How much will my admission chances to top colleges be impacted by being on the regular math track and taking pre-calculus honors instead of AP Calc my senior year? I applied as a neuroscience major for most of my colleges, and I am worried that my lack of AP Calc will make me a less competitive applicant and severely hinder my chances to top schools. My biggest concern right now is CWRU, where I applied ED, and I am concerned that not taking calc in HS will negatively affect my admissions chances there since it’s largely a STEM school. Any advice?
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You would not have been successful in AP Calc without pre-calc/trig. Your school counselor will share the school profile and information about courses offered with your colleges. They will share if you took the most rigorous courses and if something prevented you from doing so.
Colleges want you ready for Calculus freshman year. Many that take AP Calc still take Calc Freshman year because their score is not high enough or they do not do well in a placement test - even at MIT and top colleges. With covid, they are aware there are some large gaps in math skills.
Which AP classes have you completed so far? What is your class rank? Unweighted/weighted GPA? Colleges want to know you are prepared to be successful.
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This is exactly my opinion also. As I have repeated on other threads, students who do well in precalculus, trigonometry, and algebra seem to do quite well in calculus. Students who skip or who struggle with any of these prerequisites seem to often have significant difficulties with calculus.
I personally also took precalculus my senior year of high school in parallel with trigonometry, and did not take calculus until I was a freshman in university. That did not stop me from graduating with a degree in mathematics from MIT. The thing is that you want to at a minimum be very ready to do well in calculus when you arrive at university if you want a major that has anything to do with mathematics or engineering.
IMHO taking precalculus as a senior in high school and doing very well in the class is a better approach compared to skipping precalculus and going straight to calculus.
I think that you are doing the right thing. Stay ahead in your class work, make sure that you apply to safeties that you would be happy to attend, and keep your budget in mind.
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It sounds like you are currently a senior and have already applied to colleges. I’m not sure what advice you are looking for. My advice is to not worry about things that you cannot change. ED results will be out soon and then you will know.
I don’t think taking precalc senior year will cause a rejection, but people get rejected anyway for lots of reasons. If you are rejected there is no way to know if it was because of your math track. Just make sure you have applied to safeties.
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https://case.edu/admission/apply/requirements-enhancements says that CWRU requires at least three years of high school math, and recommends a fourth year for those interested in engineering or science. It does not specify specific math courses, although precalculus is the conventional fourth year of high school math for students who were not placed in an advanced track in middle school.
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