<p>I am currently in Alg 2/Trig acc as a freshman and have an A. My school has a program where you take AP Stats as a Sophmore(AP Stats is a joke), then as a junior do ATMS Honors Precalc, which is honors precalc plus Calc A and 10x the homework of regular Honors Precalc. As a senior you then go to AP Calc BC. My thought is that colleges will see that I am only doing Precalc as a junior and that won't look good, especially since I am so far thinking about majoring in Finance/Econ. </p>
<p>My other option is to do Honors Precalc (not ATMS) next year, AP Calc AB junior year, AP Calc BC as a senior, and I will take some AP Comp Science as a sophomore and another Comp Sci class over the summer, and also some Econ classes.</p>
<p>My last idea would be instead of adding AP Comp Science next year as an extra class, I do Honors Precalc(not ATMS) and AP Stats both sophomore year, then Calc AB junior year, Calc BC senior year.</p>
<p>I could get an A no problem in any of these classes, but I play 2 sports and do a lot of volunteer coaching for little kids and stuff, and ATMS Honors Precalc is like 2 hours a nite on its own, and I am gonna take AP Euro(mucho Homework). A little early to be considering what colleges will want, but I wanna be prepared. What do you think would show more rigor and colleges will like more? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>In all honesty, I don’t think it looks bad for you to take Precalc as a junior. Colleges understand that not all schools offer advanced and accelerated programs like your school does. For example, at my school, the earliest you can take Precalc is junior year. AP Calc AB is the highest you can go as a senior… No BC! :(</p>
<p>As you said, AP Stats is a joke. I have friends who self-studied it and passed the exam. Junior year is notorious for being the most difficult year of high school, so make sure that you consider your workload of both extracurriculars and courses.</p>
<p>Most colleges don’t look down upon taking Pre-Calculus as a junior. In fact, compared to the average high school student, it’s a little advanced. A lot of people on CC are taking Precalc as a sophomore or freshman, true, but CC is not really representative of everywhere else. In reality, only a small amount of schools allow students to take Algebra I before 8th grade, and as a result, most don’t start Precalc until junior year. However, CC is primarily wealthy and most attend much better schools that have this option, so it may seem like most students do. So don’t feel bad about taking Precalc as a junior. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, though I haven’t taken AP Stats, almost everybody I know says the class is one of the easiest AP classes offered. Unless you’re bad at math (and judging by the fact that you’re in Algebra 2/Trig in 9th grade, I’d assume you are not), AP Stats should be really easy to self-study.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d go with option 1, taking AP Stats sophomore year. Even if you’re taking Pre-calc as a junior, colleges will still see that you took AP Stats and AP Calculus.
Also, have you asked if it’s possible to skip AP Calc AB? You basically learn everything in AP Calc AB that you learn in BC, it’s just faster paced and learn more. I know my school lets you with a teacher recommendation, and seeing that you do well in math, it shouldn’t be too hard for you.</p>
<p>You sound very similar to me. I will let you know what I did/am doing (current junior) throughout high school.</p>
<p>Freshman year: Algebra 2
Sophomore Year: Precalculus, AP Statistics
Junior Year: AP Calculus BC
Senior Year (next year): Calculus III and Differential Equations, Advanced Topics in Math</p>
<p>It is not extraordinarily difficult to double up in math. As you can see I am doing it senior year and I did it sophomore year. Does your school require you to take AB prior to BC? They cover the same material with BC going further in the textbook, so it makes no sense to do both.</p>
<p>See if you can skip AB and go right into BC.</p>
<p>Edit: damnf3, I didn’t see your post. I reiterated the same thing.</p>