Dilemma: Valedictorian vs Calculus :(

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<p>Impossible to say. A question to ask an admissions officer. I would guess, however, that any formal coursework you do beyond the bounds of high school will be looked at favorably even if not formally credited.</p>

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<p>Some of the on-line colleges could do this. For example:</p>

<p>[MTH</a> 230 Calculus - University of Phoenix](<a href=“http://www.phoenix.edu/course_groups/mathematics/mth230.html]MTH”>http://www.phoenix.edu/course_groups/mathematics/mth230.html)</p>

<p>You might find similar on-line courses available from community colleges and state universities. </p>

<p>However AP coursework has the advantage of being validated by a familiar, respected, nationally standardized test. Indeed, having done some research on this issue, it appears that good AP test scores are much more likely to be extended credit or at least higher placement than “regular” college classes (on-line or not) by very selective colleges. Whether or not the a regular college class will be respected as much as an AP course for purposes of admission is an open question.</p>

<p>In light of that, you might want to consider taking the AP test even if you take a college course (especially if said course is online).</p>

<p>The bigger problem here is a high school which offers AP stats and not any Calculus course. That’s very odd. You shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to take calc in high school.</p>

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<p>Huh? The OP’s school definitely offers calc — he said so in the first message. He just doesn’t want to take it since he’s afraid of losing Valedictorian.</p>

<p>Just take calculus. If you say stats it is a “joke class” then it won’t look very competitive. If you are going for business, you will need to take calc, so it would be helpful of you had a good foundation in high school. An online course wouldn’t be the same.
And if you’re worried about the .002 of a point, just work little harder to get good grades. Are you assuming that you will get the same exact grades?</p>

<p>If I took Calculus it wouldn’t go on my transcripts because it is a community college course, and thus my gpa would be 0.002 points lower, assuming I got all A’s elsewhere.</p>

<p>I’m a little confused. Why would a course you don’t get credit for bring down your GPA?</p>

<p>Isn’t GPA just: (total GPA)/credits?</p>

<p>If she took AP Stats (and got the easy A), the weighted GPA would go up. So if she takes calc, her weighted GPA will go down relative to the other val.</p>

<p>Oh, didn’t think of that. (My school doesn’t weight, so I’m not used to thinking of it like that.)</p>

<p>Neither her or I have ever gotten a B, so it is unlikely that either of us would get a B in AP Statistics.</p>

<p>The grammar in this sentence makes me die a little inside.</p>