<p>Hi -- is it absolutely necessary to have calculus during your senior year to be considered by such reaches for me as Emory, Boston College, possibly Tufts -- I am a junior and will be entering pre-calculus in the fall, but I fear that I may not be considered if I do not have 'at least' calculus (not AP, simply 'regular' calculus.)</p>
<p>Has anyone had experience with such colleges accepting candidates without calculus (ie only pre-calculus?) - My record is otherwise good for such colleges. I know that I will be up against candidates who will have completed calculus, but are there chances that they will consider pre-calc only?</p>
<p>You should still be able to get in with Pre-Calculus, but be aware that any applicants with Calculus or AP Calculus will be serious competition for you.</p>
<p>Are you a junior now, as in the end of the current school year (do not know if you have ended school yet or not)? Or are you a junior in fall?</p>
<p>If you are a junior now and will take precalc this fall as a senior, well that’s all you can do then, but people with calculus will be ahead of you, especially if these colleges like a lot of math, which many do.</p>
<p>If you are a junior this fall and take precalc as a junior, then definitely take calc as a senior. I’m confused as to if you are a junior, soon to be senior and can only take precalc, or if you are going into junior year taking precalc and just don’t want to take calc next year as a senior. Please clarify.</p>
<p>Most good engineering schools and other technical programs will expect you to have taken calculus in high school. For other majors, AP stats is often just as good. For many majors, stats will be much more useful to you than calculus. </p>
<p>Unless it is san important course that pertains to your proposed major, colleges look at the totality of the difficulty of all of your courses, and not whether you have taken one particular course.</p>
<p>While having calculus in high school is common for engineering majors, it is not generally expected, except at a very few schools (only four that I know of). UC Berkeley has a highly regarded College of Engineering, but the sample engineering major schedules all start with first semester freshman calculus (obviously, many students do start in more advanced math courses, but it is not required).</p>
<p>My D also will only have pre calc completed, she took algebra 1 as a freshman and math is her weak area. I think as long as you are strong on other places you will be ok. My D is doing AP English, AP Spanish, AP bio, regular physics, economics, precalculus, and misc. easy elective. She has taken every history/government/social science the school offers. She will have taken every AP offered except for calc. And physics. She will have had 5 sciences with labs. Basically she has had as rigorous a course plan as her small rural hs has available. I just don’t think not having calc is going to hurt her. She has a cum.4.0 and is ranked #1 in her class. Has strong ec’s focused in just a few areas. </p>
<p>I tell you this as an example. I can’t see any decent university looking at that transcript and thinking she is deficient, and I am sure you aren’t either. Obviously she isn’t going to major in a math field. Her math act and sat scores are lower but her reading is exceptional. Colleges are looking for different students. Not everyone needs to be the same. I especially think small lac take a holistic review. You will be fine. I too, am worried about her applying but she has done the best she can. Take a deep breath and smile. :)</p>
<p>I got into NYU and USC having taken pre-calc junior year and no math at all senior year. As long as you keep your grades up and show strengths in other areas, you should be fine.</p>
<p>For that selectivity level of schools, I do think stopping at Pre-Calc will be a negative factor for admissions. The most selective schools want to see a rigorous schedule, and math through Calc is one of the specific things looked for in The Gatekeepers at Wesleyan, which is in the same general selectivity range as the schools you mention. </p>
<p>But it is just one factor among many, and could be offset by other positive factors. I’m assuming that you aren’t planning to major in math or physics or engineering, where it would be a bigger problem.</p>
<p>what if you take up to precalc, then take AP Stats senior year? I’m a lot more interested in stats than calc, and my schedule can’t fit it…would that actually be that bad? ive done internships and stuff with stats, and so i feel like it would be more useful.</p>
<p>I was accepted to both BC and Tufts with just pre-calc (and regular stats after that, we didn’t have AP). I’m at Tufts now. Anecdotal, but it’s definitely possible.</p>