<p>im a junior and i take regular level math at a public hs, and next year i have the choice of taking either AP Stats or AP AB Calc. I intend to go into business in college, and even if i don't, then i still dont plan to pursue math or science.</p>
<p>oh and im not going to take both classes, i only have room for one. </p>
<p>my teacher said that calc (at my school) is taught more scientifically and is good for kids who want to go into that area. he said that kids who want to do business really dont need to take this calculus class because in college we will be placed in "business calc," which is a much easier "plug and chug" version of calculus. then he said that Stats is more about analyzing data sets and writing analysis.</p>
<p>i mean im not a big fan of math, but i find my regular precalc class to be pretty easy. im aware that calc "looks better" (so to speak) on college apps, but i dont think that really matters to me.</p>
<p>Take AP Calc!!!! Stats is kinda useless, so dont take it now</p>
<p>Calc will certainly look better and show that you are ready for an advanced college math class, stats will show that u can use standard deviation...</p>
<p>If it was the choice of one or the other, I would say AP Stats would cover a lot more majors than Calculus does. For instance, you use statistics in court cases (stuff like chi-square test), science (null hypothesis), Probability, these are some of the stuff learned in statistics that you will use in everyday life. (Especially if you are looking at business)
Calculus, while many may deem it better than Stats, is more focus on the development of your skills in math. Statistics is the development of your skills to apply math.</p>
<p>Calculus is useful in business. Maybe even more so than Stats, but then again a lot of Stats is just common sense too.</p>
<p>Stats isn't really all that hard, so if you want an "easy" math class then do Stats. If you actually want to challenge yourself then go for Calculus.</p>
<p>So what it boils down to is they both help you with a business major, but you should probably go with calculus. ;D</p>
<p>can anyone confirm whether my teacher was right in saying that non-math/science majors in college learn a different, easier kind of calc in college? if that is the case i would not mind taking AP stats and then just seeing what school x throws at me.</p>
<p>also, calc is taught in a more "scientific" way at my school, according to my teacher. the sound of that turns me off completely.</p>
<p>Calc is calc. I'm not sure how it can be scientific unless you're solving Physics with it or something. Regardless, they'd be preparing you for the AP test so it really can't differ too much from the normal guidelines.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, I'm probably going to go with calc unless anyone can give me a reason not to. I'm pretty confident at my regular-level precalculus skills, so hopefully I'll be able to do well in AB</p>
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can anyone confirm whether my teacher was right in saying that non-math/science majors in college learn a different, easier kind of calc in college? if that is the case i would not mind taking AP stats and then just seeing what school x throws at me.
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Yeah, I think this is generally true. There are two calculus sequences at my university, for example. One is the survey of calculus sequence, and the other is the analytic geometry and calculus sequence. The survey of calculus sequence says that it is "intended for majors in business, finance, economics, building construction, and the life sciences" and is 2 semesters long, as opposed to the 3 semesters the other sequence takes.</p>
<p>However, if you can pass the ab exam, your university might just let you skip the entry business calculus exam instead.</p>
<p>Be warned that calculus ab has a very difficult exam; the rote memorization and application of algorithms, which is probably what has been emphasized on your previous mathematics courses, will only go so far. They might earn you a 3, but 4's and 5's are made of understanding and insight.</p>
<p>One more thing: Ask your teacher what s/he means with a more "scientific" way. In many areas of science (specially in classical physics), calculus is an application, so if you are going to get it taught in a "scientific" way I would assume that application to science problems will be emphasized (velocity and acceleration, gravity, etc...), as will the algorithmic methods of manipulating given equations but that the conceptual ideas, rigor, and proofs, will be neglected.</p>
<p>I promise you that Stat is not useless... I see it every day. The class is very insightful, but a good portion is common sense(at the begining). Our teacher made us research professions that use statistics and I compiled a list of some 15 odd majors/professions. Alot of it is consulting, but alot of the hard sciences use statistics to design experiments and randomization techniques.</p>
<p>A few related thought fragments (not necessarily in any order):</p>
<p>The actual computations of calculus are not any different in any course. However, the applications that you're shown can vary widely.</p>
<p>The AP Calculus track is going to focus on more physics-oriented applications of calculus. However, there are other classes that are going to focus on more business-oriented applications. For instance, a "business calculus" class is going to focus on ideas of marginal revenue and marginal cost, as well as showing the relationship between supply and demand curves to optimize profit.</p>
<p>That being said, statistics is more of a humanities based math class than calculus is, and probably has a wider array of applications than calculus does in the work force. If you end up going in a different direction, the stats class may be more applicable.</p>
<p>One last thought: the statistics class you'd take at high school is a one year course that's giving you about a semester's worth of stats, meeting about 60% more often than the average. Calculus AB would appear that way, but the AP exam in calculus covers some topics that you'd see in many second semester classes as well. If you think you'll have to take the traditional calculus track, this might have some benefit; if you won't, keep in mind that the calculus track is often more difficult (in terms of the speed of the course) because there's more content packed into the year-long course that gives you a semester's credit.</p>
<p>Stats definitely is not useless for business majors.
Actually both classes are very important to business-focused students.</p>
<p>Stats is less academically rigorous than Calc. And fewer schools may grant it credits, comparing with Calc. So take AP Calc AB next year and save Stats for college. And Calc AB may also replace you in accelerated calculus classes.</p>
<p>I hate to bump this thread, but its more of a half-bump anyway. What if someone has the choice of honors pre-calc, AP Stat, and honors physics. I need 2 of these 3 and I don't know which way to go... Help!</p>
<p>Depends. Are you a junior? A senior? What are you majoring in? In any case, AP classes look better on applications and can save college credits, so definitely take AP Stats unless you can take it next year without giving up another AP.</p>
<p>Honors precalc is significantly better than AP Stats. If you end up having to take a placement exam for mathematics, most of those exams test on precalc topics. Your AP Stats will not likely qualify you for placement.</p>
<p>Depending on the school, you might be able to take precalc and AP Stats concurrently, but precalc and physics would be a good combination also.</p>
<p>Stats=easiest AP class I've ever taken. Nothing is needed to be done in class, the book is VERY well written and all you need to do before the test is go over the important formulas in the 30-40 page chapters. I never took any notes or did the HW at home. But the AP test for stats is actually much harder than Calc because it's less predictable and has a harsher curve.</p>
<p>AP Calc is a really good class because everything you learn through AB to BC is related. The AP test is very easy to get a 5 on. I believe about 47-50% of people get 5's.</p>