My daughter is interested in pursuing a degree in Biology? We struggle with what math classes she should take in high school. We have been led to believe that she should take Stat instead of Calculus her Senior year. What are your thoughts?
First gut reaction is Calculus first, Stats if she has elective choices. Kids may not know exactly what they will end up doing in life at this age, so it’s best to prepare for the basics. Calculus is basic in college.
Is this AP or just high school classes? If it’s AP look at the colleges she is considering applying to. Some colleges don’t even give college credit for stats. I would check that first. Also calculus is a class most kids have to take anyway so I would have her take that instead.
Depends on the Calc teacher. At my school I would never even consider taking calc just from hearing horror stories about the teacher from last years seniors. If you have a good teacher and are ready for then go for it. If not then stats is a fine course (its what I’m taking next year) and its probably equally, if not more, applicable to biology.
Calculus is generally considered the more rigorous course by admissions, however stats could be useful is she is interested in research in the future
My daughter took AP stats instead of calculus figuring that it would be more helpful in her physician assistant program. The schools never questioned it and she was accepted by all the schools to which she applied
However. If calc is required IN the colleges she is considering she may want to take it in high sconso that she is familiar with it before tackling the college course.
AP Calculus BC is considered more rigor than AP Stat as it is equivalent to a year of Calculus in college. It may be more useful for most majors in STEM too. Nevertheless, one should also consider his/her ability and interest too. I was a biology major many years ago and my school required either Calculus or Physics in freshmen year.