<p>I dropped out of AP Stats b/c my grade wasn't that good. I wanted to go to regular stats but it was all filled up. I've already finished AP Calc BC last year. Will this be a problem? I also plan to major in something math or science related.</p>
<p>Since you got to Calc BC you should be fine, hopefully you have a challenging sr year schedule, though. I do think you should have just worked harder in the Stats class and tried to pull at least a B, it can’t be that hard.</p>
<p>Top colleges expect to see 4 years of math. If something is offered beyond Calc BC, they expect to see you take it. Given your explanation of your schedule from before, you might have some explaining to do. But if you’re not aiming at the top, you should be fine.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 I am applying to some top colleges. How would this affect me and how big of an effect would it be? If it really is important, can I take an online course?</p>
<p>It’s difficult to predict because you did do AP Calc BC as a junior, but you’ll wind up with less than four years of math, which they really like/require. Any time you color outside the lines, it becomes a possible elimination factor, but it may be nothing as well.</p>
<p>Check with your college advisor and tell him your situation and which schools your looking at. (Ideally you should have done this before dropping. Note to other students - make no move without checking if you’re going for the top. They know, you don’t.) An online course in something math related, say Calc III or Intro to Computer Science may be an acceptable substitute, but nothing is going to be as simple a solution as staying in AP Stat would have been.</p>
<p>@MrMom62 </p>
<p>I know it would be rather counterproductive, but can I take AP Stats online? I guess I should have stayed in my stats class but I was scared of my low grade. It does also make my life more convenient because I can leave school during lunch now, as opposed to staying for 1 period after lunch. Would I have to explain the reason for taking it online?</p>
<p>AP calculus BC is the top level math course at many high schools. If this is the case at the OP’s high school, it is unlikely that taking no math after completing calculus BC will hurt, although it may be “bonus points” to take a more advanced math course at a local college if that is feasable (commuting, etc.).</p>
<p>AP statistics is usually considered a much easier course than either AP calculus course, so it seems odd to struggle with it after completing AP calculus BC as a junior (two years advanced).</p>
<p>I fuly concur w/ucb to the contrary of MrMom. By finishing BC in your junior year, it might be noted that there was no math your Sr year but no one is going to question your math aptitude. As long as you’ve filled the slot w/something useful, you should be fine.</p>
<p>I dont. Think that was a great idea… At our school there is a friend of mine who has taken all possible math courses as a junior. Take in mind that we offer calc ab bc, stat, calc 3, diff eq, IB furthur math. Although its good to take up to calc bc, it will hurt to not have taken a math class that is supposed to be the same difficulty as calc ab</p>
<p>Colleges like to see applicants with all 4 cores in all 4 years. When there is still course available while the OP does not take it (just dropped out), this indicates the problem is on the student side. If AP Statistics is too hard for you, then you may want to reconsider if you want to study Math related major.
For senior year, the course rigorous is more important than the grade (unless you get a C or below) as the grade will not be available during the application review but the course load.</p>
<p>Since the OP likes to start threads, it’s a little bit difficult to see the whole story, but let’s see if we can put the complete picture together right here. I’m not unsympathetic to his plight, but there’s a lesson to be learned here for parents and other students in the same situation, and that is, don’t do something possibly rash without some good advice from someone who knows more than you. That should be your college advisor, who’s been through this a million times before. This is not an impossible situation, but it’s an unnecessary one, one that could have been avoided multiple times with a little planning or thought.</p>
<p>Here’s the situation as I understand it from all the threads - OP is a very good student who has managed to get through Calc BC in his junior year. He decides to take AP Stat to get a fourth year of math in, but things go badly, so he panics and drops the class. Not only does this leave him with only three years of math, it also leaves him with only 5 classes. This is a bit of a problem because he’s aiming high in his college selection. Not sure exactly what, but I can guess it’s probably Top 25 from the two main US News lists. So we’re talking about a competitive lot.</p>
<p>By itself, having only three years of math that end in Calc BC is not a bad thing, if you use that now free hour to take something else that is a core course. The top schools have an almost universal requirement that you take four years of math, to go outside that presents a problem. Given that he did complete Calc BC in only three years, he’s obviously a very gifted math student, so there’s no question about his talent, but to not take the fourth year, even an easier course like AP Stat, is a question mark that needs to be addressed. (FWIW, statistics is a completely different branch of math than calc, so even though it’s “easier”, that doesn’t mean it’s not an important course to take and it makes a great fourth year course.) If nothing was available, fine, you can’t take courses that aren’t there, but something was there and he didn’t take it. (We’ll assume that the drop never appears on your transcript, so colleges will never know, it’s like you never signed up.)</p>
