior this year and math track has been:
H Alg 2
H Geo
H Trig/Pre Calc AB
Soon she’ll have to schedule classes for Senior year. She is planning to apply to direct admit nursing programs. I know Stats is more important for nursing than Calc,
But believe AP Calc is viewed as the more challenging course vs AP Stats…and it it likely to be a struggle for her, as Geo was tough.
Any thoughts on one choice being markedly better than the other?
I vote for calculus for any stem major.
Geometry won’t be predictive of a struggle in calc, especially if she does well in precalc.
See how she does in pre-Calc - hopefully you don’t need to finalize a schedule before at least half the course is complete.
I agree than Geo is a bit of an outlier in terms of math ability/growth. Performance in Algebra 1/2/pre-Calc is a much better indicator.
I’d recommend Calc if she shows she can be successful.
If calculus is required for nursing (and I don’t know the answer to that) I would strongly recommend taking calculus in HS based on my S’s experience. See below:
My S did not take calculus in HS. When he started calculus first semester freshman year he was surprised to find that he was one of (I think) three people in a class of 40 who had not taken calc in HS (As a point of reference he went to a college ranked between 50 - 100). So while calculus was review for over 90% of the class the material was all new to him. He spent a ton of time at the math center, at office hours etc. to keep up. He got through the class but it was a difficult way to start college. FWIW he also took two semesters of statistics in college with no HS background and had no problems.
If calculus is not required for nursing students then stat would be a less rigorous alternative.
I also agree that how a student does in pre-calc rather than geometry would be a better predictor for success in calculus.
Is a non-AP version of calculus available at your HS? That could be an option as well (and would likely be considered more rigorous that AP Stat)
As admissions is comparing people, someone who took a more rigorous Math class like Calculus can only be looked at more favorably.
Also if she can’t get into a direct entry program, Calculus would give her more flexibility.
Thanks everyone. Lots of good points to take into consideration! The only other Calc option is CP and I don’t know if that would look suspicious to be all honors math, then drop to CP. I’ll speak with her GC also but appreciate the perspective.
Take AB, especially if she plans on applying to top nursing schools (UCLA, Penn etc.)
Calculus is required for the nursing major at some colleges, and not required at other colleges.