<p>I'm going to take Algebra II 9th grade, Honors Geometry 10th grade, Trig 11th grade and I want to take either AP Statistics or AP Calculus in 12th grade.
I want be a psychiatrist and major in psychology in college.
Which one should I take my senior year?</p>
<p>Statistics is more involved in Psychology than does Calculus.</p>
<p>From your background, it doesn’t really seem like you’re ready for Calculus. Don’t people usually take Pre-Calc first?</p>
<p>Take Stat; you should take Precalculus before you try Calculus and Stat is much easier. You won’t really need much math past what you’re taking, especially for a psychology major. Statistics would definitely be a better fit for that as well.</p>
<p>In actuality, the only important topic in Precalculus needed for Calculus AB is trigonometry. However, if it’s BC, self-studying polar and parametric might be necessary.</p>
<p>^Yes, polar and parametric would definitely be good to cover before going into Calc BC. It may also be a good idea to take Precalc for other topics like partial fractions. I remember doing those in Precalc and it made Calc BC a lot easier for me when I got to that section. If you’re only taking AB, it might not be so bad without taking Precalc.</p>
<p>Take both. They’re not mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>^I like the Stat joke.</p>
<p>I found the majority of precalculus pointless. First semester was a review of functions and trigonometry. Second semester, we spent a ****load of time on conics, polar coordinates, and parametric equations. I feel like throwing out precalculus and dividing up Calculus BC into two years would be much better.</p>
<p>If it’s for college credit, you won’t find many colleges accepting AP Stats for credit. However, since you are looking for a course that will help you in your further education, I would recommend stats.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you’ll need the college credit from either of those two APs, but you’re a lot more likely to get credit for Calc than Stat at most colleges.</p>
<p>I’d go for Calc. If your school is like most others, Trigonometry is actually Pre-Cal so if you were to take Calc AB you’d probably do fine. Calculus is an invaluable skill, not matter what field you go in to.</p>
<p>Is it possible for you to take both in your schedule? I took both my senior year and really gained a pretty good insight for both subjects. I think both of those subjects will really help me down the road, especially since the exams for both allow me to test out of two required courses for my major. You never know what you could gain from some of the reasoning skills that each subject requires.</p>