Precalc all the way. My S22 is not a STEM kid and was also slightly behind on the math track. We did a ton of research and even for a IR or history major, most competitive schools expect precalc at minimum. Honors precalc in our area is rumored to be the hardest math class - tougher than AP Calc even.
Fwiw he decided to take regular precalc and AP Stats as well to show rigor and because he’s done very well in math (albeit behind the norm.) It’s been a rough first quarter on the stats front - the pace is intense, he’s studying around the clock, and if he’s lucky he’ll squeak out with a B. We’re wondering now if he would have been better off just sticking with honors precalc, but we’d heard horror stories about that. No easy answers to any of this!