I am taking honors level pre-calculus my junior year and I’m concerned that this may not be enough for some top schools? Should I consider taking AP statistics to make my math credits look more advanced and just wait to take BC Calc my senior year? This worries me because math has never really been my strong suit but I want to Challenge myself in all academic areas but I wonder if it would push me too far to make bad grades? Am I too far gone in the math area and should I be concerned more about my other subjects?
*I did not mention that my other classes include AP chemistry AP English literature and composition AP United States history and honors Spanish five. Am I overthinking things or should I re-think some classes for this year?
Thanks for the help thats reassuring. Im still thinking of adding either AP Comp Science Prin, AP Stats, or AP Environmental. does this seem good overall?
Yes, most colleges consider statistics a math course. They don’t consider it if taken instead of precalculus and they know it’s less rigorous than calculus, but it is a math course (a short introduction to a vast, in-demand field).
The sequence Precalculus-> statistics is ok for students not applying for stem majors (or to less selective universities). The case for STEM majors (or tippy top universities) is that Calculus should be taken if it’s offered and if the student reached precalculus in the 11th grade.
However, if you actually want to go into the “vast, in-demand field” (presumably you mean statistics, data science, or something similar), you do need to take precalculus, calculus, and more advanced math as prerequisites for the statistics courses needed in such studies.
hopefully you’re at one of those schools that goes from PreCalc to AP Calc AB or BC. Many schools for some reason nowadays forces you to go from PreCalc to AP Calc AB the next year, then AP Calc BC the following year after that.
How I wish I would have known DS could take BC instead of AB. They started school this week and I asked if he could get switched, but at this point it would require completely changing his schedule.
I think you should take Precalc because it will help with AP chem. I took honors precalc last year (8th grade) and I found it helpful for AP chem. I mean you don’t need it but I personally recommend it. Also, I took a practice SAT from the College Board and there were 2 precalc topics that were not covered in my honors algebra 2.
Do be aware that most schools that has the AB or BC option will have some sort of grade cutoff and/or teacher recommendation before you can go into AP Calc BC. At my kid’s HS you needed a B+ or higher in your second semester for PreCalc H in order to get in. Some schools require some sort of A in PreCalc in order to get in.
But if you do qualify for BC you generally have the choice of going to AB also, though that might be admissions suicide for some schools.
It’s a misunderstanding of the meaning for “most rigorous” category. It doesn’t mean “… conceivable” but “… reasonable”.
(Obviously if your school does Precalculus=>AB=>BC and you took precalculus as a sophomore, AB as a junior, you’re expected to take BC senior year if you’re aing for a STEM major. But if you’re taking precalculus junior year, as most future STEM majors are, you are not docked for taking the next course in the sequence! And adcoms do not have time to ponder the way each high school works, unless it’s a feeder and they have had longterm reservations about something…)
Anyway adcoms have their own criteria, in part because some competitive HS have completely lost their senses, such as the one that only gives “most rigorous” to students with 16 APs or the one here only ~5 students per class get the designation.
By that argument, the only students who would be accepted to any top college would need to have the following as a senior schedule:
AP English Literature
AP Calculus BC (unless taken as a junior or earlier, then MVC/LA or beyond)
AP Physics C: Mechanics & E&M
AP Spanish Literature (or if not available or if not taking Spanish, a 5th year equivalent; any other AP Foreign Language only being acceptable if the applicant started level 1 in 9th grade)
AP Micro ** plus** Macroeconomics or AP US Gov plus AP Comp Gov or AP US Gov plus either AP micro or Macro
AP Studio Art or AP Music Theory
Excuse me while I pick myself off the floor from rolling in laughter.
Yes, depending on the college and planned course of study, not taking BC when that is an option as next in track may raise an eyebrow, but “admissions suicide” would be a hyperbole. There are many valid reasons as to why an option was selected,
So what does OP consider “top colleges?” What major? It matters.
AP stats is math, but not core math. For a top college, calc tops it and thinking stats somehow rounds out a math background can be off. It only works for tippy tops (stem majors) when the kid exhausted all other offerings and there’s no DE available. Or isn’t a stem hopeful.
So, too much we don’t know about OP. Including whether he/she fulfilled the rest of the courses a “top college” expects to see. Not to mention his or her own stats and suitability for the target colleges.