<p>Hi everyone. I am a senior and will soon be applying various BME programs. I hope to have a decent shot at getting in, but I have been told the one thing that may really work against me is the fact that I am lacking AP calculus. Obviously since engineering is very math-centric, I am afraid that my application to engineering schools will be seriously damaged. In my school to fulfill the requirements for calculus, you must choose to double up in geometry and algebra II in sophomore year, and this decision would be made during the spring of freshman year. At 13, I was not thinking about my future college major though I did know it would look good to take two honors math courses. But I opted for Computer Science instead. I have been studying CS for 3 years and am now in AP CS and excelling in it, at the cost of only taking honors precalculus my senior year, which I am also doing very well in. By the time my guidance counselor had informed me this past spring what a detriment not having calculus would be to my application, the only summer precalculus program that my school would have accepted was closed. Had I known sooner, I most certainly would have opted to take precalculus over the summer. My problem is that I have no good way to communicate this to the admissions counselors. I have been told that an increasing number of engineering programs may be using calculus or lack thereof as a substantial factor in admissions. I guess what I would like to know is how much will my lack of calculus hurt my admissions chances? And, if there is anything I can do to better them, specifically how to show that I did not avoid calculus because I couldn't handle it.</p>
<p>One option comes to mind. Case Western has a top 10 BME program with an open-door admissions system, meaning that if you're let in to study one subject, you can declare any major in any school that you want. So, you could apply for a major where calculus doesn't matter (like Philosophy) and then become a BME major instead. And, come to think of it, alot of my engineer friends are retaking calculus now as freshmen, because they take an engineering version more targeted towards their major than the standard AP course is. So you wouldn't be disadvantaged there.</p>
<p>Beyond that, I don't know what you can do. Maybe enroll in a Calc I class at a community college as soon as possible, and inform colleges you're apply to of it.</p>
<p>not as much as you think. i mean the fact that your school does offer ap calc hurts you a bit, but i kno that at georgia tech(just an example) that they state on the app that you should be ready to schedule calc starting your fall semester of freshman year. no where even on engineering requirements does it say you have to have calc in high school. however, it will most likely put you at a disadvantage applying to very selective engineering schools like caltech, stanford, mit, etc., because most likely, students that go there that didnt take calc in hs only didnt take it b/c it wasnt offered at their school.</p>
<p>If case is an open-door admissions school, would they really make admissions decisions heavily based on preparation for a certain major?</p>
<p>I was also not familiar with part-time communtiy college courses, and all I can do now is try to get in for the spring term, which probably won't help much.</p>
<p>Have you considered an on-line AP Calc course?</p>
<p>I have not looked into an online course but would be very interested in pursuing it. Do you have any recommendations as to what is a good online program? And also is there a way to verify for your college apps that you are studying calc and intend to take the AP exam?</p>
<p>Stanford's EPGY program is considered the most credible online program for advanced math/ physics classes.</p>
<p>JHU's CTY program is just as good.</p>
<p>idk...calc is kinda hard to teach to yourself...alot of key concepts that can be ambigous at times. And when you send in your app, you can't say "hey, I'm taking AP course online". So if taking online course isn't gonna help you get into schools, you might wanna wait on calc. Then again, it would be pretty damn expensive to take it in college, so i guess its up to you.</p>
<p>^ Wrong, as long as you are taking a reputable course. If you are taking an online course you can state it on the app. My D took the Johns Hopkin's AP Calc BC course, put it on her app and her school put it on her transcript as an "independent study course". Grades were sent directly to colleges by JHU. Yale didn't seem to mind at all!! By the way her online instructor was a math professor at Columbia. However, I agree that it is a difficult thing to teach yourself and the online course will be quite challenging.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice guys! I think I'm gonna shoot for CTY. And I realize this will be difficult, but my ap macro teacher is also the calc teacher and he is one of the best I've ever met, and an awesome guy, so I think if I have any trouble he could help me figure it out. Thanks again.</p>
<p>good luck!</p>