<p>I might be overworrying about this, but I'm dropping AP Calc this year (as a junior) and taking pre-calculus instead. Last year I took Trigonometry and I taught myself pre-calculus over summer. I took a placement test and tested out of pre-calculus. However, at my school pre-calculus is weighted. So GPA wise, it would just be smarter to take pre-calculus instead of AP Calculus. And I'm taking AP Stats, APUSH, AP Physics, and AP Psychology. </p>
<p>I'm scared that not taking AP Calc junior year is going to screw up whether I get into a good (and by good, I mean Ivy League) college. I'm scared that if someone else takes all the same classes as me except AP Calc instead of Pre-calc and we both get all A's junior year, that they'll get chosen over me just because of Ap Calc. </p>
<p>And as dumb as this sounds, it's also because I feel dumb. I feel like if I don't take Ap Calc junior year, I'm dumb because i'm one lower level down. And I know it doesn't matter what math class you took at what grade when you get older, that it wont' even matter, but that's how I feel right now and I guess I'm pretty miserable about it right now. I'm driving myself crazy and I'm just scared that I'm messing up my future. </p>
<p>And, if this is relevant, I'll take AP Calc next year. Colleges will look at that, right? My school only goes up to AP Calc so if I take AP Calc this year, I won't take any math next year so what would even be the point? Right? I'm so confused.</p>
<p>I know that sounds REALLY superficial and really dumb, but the truth is my mom is literally going to disown me if I don’t get into a “good ivy league college”. I feel obliged to follow her demands because she’s basically a single parent and works to exhaustion just so I can have an education and food. The point is that I HAVE to get into an Ivy league school.</p>
<p>Then your mom is dumb. No disrespect to her (I’m sure she works very hard), but forcing you to settle for nothing less than an Ivy is just setting herself up for severe disappointment. Assuming that you don’t get into an Ivy, that is.</p>
<p>Anyway, back to the original topic. What AP Calc(s) does your school offer? If it’s just AB, then I suggest you take Pre-Cal this year and take the hardest math subject senior year. If your school offers both AB and BC, then you should take AP Calc AB this year and BC next year.</p>
<p>I know, mrlaurencenguyen. I feel like I might be happier at a small obscure college anyways and find myself there. But then of course (according to her), my life will be messed up and I might as well kill myself. </p>
<p>My school only offers up to AB but I feel like every elite college will look down upon people who took pre-calc junior year as opposed to people who took AP calc junior year (although by the end of senior year, everyone will have taken ap calc so there’s really no difference) . I just feel like i HAVE to succeed and get into a top college for my mom because of all that she’s done for me. i don’t want to fail her. And I’m sorry if it sounds really stupid. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of your responses. GoodJobBro, I feel like to get into a “good” college, I have to be the 1 % that’s different (or why would they pick me?). If that makes any sense. Thanks.</p>
<p>ThenameisBond: so hypothetically if I had okay-to-good SAT/ACT, ECs, etc. and I took pre-calc and got an A, i wouldn’t get accepted by a good college whereas if I had taken AP Calc (just one class different) instead, I would have gotten accepted? </p>
<p>Thanks for assuring me that the key to happiness in life does not depend on getting into an ivy-league college. That means a lot to me right now.</p>
<p>Anywhere in the top 40 colleges fine as long as you’re not looking for finance. Don’t be sad if you get rejected from ivy because honestly any ivy is a gamble.</p>
<p>To be honest, taking or not taking AP Calc isn’t as important as you think. Good courseload/grades alone isn’t going to get you into a top college; in fact, grades isn’t even the most important factor for AOs at Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about something adcoms are going to spend <1 second looking at and focus on strengthening what matters - your essay, and your standardized test scores.</p>
<p>It’s all well and good to find yourself, but it’s a well-worn cliche. The difference between finding yourself at a top school and a mid-tier school is many more doors are open when you finally figure it out. That said, stressing over Ivies only is unnecessary - any of the top 40-50 will work just as well.</p>
<p>Therefore, you should take Calculus. Why? Because it’s the level of math in which you belong and because you’ll be bored out of your mind in pre-calc.</p>
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<p>Life isn’t about your GPA. You don’t need a perfect GPA. You are in school to get an education. That’s done by taking classes at appropriate levels, not ones that aren’t going to teach you anything.</p>
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<p>And everyone else is taking lots of APs and IBs, too. Big whoop. Even if you were taking all APs or doing the IB Diploma, you should still be in the math class that’s at your level, not one that’s below it.</p>
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<p>It might not ruin your chances, but it would be foolish and idiotic.</p>
<p>The Ivy League is an athletic conference. It is not some exclusive league of top schools from an academic perspective. The other top schools have academic programs that are as good as or even better than those of the Ivy League. Ivy League names may be more impressive than the names of the other top schools to the guy asking you whether you want fries with that, but that’s not going to be true for employers (unless you’re aiming to be asking people whether they want fries with their order).</p>
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<p>Good, because they should be. Why? They weren’t lazy.</p>
<p>Don’t be lazy. Take calc.</p>
<p>Edit: To those of you who haven’t tested out of pre-calc, it’s perfectly fine from an admissions standpoint to take it your junior year. Don’t worry, you’re not behind.</p>
<p>Thank you chrome16 and collectivsynergy, avatarmage, and glido for your answers. I’m not stressing out over this so much anymore. </p>
<p>RedSeven, thank you for your answer too. I know I’ll be really bored in pre-calc and I won’t learn anything, but if you really think about it, the most math my school offers is AP calculus AB. This means if I take AP calculus this year, I wouldn’t take a math next year. So what would be the point of that?</p>
<p>Have you explored the possibility of taking a harder math course at a community college your senior year? If that’s not an option, then you’re going to end up wasting a year no matter what, but if it’s an option, it’s probably worth it (even if difficult) because it’ll put you ahead once you get to college.</p>
<p>That is a possibility. I know this sounds superficial, but I feel like going deeper into math wouldn’t be worth risking my GPA. I want to pursue math in college when it really wont’ matter if I get a B or A in Calculus. If that makes any sense. Basically what it comes down to is this: I’m scared of failing. I’m scared that I’m going to not be ready for AP Calc that even if I try my hardest, I’m still going to fail and get a B or C in the class and this will screw up my future.</p>
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