<p>This is sort of an unusual situation, but if anyone could give me advice I'd appreciate it.</p>
<p>My high school is very small (about 85 students per grade), and therefore they don't offer AP classes, and there are no advanced classes until 11th grade. I'm in 11th grade right now, and I'm in advanced pre-calculus and advanced chemistry (these appear on our transcripts as honors courses). </p>
<p>The only reason I'm in both is because to be in one, you have to be in the other. However, this will be a problem next year, because I'll have to choose between taking advanced physics and calculus, or taking regular physics and statistics. I know it looks better to take the most advanced curriculum at your school, but I would really rather take statistics then calculus, especially since I'm interested in biology, and I've been told statistics is useful for that. </p>
<p>If I ended up taking statistics and regular physics, I would probably take a science related college class in addition to that (This is what people do at my school to be challenged, since we don't have APs - I'm taking college english right now), to show I'm prepared for college level work - would this make up for not taking advanced physics?</p>
<p>Both the Common App and most colleges’ individual applications have a space for you to explain anything about your record that you think wants explaining. This is exactly the kind of thing that space is for. (This was the advice an admissions officer gave my kid at Brandeis.) </p>
<p>You’ve got a reason for making the choice you’re making, and a plan for showing that you’re ready for college-level work. Tell colleges exactly what you’ve told us.</p>
<p>sikorsky makes a good point about explaining your decision, and i think it will be ok if you do choose to take statistics- however, let me just give you the other side: you have plenty of time to take statistics. it’s probably not worth giving up the rigorous schedule to take a class that you can easily take in college. for whatever reason, colleges prefer to see calculus over statistics, even though to many people statistics is more relevant to their lives and studies. even if you might want to take stats next year, it might be worth it to take calc instead so that you can challenge yourself, especially since taking 2 advanced classes junior year and none senior year won’t look so good. </p>
<p>your idea about taking a college science class is great and it would help, but i still think that sticking with your advanced classes might be better. if you want to take stats, why not take a college stats class in addition to calculus?</p>
<p>sorry if this was pushy, just giving you another point of view to consider. good luck in your decision! :)</p>
<p>It’s probably better to take calculus and advanced physics and then to take statistics at the college level.</p>
<p>Further, if you feel that calculus would be harder for you than statistics, you should take it in high school, as high school courses tend to provide a lot more help than college courses.</p>
<p>While explaining the reason for your decision will help, and while colleges will understand that you were limited by the offerings at your school, you’re probably still better off taking the more advanced courses in high school and saving stats for college.</p>
<p>If it’s possible to take the two advanced courses <em>and</em> a college course, that would be even better.</p>
<p>RedSeven makes a good point. In high schools the teachers who teach calculus are often among the school’s best and most experienced math teachers. In college, not so much.</p>
<p>I was actually wary of taking calculus next year was because I’ve heard the teacher wasn’t helpful, but I’ll try to see if there’s anything I can do over the summer to prepare - it probably is better to take it now. I actually really want to take advanced physics, so hopefully that will give me motivation to do well in both. </p>
<p>I will probably take psychology at city college next year in addition to the advanced classes, and take biology this summer (I liked biology when I took it, and I want to see if I would be able to handle it at a college level). Anyways, thank you all for your advice, I needed the encouragement :)</p>
<p>taking calc shows that you’re a serious scholar. Is there utility of stats for an eventual Bio major? Sure. But that’s nothing compared to you maximizing your profile right now. Stats would be a walk over for you.</p>