<p>I decided to post this on this forum to get more insight. I really don't know which math course to take. I don't really have a passion in math, but I do pretty well in it, and I want to take a math course next year (senior year) . </p>
<p>Here is some background info on my math strengths: I find Algebra II Honors to be very easy and I understand it immediately after she teaches it; I got good grades in Geometry Honors, but it involved a little bit more thinking on my part. I won't be able to take Calculus, because Pre-Calculus is a prerequisite for the course and there is no chance that they will let me skip it. </p>
<p>Here are the colleges that I will most likely be applying to (if it even matters): Brown, Rice, USC, Nortwestern, WashU, and Univ. of Houston</p>
<p>Relate your experiences with AP Stats and Pre-Cal, talk about whether taking Pre-Cal factored into your success in AP Stats, and discuss class difficulty in both courses, the difficulty of the AP Stats test. </p>
<p>For people who have been accepted into college already, discuss whether or not you think it helped or not.</p>
<p>I go to a terrible public school in san jose, california. However, I like math and physics the most. My pre-calc class was not honors, but it basically covered algebra 2 in a more thorough manner and trigonometry. If you can handle algebra 2, you definitely can handle pre-calc! I thought my class was extremeley easy and i ranked number one in the class. I would recommend taking pre-cal since most college applicants have either reached calculus or higher. I've heard about ap stats in high school and statistics in a community college. People tell me it's a joke for a math class because it is so easy and doesn't really include hard math at all.</p>
<p>anyway my opinion is: take both if you can. if you can't, take pre-calc!</p>
<p>Pre-cal is most important because I know Rice (probably the others too) starts out with Calculus in their math sequence. If you plan on majoring in science or going pre-med, taking pre-cal in high school is necessary.</p>
<p>I don't plan to go into science or pre-med, and stats is accepted at all the colleges on my current list, with the exception of Brown (depends on one's major).</p>
<p>If you plan on avoiding science/math completely, then Stats would be good for Rice because it lets you get a head start on their distribution requirements, i.e. one less math or science class you have to take!</p>
<p>I took pre-cal junior year. I found it to be very very easy. I am not very good at math either and even found H. Algebra II to be fairly hard. But Pre-Cal is not that difficult and is a lot of raw memorization especially when you get into the trig stuff. But I decided to take AP Statistics for my senior year instead of AP Cal. Bascially AP Stats does not deal with anything even remotely similar to what you cover in Pre-Cal. Geometry-Honors Algebra II-Pre-Calculus-and AP Statistics in that order was good enough to get me an acceptance into Rice. Good luck with whatever you decide.</p>
<p>i would take precalc if i were in your position. in my jr year of hs, i took both precalc and stats. i am not a math guy either, but they were both relatively easy to me. like daderoo said, precalc is probably the better choice unless you plan to major in music.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your responses!! Keep the responses coming...</p>
<p>If it helps any, here is my math sequence so far:</p>
<p>8th grade: Algebra I Honors
9th grade: Geometry Honors
10th grade: Algebra II Honors
11th grade: (basically skip this grade)
12th grade:?????</p>
<p>Here is my schedule for next year:
1. AP Studio Art 2-D
2. AP Spanish IV Lang.
3. AP U.S. History
4. AP English Lit.
5. Chemistry Honors
6. Internship
7. ????</p>
<p>I'm graduating early (that explains the "skipped" eleventh grade year).</p>
<p>i was in the same position last year and i made the wrong choice. For me, it was between Calculus AB or AP Stats. B/c of the whole "challange yourself blah blah blah," I took Calc. A good friend of mine who is a 1st year at William and Mary and who is pursuing my current major (Govt.) said that for her, taking Calc was a waste b/c she had to take Statistics in college when she could've knocked it out in High School. So while I regret not talking Stats this year, it's not so bad b/c I enjoy Claculus.</p>
<p>I'm graduating early as well. I've talked with several admissions officers and all have emphasized the importance of having AT LEAST pre-calc in high school (many have noted they prefer applicants to have taken through calculus before matriculating.) My vote? Go with the pre-calc.</p>
<p>Many college majors that require stats will make you take it from their department anyway. But if any school or department demands calculus and you haven't even had pre-calc you are in deep do-do.</p>
<p>precalc for sure. AP Stats only requires a knowledge of Algebra I, so it's not very rigorous. Also, unless you will be an english major, advanced math will be required at the next level. Some of the 'ologies' (psychology, sociology et al), and econ, require Calc lite at certain colleges - check their websites under majors.</p>
<p>S took AP Stats and honors precalc concurrently, and one was of no advantage to the other. Again, Stats only requires a thorough knowlegde of Alg I.</p>
<p>I have taken honors precalc and i'm currently taking a full year of AP Stats along with Honors Calc for my senior year. I personally wasn't fond of precalc but it has helped a lot with knowing some of the basics for calc. But it also helps to know what type of major you want to study in because i'm heading towards a business major and i've found what I have learned in Stats to be benefitial. </p>
<p>I personally love Stats a lot better and I find it a lot more useful. I know in my other math classes I have said "i'm never going to use this again" but with Stats i've noticed that it's EVERYWHERE and it's slightly annoying haha. My vote is for Stats.</p>
<p>You should definitely take pre-calc. Most schools will have a math requirement that requires calculus, not statistics... And most applicants to the top schools will have AP Calc or at least Calc, so in many senses you are behind by skipping a grade. </p>