<p>My daughter is taking Calculus BC as a junior.</p>
<p>She was planning NOT to take any math in her Senior year in favor of AP Chemistry and AP Physics.</p>
<p>Is this a good idea? or will she have trouble with colleges that require 4 years of math?</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>Yes it is required to have 4 years of math.</p>
<p>I’d check with a couple of her colleges of interest just to be sure, but she should be fine. Even at the top schools, many students haven’t even taken calculus as high school students.</p>
<p>I would recommend that you call the colleges your D is likely to apply to and ask. Calc BC is as high as many high school math programs go ( it is in my D’s school), so they may understand that she would rather take the AP science classes mentioned.Seems to me if she is in Calc AB as a junior she must have taken H.S. math classes in middle school, ask each school’s admission department how they look at this. She sounds like she works hard and is not afraid to take difficult classes. Good luck!</p>
<p>“4 years of math” is an old guideline that was meant to encourage an optimal level of proficiency as a a base for college sciences, back when Calculus was a higher level attained by only a very select few. Your daughter will have more than satisfied this goal this year. I would encourage her to pursue her science preference. At this stage she will get far more mileage out of following a “passion” than paying obeisance to a stale aphorism.</p>
<p>Calculus BC would be considered 5 years of high school math. Taking AP science courses shouldn’t be a problem, though if she likes math she might want to look at online math courses or local college offerings.</p>
<p>Although few colleges require 4 years of math, most do judge students on the rigor of the curriculum they chose. If the school offers Calc, did they take calc? If the school offers differential equations after BC Calc, did they take differential equations? So the question remains, what math classes does your d’s school offer beyond BC Calc.</p>
<p>That said, taking AP Chem AND AP physics C in a single year might be quite enough. She may want to have a life (what a concept!)</p>
<p>S1 & S2’s HS places middle school math on the HS transcript if it is at the HS level. Many kids, therefore, end up with 6+ years of HS math. You may want to check and see if earlier math courses are included on the transcripts.</p>
<p>No, colleges do not require 4 years of math. S1 took 4 years, but did not take Calc (he took something called Discrete Math instead). S2 was in high school for only 3 years, but went well past Calc. S1 got into top 10 LAC, S2 got into top 10 University. And all that without using the middle school transcript.</p>
<p>I think any sane adcom would interpret Calc BC as having MORE than satisfied the “4 years of math” requirement. Congrats to your D.</p>
<p>I think that you would be in trouble even though it is stupid because I think that the top colleges are really strict when it comes to that they want 4 years of HS Math. See if you can take AP Stat.</p>
<p>Most of my Calc BC class are actually Juniors, I think most will take Stats their senior year (I’m also in stats, and there are many people who took Calc BC their junior year).</p>
<p>My son has calc now as a junior and is taking stats next year.</p>
<p>Calc BC as a junior at my school is practically unheard of. I would guess if you’ve gotten that far, it’s totally fine to skip math senior year and double up on sciences instead. Usually four years of math are required because otherwise a lot of kids would stop earlier and not get a good base. If you’ve hit Calc BC, I’d say colleges aren’t worried about whether or not you have enough math background. So long as your D isn’t slacking off senior year (and I would say 2 AP sciences suggest she probably isn’t), she should be fine.</p>
<p>Of course, it never hurts to check with the colleges…</p>
<p>My kid’s also threw in stats after calcBC, though I think the AP science classes are fine.</p>
<p>My D took calc bc as a jr and no math as a sr. (she did have AP chem; physics, and enviro.science). She was admitted to MIT, Harvey Mudd, Carnegie-Mellon, and University of Waterloo (school of computer science). If you get through calc, you have met any college’s math requirements no matter how many, or few years of math you sat in a classroom for in high school.</p>
<p>Most if not all of DS’s colleges counted Algebra 1 and Geometry in middle school as “years”. He still took math all 4 in HS, but just because he likes it, although topped out w/ AP Calc AB in 11th grade. AP Statistics this year he can do in his sleep.</p>
<p>NO-- many colleges do not require 4 years of math. My daughter had only TWO years of math - counting as THREE (because she had algebra in 8th grade) – so she had geometry and advanced algebra in high school. NOTHING beyond that - no trig, no precalc. Highest level of math completed was Algebra II. She applied to and was accepted at Barnard, Univ. of Chicago, & UC Berkeley as well as 6 other reputable colleges (her “safeties” were schools like Fordham and Northeastern). The ONLY college that did not accept her where it was probably due to the math was Boston U – and they waitlisted her.</p>
<p>I think your daughter will be fine. The only problem my daughter had is that once she got to college, she had a tougher time in some required classes because of her weaker math skills. She had to take a math class at college and opted for introductory statistics – complained to me all the way through that she was in over her head – and then ended up getting an A… so even then it wasn’t all that disastrous.</p>
<p>The only exception would be if your d. wanted to major in math or engineering, or planned to apply to schools like MIT … then she would want to look like a math superstar. My daughter was fine because had a strong focus on foreign languages.</p>
<p>Your daughter will be just fine. Lots of kids at my child’s school finish calc (first year) as juniors and stop there. They go to fine schools.</p>
<p>Does it matter if a child elects NOT to take AP Calculus BC (if his school offers it)? My son took Algebra 1 honors and Geometry Honors in middle school, honors algebra 2 as a freshman, is taking Precalculus and AP stats as a sophomore and will take AP Calculus AB as a junior. Does it look bad if he stops there (because rumor has it that the AP Cal BC class/teacher at his school is brutal)?</p>