My daugther is thinking of doing busines major, and wonder if this course selection is good enough for most of the schools, including Ivys. Is AP physics or AP Cal BC critical for busines major? I heard different answers. should she take 4 years of history?
AP Comp sci principle
AP Gov
AP Human Geo
English 11 AP
Calc AB-AP
Environmental Science AP
Principle of Business GT – Is this too easy in the AO’s eye?
Mod World History AP
English 12AP
Cal BC - AP ? - Her choice could be being a TA as well, or should she take another History class or AP physics?
She should take the APs that have great teachers, and that the older kids say were fantastic, even if they have nothing to do with her career goals. Art History. AP Euro. Econ. AP sciences. Anything that the older students say were good, and that aren’t in subjects which she loathes. Clearly if she wants business, Calc and Econ are a good idea - but so is history, since economic history repeats itself, too!
Remember that high school is about getting an education, not only about compiling a record for admission to college.
It sounds like she is a sophomore now; her interests may change. But taking that Principles of Business course is a great way for her to explore her possible interest. Taking some electives is fine.
Regardless of intended major, a student needs to focus on their core courses - math, English, history, foreign language, and science (one year of bio, chem and physics and then one of those at an AP level). Don’t start doubling up in certain areas at the expense of the core subjects.
If your child is going to aim at top schools, she’ll need some level of physics. Doesn’t need to be AP.
Sun, I am in the process of contacting admissions departments of undergraduate business schools in the Midwest to which Thing #2 might apply to check on what classes he needs not just to fulfill their requirements, but to be competitive. The big question for us is if he needs AP Calc to be competitive.
For Ivy, she will need 4 years of foreign language. Those are the applicants she will be competing with. Most competitive majors at most schools like to see calculus. 4 years of history/social science, 4 years english, 4 years science (not everyone counts computer science as a science) 3 of those sciences need to be labs (Chemistry, biology and physics). I wouldn’t sacrifice As for rigor. Take the AP if you feel confident an A can be earned.
In general she should have the appropriate level of rigor for the colleges she plans to apply to. Often college admissions officers like to see a sequence of bio, chem, and physics in HS as well as a certain number of years of foreign language. You can google the common data set for colleges she is considering (“common data set XYZ College”) and look in section C to see how many years of each HS subject each college requires/recommends.
If aiming for top tier colleges you D should also talk to her guidance counselor to see if her proposed schedule would give her the rating of “most rigorous” in her HS. Note that most rigorous does not necessarily mean taking every AP (ex. physics is probably considered more rigorous than APES, a high level of a foreign language would likely be considered be more rigorous than AP Psych etc.)
Some level of calculus is definitely good to have for any b-school program.
And as noted above, only Penn (Wharton) and Cornell (Dyson) of the Ivys have undergrad business programs and both are super competitive for admissions.
Many undergraduate business majors require calculus as a graduation requirement, so completing it through AP credit can help free elective space in college, so AP calculus in high school (if available to the student) would not be “wasted”.