<p>Hi everyone,
I'm a rising junior and I absolutely hate math. I'm not bad at it... I just hate it. My sophomore year I took geometry and received high B's and A's. I believe my final average for the year was around a 95 or 96. I am currently taking alg 2 over the summer, and will be eligible to take pre calc this year (my jr year) and calc or AP calc the following year (my sr yr). My question is, is this necessary? I really do not want to take pre calc and calc and would instead take a trig course or accounting this year (my jr year) and take probs & stats next year (my sr year). Would this destroy my chances of getting into a good college? Please help!</p>
<p>Of getting into a good college? No. Of getting into an Ivy league school, probably. Of majoring in engineering, possibly. If you don’t want to major in engineering or attend a highly competitive school, then go ahead.</p>
<p>It just depends on how competitive a school you are trying to get into. Good school, yes, you will be fine. If you take 3 years of math you will be qualified for many schools. But for schools with low admit rates, you want to be strong in the core areas. Math is one of the core areas and getting to pre-calc is okay, but getting to calc is stronger. Accounting is an elective and shouldn’t be counted as a math class. Probs & Stats is also an elective, but a useful one.</p>
<p>probs & stats is considered a math class at my high school, but accounting is an elective. I’m not looking to get into an ivy league, but I would like to attend a fairly competitive college. I am worried that if I take calc it will hurt my GPA. But i definitely need precalc?</p>
<p>Sure, stats is a math class–was just trying to distinguish between a core and an elective in this case. I can’t tell you what you definitely need. I can just tell you what looks strongest. Wait and see what others here think…talk to your adviser as well.</p>
<p>Oh okay, I understand your point now. Thanks so much for your advice! My advisor is basically useless, as is the rest of my school… :(</p>
<p>Calculus is so different from other math classes that you’ve taken, so you may enjoy it more than other maths. Ultimately, though, it’s up to you and your judgement.</p>