Hello! I’m a rising senior in high school and am trying to plan my classes for next year. I’m looking into schools like Dartmouth, Princeton, Georgetown, Duke, UNC, UVA, and Northwestern. I’m much more interested in English and History than I am in Math. As a result, I’m taking two english classes and two history classes next year - the only thing up in the air for me currently is if I should take Calculus or Stats.
I have taken geometry, algebra, and pre-calc in high school and, although I have earned As in all of them, I find that I have to work very hard to do so - math doesn’t come very easily to me. I was planning to take AP Stats next year, since I heard it was easier than AP Calc, but then I read that most colleges want to see a calculus class on your high school transcript. As a result, I now am leaning more towards AP Calc AB but I don’t want to be in way over my head!!
Is it wise to take AP Calc as part of my full academic schedule when I’m not outstanding at math? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!! 
If you want a chance at Princeton, you need to take the most challenging courseload available to you. That means calculus.
Definitely do calculus. Whether that is honors calc or AP Calc AB is up to you. Talk to your GC and see if he/she can still say you are taking the most rigorous courseload if you do honors calc. AP Calc AB WOULD be better but at the same time you don’t want to go in over your head and sacrifice your GPA because you aren’t the best at math.
Calculus AB is like a slower paced version of college calculus 1 – it takes year to cover what college calculus 1 covers in a semester.
Do any of the colleges require a calculus course as a graduation requirement? You may want to see if any do, and if AP calculus AB credit can fulfill it.
AP Calculus AB is a joke of a course… it’s not college level because it goes twice as slow as the college parallel (Calculus I).
You will do very well in it.
Take Calculus AB. It is the most rigorous of the options you presented. It moves relatively slowly and, by the time you apply to schools, you won’t have too much time to fall behind even if you do struggle.