Is AP Calc BC preferred over AP Stats

I’m a junior right now taking Calc A and next year (senior year), I have the option between taking AP Calc BC or AP Stats for math. Will I be at a disadvantage for top colleges if I take AP Stats instead of AP Calc BC?

Perhaps a little if your intended major is STEM. Otherwise, I don’t think any impact.

One AP class vs. another is not going to make or break any college application so do what’s best for you.

Good luck!

Depends on your major, but yeah, not a big deal either way. That said, Calc BC is much more intellectually challenging that Stat, but outside of math/engineering, stat is useful to a wider range of disciplines.

Calculus will be more useful if you need to take calculus for your major (any science, any engineering, economics, business) or for a college’s general education requirements (not that many colleges), or if you will eventually take calculus-based statistics (usually that is needed for the same majors that require calculus, though some other social science majors take that for a stronger background in statistics).

My oldest daughter opted to take AP stats. But at the school she enrolled in Calc II (BC) is used as a weed out class and is taught at a ridiculously hard level. The kids that took Calc BC in HS and were able to opt out of the class through AP credits had no complaints with Calc III. Knowing this, my younger daughter chose to take Calc BC her senior year. Depending on the school she goes to she will either be able to opt out of some Calc, but even if she has to retake it she will have been exposed to the material and hopefully have a little less stress. Don’t make your decision based on what the schools are looking for, most probably don’t care. Decide based on what your goals are and what you plan on majoring in. Unless you’re STEM, then take Calc BC.

Honestly depends on your major, but even then, taking AP stats will most likely not affect your application at all

From a credit standpoint, I doubt if many schools or any schools for that matter would use AP Stats for any type of subject credit (not to be confused with General college credit).

Calc BC, in the other hand, with a good score, can potentially help out tremendously, financially and academic-wise. As an example, by getting a 5 on BC, my kid was able to skip Calc 2 (and Calc 1) which is a notorious killer weeder class at Berkeley. Combine that with being able to skip both mandatory English classes by getting a 5 in AP Lit, and now that’s 4 classes, one whole semester worth of tuition savings. Assuming of course that you go to a college that issues AP subject credits.

AP statistics may get subject credit for a non calculus introduction to statistics course for some social studies majors at some colleges.

I would say to take AP Calc BC over stats because it will give you some sort of credit at most schools. Also, it is a pretty common math class and the AP test isn’t too hard.

What majors are you thinking of?
What type of colleges are you aiming for?

It depends on whether or not you want to study STEM and how proficient you are at math

One of the things colleges look for when evaluating an applicant is the rigor of their HS course work. BC Calc is definitely seen as being a more rigorous class than AP Stat - so in that sense, BC Calc is “preferred” over Stat. However, there are other considerations. BC Calc is a hard class - an A minus in Stat is probably better than a C in BC Calc. Also, the larger issue is whether or not it will matter which class you take in terms of admissions, and the answer to that question is: it depends. If you are applying to very competitive schools in a Stem area, not taking BC Calc (or at least AB) could derail your application. If you are applying to less competitive schools in a non-Stem area, won’t make a difference.

Make sure the schools you are looking at will accept AP credit for Stats. Not all of them do.

Many schools would tend to either give an unassigned credit for AP Stats (meaning you get credits toward graduation but nothing else) or assign the class with subject/college credit to an entry-level Stats class which may or may not help you with any progression in your major.

Or in quite a few cases also, no credit at all.

AP Calculus is preferred to AP Stats, regardless of major. I can give you public quote after quote by adcoms on this,

“Rightly or wrongly, calculus is generally preferred by admissions offices versus statistics,”
Harberson (Penn at the time) agrees: “It starts with the quality of the transcript. That’s the priority for every institution in the country,” she says.

“Yes, AP Statistics and AP Calculus are both advanced level math courses but you and I both know which one is harder. (AP Calc is harder. There. I said it.)”, (Tufts)

Another adcom said it’s the first math course they look for in the transcript.

I’m not someone that believes in taking a whole bunch of APs, but taking the right ones that you can handle is the way to go. If you have the option of taking stats when calc was available, that’s a red flag, it doesn’t mean you won’t get in though.

Yes, but OP already took AP Calc AB they’ve crossed that bar – he/she is just deciding whether to take BC as well.

OP said he/she is taking “Calc A” - does that mean AP Calc AB? If so, taking BC Calc is probably not necessary unless applying to a very competitive school in a STEM area.

“OP said he/she is taking “Calc A” - does that mean AP Calc AB?”

Calc A is it’s own class; in DD’s high school it is paired with Advanced Trigonometry (one year class covers both topics). It’s usually (again, DD’s high school) the class taken in the year before AP Calc BC. AP Calc AB - in our HS - is a senior year class seemingly intended for students who are going no further in calculus during high school. There seems to be a lot of variation among high schools represented on these boards, though. In other schools, students can choose AB or BC, and AB goes at a slower pace than BC, covering slightly less material. Any of these of calculus levels is considered appropriate prep for STEM majors.

Many students take Calculus AB then AP Stats if they’re not going to major in STEM. So, choice of major would matter a lot because a future STEM major who chooses not to take BC would be considered very differently from a Humanities/Social Science major who’s taken Calc junior year and rounds that out with AP Stats senior year.