<p>So, now we have a situation where he should/could have taken four years of math, but only took three, but he did go very high in the math track. My D had a similar situation this year where she was a Level 5 in a language after her junior year and had a choice of the brand new Level 6 course or the AP course. She, like the OP, is aiming for Top 25 schools, who really like to see four years of foreign language. However, D really wanted to take a non-core independent study her senior year, which would conflict with her fourth year of the language. </p>
<p>This is where her college advisor proved invaluable, who told her several things that she had to do to make it all work. First, Level 5 in a language is fine for the schools she was looking at and the independent study gave her an unusual dimension that colleges really like to see. But, by dropping the language it dropped her to only 4 cores and she absolutely had to have 5. So she picked up AP Psych, which was sort of interesting to her anyway, and is really a pretty easy class. But it fills in all the spots that colleges like to see.</p>
<p>OP had a similar situation, where he really did go far enough in math to be impressive, but if you’re going to only have three years of math, you need to fill in the spot with something acceptable, even if it is AP Psych, AP Micro, AP Enviro or even creative writing. That way you can at least say you just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to take something that looked interesting. Colleges like the intellectually curious, they don’t like slacking, which is what this looks like. (I know it probably isn’t, but it looks like that.)</p>
<p>So, if among your five remaining courses, you don’t have five cores, you need to find a way to fix it. Your competition to get into those Top 25 schools probably has followed the guidelines, don’t give the schools a reason to say no to you after all this hard work. The fix could be anything, it doesn’t need to be another math class, it just needs to be a core class. Maybe you’ll get in without it, but you’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t. Why take that risk? (Possible idea. If you really regret dropping that AP Stat class, could you still get back in? That might be the solution you’re looking for. Might not be the greatest solution in the world, but it’s an idea, even if it’s a bad one.)</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post, but I hate to see people stumble at the finish line. So close, just get there. Good luck.</p>
<p>oh…I feel so bad about my decision right now.
As of now, my courseload is:</p>
<p>AP Music Theory
AP Physics C
AP Lit
Economics
Spanish 3
No Class</p>
<p>According to MrMom62, I’ve only 4 core classes (I don’t think music theory counts). I will try to ask the counselor for any possible changes. If not, would online AP Stats be the best choice? Would colleges question my reason for taking it online as opposed to taking it at school? I know I made a rash move and I hope I can fix this. I really don’t want this to mess up the rest of my application.</p>
<p>Does your school offer AP Computer Science or other math classes besides statistics? Your GC should have warned you before letting you drop that class.</p>
<p>@billcsho</p>
<p>Yes, but AP Calc BC covers almost every single math class except regular stats and AP Stats and I’ve already taken AP Computer Science. And unfortunately, my GC didn’t tell me anything. She just signed it and said I was good.</p>
<p>It doesn’t need to be an AP, just pick another core. European History, US History post -1945, astronomy, anything, just get another core in there.</p>
<p>Calc BC qualifies as more than a level 4 in math so you’re fine, but as MrMom said you MUST have 5 core classes and/or 5 honors or AP classes. You CANNOT afford to have a “no class”. So look at what’s available during that period (or during lunch, and eat lunch during that no class period).</p>
<p>@MYOS1634</p>
<p>ok, thanks for the advice. I think I will take one AP core class online so that I’ll have 4 APs and 5 core classes. I think I’ll keep the no class on my schedule since I’m taking 6 classes in total, which’ll make my schedule equivalent to others. Can I also explain that I’m leaving early (but still taking the same amounts of classes) so that I can focus more on extracurricular activities? I’m just wondering if colleges will ever look down on online courses or question why I took it online instead of at school.</p>
<p>Why don’t you try and find an online course that isn’t offered at your school? That will look legit.</p>
<p>^Well, the thing is, I actually wanted to learn stats. When I dropped the class, I was really doubting myself but I convinced myself that I would at least self-study for the AP exam. Math is actually on the top of the list as one of my favorite subjects. Perhaps someone can shed some light on this matter?</p>
<p>You’ll be able to take stats in college. 
If you want to major in math and/or social science, it’ll actually be required.
Try to take an online class that isn’t offered at your school so that it looks “legit”, as MrM said.</p>