I am wondering whether I should take calculus or Financial management and principles of society (sociology) my seniir year of high school?
I am wondering what impact my decision could have in the eyes of college admissions (specifically Penn State).
My school only offers a few APs so I am taking AP English and AP biology.
Any info would be helpful, since this decision is very difficult for me because I am not great at math and am not sure if I want calculus until college
It will have minimal impact in you Penn State application. PSU looks almost exclusively at GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Other schools place a much higher importance on course rigor.
a different perspective. If you are planning to major in a discipline that requires calculus in college (even some business programs req calc), having the exposure to calc in HS over an entire year will be quite helpful- just keep in mind college calc is more rigorous than most HS calc classes.
Taking and doing well in AP/honors classes helps your chances of acceptance. I must respectfully disagree with with the last post. PSU counts (and documents) the number of AP/honors courses and factors that into their decision.
@luvthej But would you expect PSU admissions to penalize me for taking easier classes like finance/sociology over calc?
unlikely. Senior grades are not examined during admissions decisions. With that in mind, what’s the point of taking easy classes that will do little to prepare you for the rigors of college?
I think HS seniors underestimate the effect of “taking it easy” their senior year. For many students it develops bad habits that are hard to get over. It’s like an athlete that stops training. It’s harder to get back into it if you’ve taken time off. You’ll hear from people who took it easy yet “aced” their freshman year. Yes this does happen. When students have problems in college, its related to adjusting to the rigors of college work. IMO, remaining engaged and keeping the petal to the metal is a better strategy.
If you’re “not great at math,” why would you put off a class until it’ll be at a harder level?
My vote; for what it is worth, would be to take the calculus class. Apply yourself and even if you get a C ( or D) the experience will be a great help, if you are going to take calculus in college. Penn State does not look at senior grads at all, so what would it hurt. Not sure exactly at what exactly they do look. If you were focusing on another school; my answer might be different, but I don’t see the downside of taking it if your main focus is getting into PSU.
If you need calculus for your desired major, take it now. For most majors requiring calc, its very hard to work it out should you need to late drop it and redo it if you do poorly.