I am currently a junior and I have one slot left in my schedule next year. I have taken all of the math classes at my school so far except Calc BC and AP CompSci. Sophomore year I took both Calc AB and AP Stats, but this year I dropped BC and my only math class was computer math. I really disliked the teacher and he teaches the only math classes left.
Here is my senior year schedule so far:
English Tutoring Center
DE English 12
AP Gov
DE Latin American Studies
Business elective
(Idk what to do with my last slot).
I’ve already taken AP Econ, AP Bio and AP Chem, so my potential options are Calc BC equivalent at community college, DE Independent Science Research, AP Physics, or AP Psych. Here is the problem I have with each: the community college math class cost $200 and I’m willing to pay for it but I’m not sure if it will look better than the other options, DE Independent Science Research and AP Pysch kind of feel like cop outs and I’m not really interested in them, and for AP Physics, I took online physics this year, so I’m not sure how well that prepared me for AP. My goal is to make a top 20 university and I’m afraid that my senior year load has too many electives and no core classes. What do I do?
Here is the issue, have you taken a rigorous course load for your high school? I don’t see any AP English classes at all, are they offered? Calc AB is good enough but it does appear that you aren’t taking a rigorous schedule your senior year.
You were 3 grades ahead in math (calculus in 10th grade) but seem to be shying away from more math even though your potential major in college may require it?
If the community college calculus 2 course is accepted for transfer credit by your state flagship as equivalent to calculus 2 (for math and physics majors, as opposed to business majors), then it should be fine.
@CU123 here is my whole high school class schedule so far:
Freshman year: Precalc, Honors English, PreAP history, tech ed, honors Bio, Spanish 3
Sophomore year:Calc AB, honors English, academic history, AP Stats, AP bio, chem
Junior year: Computer Math, AP Lang, academic history, AP Econ, AP Human Geo, AP Chem, online Physics
Overall this is pretty rigorous at my school but there are some people that took 5 APs this year compared to my 4. AP Lang and Lit are both offered at my school. I probably should have been more specific about my previous classes. sorry.
@ucbalumnus the Calc 2 class is accepted at UVA. I’m not so much worried about receiving the credit as I am about having not taken a math class for junior and senior year. It seems like most of you are suggesting I take the math class. Does the new information I’ve given change that at all or does it not really matter what my major and class history is?
For economics, UVA and many other schools require calculus 2 at the minimum (some require calculus 3 / multivariable calculus and/or linear algebra). If you are considering PhD study in economics, you will want to take more advanced math and statistics anyway (e.g. proof-based linear algebra, real analysis, calculus-based probability theory, etc.).
So the college calculus 2 course is a good choice in this context. It will also give you a taste of how a college course is run (i.e. you need to manage the work on your own more, with less hand holding, compared to high school courses) so that your transition to college will be smoother.