Princeton's policy on non-AP math courses in HS, i.e. Multivariable?

<p>What does Princeton think about taking Multivariable in senior year of HS? Would this class be weighted higher than AP classes like Economics or Statistics? (Assuming a grade of a B or higher). Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>You should’ve taken AP Multivariable Calculus. Obviously.</p>

<p>I don’t think there is such thing. (?)</p>

<p>If they see you took AP Calc and then Multivariable, I think they’ll realize you went a step further. I mean basically unless you took it in 9th grade or something, then your USAMO qualification would back it up ;).
It’s not “weighter” per se, but makes an application look more impressive, in its context (some schools can’t or don’t offer such classes). Just shows them you’re trying to take the harder class for your senior year, instead of the off period or something.</p>

<p>Princeton will look favorably on taking multi in high school. That said, should you get in, it is a course you would probably want to retake.</p>

<p>“it is a course you would probably want to retake.”</p>

<p>No, please don’t retake it. The last thing you want to do is waste class space on something you’ve already taken. Who cares about getting the perfect GPA; take classes that will expand your horizons.</p>

<p>If you take multi in high school and come here wanting to be an engineer or math track econ major, I’d suggest retaking it. You need to actually be getting the material in your math heavy courses to expand your horizons.</p>

<p>Also, having a great GPA will get you a lot further in life than having really, really wide horizons.</p>

<p>randombetch That’s a good point. I guess it is true for HS GPA as well, if Multi has a chance of ruining it somehow…</p>

<p>@randombetch - I’m just speaking from experience. Retaking one of the same classes I had in high school is still one of my biggest regrets.</p>

<p>@Peytoncline - did you take Multi in high school? Or what was the class that you regretted taking again?</p>

<p>Little known application of game theory:</p>

<p>It turns out that taking classes you already took in high school is actually not a terrific way to boost your GPA, since most people in the class are in a similar situation and are taking the class for the second (at least) time. And since intro classes tend to suffer hypercompensation for grade deflation (ie: less than 35% A’s in order to free up more departmental A’s for upper division courses) it tends to equilibrate with the class being marginally easier for you.</p>

<p>Also, my math teacher says it’s statistically proven that retaking a course will not guarantee higher performance due to the familiarity with the material and thus much less motivation to actually learn and perform as one would in a new course.</p>