i’m a rising sophomore, and am currently taking DE precalculus/trigonometry as a freshman. my original 4 year math plan was to take AP BC calculus as a sophomore, dual-enrollment calc III/differential equations as a junior, and AP statistics as a senior. however, i just learned that my school will no longer be offering DE calc III/diffeq as of next year, which leaves me with the question of what to take as a junior. (still set on taking AP stats as a senior.)
my choices are to take AP statistics as a junior and honors statistics 2 as a senior, to commute to a local community college for an hour per day to take DE calc III/diffeq (this isn’t that viable of an option bc of the distance but i know a few people who have made it work, although they didn’t like it), or to not take a math class at all junior year (i already have enough math credits as a freshman to meet the graduation requirement lmao) and instead take AP music theory, which is a class i’m very interested in but otherwise don’t really have time for in my schedule.
what do yall think? i’d be taking the most rigorous courses offered at my school pretty much whatever i do, but will colleges not see that and get suspicious if i don’t have a math class for every year of HS? thanks in advance 
@chrysalism - Since Calculus is the basis for so much in college and your grades matter as much as course rigor when it comes to admissions I would take Calculus AB as a sophomore, Calculus BC as a junior and AP Stats as a Senior. If you need more challenge, try some online college courses for fun. If you can ace all of those courses you should be in good shape for freshman year of college.
@CaMom13 thanks for your input! the thing is, i’m already registered for AP BC calculus next year, and i’m on the “track” for it in that everyone at my school who gets an A in DE precalc/trig is supposed to progress to AP BC calc. based on my previous math grades/experience i feel that i would be able to thrive in BC without AB as a prerequisite, and multiple adults have told me that i would personally find it unenriching to take both courses in sequence.
i’m sorry, probably should have worded my post differently. the option i would find most enticing would be to take AP music theory instead of a math course (the subject of which I have prior experience with, so i don’t think it would present greater difficulty), but i wouldn’t want to do it if it would look inappropriate to colleges. given that even in doing so i’d end up with three more math credits than i need to graduate, would that be an ok thing to do or idiotic?
(i would love to take online college math courses if i have the time, though, so thank you!)
Okay, the question is - do you want to go into math and or science in college? If so, you definitely need to show you’ve taken 4 years of math. A few more things to consider - Stats is a great subject but it’s not part of the building blocks for math progression. If you take Calc your sophomore year when you hit college for a math or science major it’ll be a distant memory. If you don’t actually care to move on in math - then as long as your course rigor is adequate, you should be okay.
I don’t want to advise you to do anything counter to what’s usual at your high school but if you feel the need to follow the normal advice from your high school, probably asking strangers on CC for advice won’t be helpful. Not being snarky there, just honest - a parent or professional’s view (and I am both) of high school math progression isn’t always the same as a high school’s. I have seen a pattern of students being placed into advanced college math classes in high school and I don’t actually think it helps them much.
Ultimately, what matters to college admissions is grades + scores + rigor. If you come out of college with 4 years of straight As in math and you’ve taken the hardest courses at your school and you ace your standardized math tests, you’re good. If any of those are weak (not 4 years, not straight As, not the hardest classes, weak scores) you’ll get dinged.
@CaMom13 thank you!! sorry, i wasn’t trying to appear unreceptive to advice, i just really hadn’t previously given thought to the prospect of taking both AB and BC. given that i probably want to major in STEM it’s a good idea and i will definitely consider it! it’s not like i have that many other options haha
and yeah i agree with you on advancing in math not always being the best option - i know a kid who’s in DE precalculus as an 8th grader. lmao i have NO idea what he’s going to do
I wasn’t offended at all @chrysalism - just being honest that my perspective (and others on CC) may well run contrary to what you’re told at your school and it’s not better or worse, it’s just different. There’s nothing wrong with challenging yourself in math - I think it’s great - but when you’re looking at colleges, they are going to care more that you are totally prepared to rock their courses than that you’re going to try to skip a lot of them. I think people believe that colleges will be impressed by advanced math but - they’ve seen it all. The only thing impressive is if you’re doing theoretical math research with a well-known professor. Even being a TA in Calculus or taking college courses in high school is kind of a yawn from an admissions perspective. Grades and Scores just need to be solid and your schedule needs to look as if you didn’t slack off.
From a non-admissions perspective I always want to ask - how is this going to help YOU, long term. And one thing I think will not help you is walking into college and starting a STEM degree without having had any calculus in the last 2 years. Because college calculus is harder than high school calculus. Yes, it’s the same subject but they expect you to understand it at a deeper level and the competition is much fiercer. And some colleges grade on a curve… and some colleges won’t let you choose your desired major if you don’t make good enough grades.
I hate to say don’t take AP Music Theory because it sounds like fun (for you) but I wouldn’t take that at the expense of a math course. My 2 cents and then some.
If you think you may be a STEM major, I might even do
10th - Calc AB
11th - AP Stat
12th - Calc BC
You don’t want to start as an engineering major in college feeling maybe a little rusty about calculus because it’s been a year or two since you took it, which is what happens if you take calc BC in 10th or 11th.
Another option is to look into graduating early if there are not going to be enough classes to challenge you in your high school. Graduating early can hurt you with super-selective colleges because you have one less year for building extracurricular awards and achievements, but if you are looking at your state university system anyway you could investigate leaving high school after three years.
@Muad_dib if you’re referring to the eighth grader? the parents are insane and helicopter-y (i’m friends with his sister and she’s Like That but with sports)
@AroundHere yeah I’ve considered graduating early before, considering that according to my current plan i’ll have more than enough credits to by jr year. i probably won’t end up doing it unless my social life changes drastically because a) the extracurriculars problem you mentioned and b) i have a ton of close relationships with people here and wouldn’t want to cut them off, but it’s an option! thank you
Colleges require four years of high school math - and you’ve already fulfilled four years of math (algebra, geometry, alg 2, and precal). So although you have that covered - colleges will also
like to see you take four years of math while you’re in high school.
The next course for you is obviously AP BC Calculus. Please don’t take AB Calculus. You’d essentially be taking the same course twice. It’s redundant and colleges know that. (The first half of the year of BC calculus is everything you’d learn in AB calculus.)
Since you’re only expected to take the most rigorous classes your school offers, if they aren’t offering calc 3 it would make sense to do Stats 1 and 2 in 11th and 12th grade.
That said - if you can find an online Calc 3/Diff Equations class- Id take that in 11th. Especially if you’re preparing for an engineering/math degree
Maybe you can fit AP Music Theory in as an elective somewhere? But I would treat it like that - as an elective.
Why not calculus BC next year (AB would probably be boringly slow for a strong math student who is three grade levels ahead), followed by more advanced math courses at a nearby college if you are considering going into a field that uses math more advanced than single variable calculus?
Completion of precalculus and calculus should be sufficient for colleges that want to see “4 years of high school math”, since precalculus is the typical 4th year, with more advanced-in-math students reaching calculus in high school.
In my humble opinion, I think you should do BC Calculus next year, AP statistics junior year, and then Calculus III senior year. I have a sophomore friend who is also in BC Calculus this year and is doing the same thing I just wrote. This is so you can maximize your math track (by taking the highest level math offered in your area for high schoolers) while also not having a “gap year” of calculus before you start college. Don’t worry about it right now though, you’ve still got a whole year left to decide. Right now just focus on getting good grades in the most challenging math course sequence possible.