Hello, I am a current sophomore and I go to a school that does not offer APs. I’ve taken AP Government and Politics online (it was relatively easy) and I am planning to take another AP over summer before junior year. I want to take AP Statistics online and I’m wondering whether or not this is doable in 3 months. I’ve taken Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 and I had A+'s in all of them- Is Stats a very difficult class? Should I take pre-calc before taking it? And well… should I take it now or wait another year? If I shouldn’t take it, do you have any recommendations for an AP that I should take over summer?
Thanks for your advice
AP statistics is not generally considered a difficult course, since it is often the “off ramp” from the math path for students who are afraid of taking precalculus or calculus. Its prerequisite is algebra 2.
Does your high school not offer AP courses because:
- It claims to be an academically elite high school with advanced level courses that are better than AP courses, or
- It offers some other type of advanced level courses (e.g. IB, AICE, A-level), or
- It is a low performing high school which does not offer any advanced level courses, or offers them at a lower level than AP (or IB, AICE, A-level, etc.).
?
AP stats isn’t a standard math course, there’s not anything you’ll need to know how to calculate because there’s a graphing calculator at every lesson. However, it is important to learn the concepts and reasoning behind it, and I think you can learn AP Stats online.
I wouldn’t recommend doing it over the summer though. Even the easiest ap courses take half a year because there’s a lot to unpack. How long did it take you to do AP Gov? Look at a textbook online (I recommend The Practice of Statistics, updated 6th edition) or look at the syllabus here. I’m not trying to discourage you from it - AP Stats is really interesting - but make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Instead of an AP course, see if there’s something you can do that’s related to what you want to study (ex. pre-meds would shadow a professional near them) Whatever you choose, make sure you enjoy your summer. Don’t make high school a rat race for college.
Hope this helps.
@ucbalumnus My school doesn’t offer APs because a) too small (less than 100 students) so there’s not enough interest b) it is also a low performance school c) lack of qualified teachers to teach APs
@Dunshire Do you think it’s manageable to start it during summer and continue it during the school year along with pre-calc? Or would this be too much?
@Dunshire It took me a little over half a year to do AP Gov since it is only a one semester course and I was doing it during the school year, thanks for giving me the syllabus it’s very helpful!
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I think it’s doable, you seem like a strong math student. AP hasn’t released the dates yet, but check when the AP Stats fall exam is. Make sure you have enough time to fully cover all of the material AND have time to review. How heavy is your junior year schedule going to be? As long as you can keep track of everything, you should be fine.
My junior year would be pretty similar to my sophomore year (same amount of honors and everything) so I’ll probably end up taking AP Stats into the school year. Thank you for your advice!
Does your school have a Stats teacher? Ask him/her if they would be willing to help with some of the harder units you might come across. Best of luck!
There is no Fall exam. All AP exams are given in May, except this year where there is a June option.
My bad, I mixed it up with a different program. Edited my post accordingly.