<p>We have a son is an all honors program at a private school. In addition he takes two foreign languages. His math track has him in non-honors, pre-calculus in this his junior year. This track does not now allow him to take calculus next year. This had been a change in school hierarchy. His option for senior year is now Probably & Statistics. How significant do you think this would be in admissions? Right now he is interested in a good liberal arts school, but that could change. Is calculus generally a required course in the top schools?</p>
<p>He’ll end up with four years of math. That’s better than the vast majority of high school students. It’s hard to see why this would hurt him in his applications. Take a look at college math offerings for college freshman. All the LACs with which I’m familiar offer calculus for freshman.</p>
<p>Perhaps if he were applying for a science/engineering track at a very selective technical college (think MIT, Caltech) the “absence” of Calculus may appear unusual. But this doesn’t appear to be his direction.</p>
<p>For non science/math majors: To adcoms, taking Calculus shows a kid who doesn’t shy from challenges. I saw an app folder for an accepted kid at a top Ivy- with a phenomenal record-and planned a lib-arts major. Very first reviewer comment: why didn’t she take calc?
So, this is a tough question. The colleges know the reputations of various private schools- and the quirks. They know smaller ones can’t accomodate every kid’s academic needs.<br>
The answer depends on how good a student he is so far- gpa, ECs, leadership and responsibility experience, what challenes he undertook, what he wants to study, where he wants to go and how good a match he is w/o calc. I’d petition the high school to allow him to take it. Or, look into a local college class- even at a comm college, it will say gazillions about the kid’s motivation.</p>
<p>I had a similar issue, except I was deciding whether to take calculus or statistics as a junior. Anyway, after speaking with numerous counselors and an admissions officer at a local university, I learned that taking calculus in high school yields a 95% graduation rate from a 4 year institution where as those who do not have calculus have a significantly lower rate of graduation. </p>
<p>Basically, taking calculus is incredibly important in high school and will make a difference in admissions as opposed to a kid who stopped after pre calc. Statistics is a math class, but more of an elective as it does not follow the particular path which math courses are on (alg 1,2,precalc, calc etc)</p>
<p>I dont have it obviously but I’m sure you could find it somewhere. It was presented to us at an assembly in a slide show by our principal as well so I’m gonna say it was valid…</p>
<p>Most studies look at this in a more complex way; ie, how ethnic/economic groups or students at low performing high schools manage in college if they have taken calc. Or, how many calc students go on to 4-year colleges versus those who stopped at algebra.
One serious flaw in this is that it is self-limited. Obviously, a student motivated to push thru pre-calc and calc is already ahead of the game.</p>
<p>San Antonio Express News February 10, 2008
According to that study taking difficult classes, especially math, may be the single most important predictor of how well a student will do in college. Of those students who took Calculus in high school, for example, 83 percent earned a bachelors degree, compared with 39% who only made it through Algebra II. </p>
<p>A recent study by the US Dept. of Education that followed 13,000 students from 10th grade thru college, concluded that the strongest predictor of college completion is not grades, not SAT scores nor class rank, but how intense the students high school courses were. Those who took the toughest classes were the most likely to succeed and receive their bachelors degrees. Students, for example, who took calculus in high school had the single highest success rate, whether they achieved a high grade or not.</p>
<p>Our updated situation is that his choice is now Calculus or AP Stats & Probability. Should he take Calculus it would be the only non-honors, AP class on his transcript. I would appreciate any more thoughts on this subject that anyone has. His college list right now is Vanderbilt, Michigan, Grinnell, and Middlebury.</p>
<p>Isn’t Calculus in high school typically an AP course? Since there exists a less rigorous AB syllabus (basically one semester of university calculus over a year), that is usually what is offered to seniors who are a year ahead in non-honors math.</p>
<p>AP Statistics is equivalent to a low level non-calculus one semester statistics course, which may only be accepted for some social studies majors (often not economics or business). Someone looking at transcripts would probably view it as a less rigorous choice than AP Calculus (even AB).</p>
<p>It is not generally required to have taken Calculus in high school, even for engineering and physical science majors at other than super-elite engineering and science schools (since many students are not a year ahead of the normal math sequence, and some high schools do not offer Calculus at all), but an admissions committee may wonder why a student who has completed Precalculus as a junior did not take Calculus as a senior.</p>
<p>According to a very good college counselor , Midd will really want to see calculus or a good reason why not. It seems silly to me, but said counselor really knows his stuff and has been dealing with getting kids at a good prep school into very selective schools for decades. I think I would vote for calculus and perhaps a note explaining that scheduling and tracking made AP calc impossible.</p>
<p>(1) Private College Prep high schools are not as inclined as public high schools to offer a multitude of AP courses. They beat to their own drum. That’s often why these schools are effective academically. Not infrequently the standard or honors course at a private college prep high school is easily superior to most AP courses taught at large public schools. So I’m not sure why you don’t take your question to the college counselor and/or academic dean at your S’s high school. They know your situation best. And they know how colleges view the courses the high schools offer, since I expect students from your high school have applied to the colleges on your S’s list. Is it that you’ll looking for an external verification?</p>
<p>(2) Contrary to the reply from nemom, I think that it is always unwise to explain in an application why a course that a student has taken is “less” than what he could have taken. Such explanations are not required because they implicitly lessen what the student did in fact take, and because such explanations fall flat.</p>