OK, so I have the option to take either AP Stat or Spanish 4 Honors next year. I am a STEM-oriented person and math is my passion. If I go forward with AP Stat, I will graduate with 5 math credits, 5.5 science credits, but only 3 foreign language credits. If I do Spanish, I’ll graduate with 4 math credits, 5.5 science credits, and 4 foreign language credits.
And I know the generic answer is going to be: take Spanish because it’s a core class.
But wouldn’t it better to follow my passion and take that extra math class and graduate with a focus in STEM classes considering I’ll be majoring in something STEM in college? Keep in mind I’m aiming for top-tiered schools.
Thanks for taking the time to read about my little dilemma.
First, stats is not a class that adds anything to a stem-oriented student 's transcript. It’s a class designed for strong students who can’t or won’t take calculus. It’s an Ap -lite. So it’ll look like your gut class in an otherwise strong schedule. If you are truly passionate, take real college statistics via dual enrollment at a local community college. If you’ve had calculus ab already, take stats for math majors, not for social science majors ( =calculus based stats.)
Second, if you’re aiming for top tier universities, they expect level 4as a minimum. Even those that don’t make it a requirement typically list it as recommended only because they don’t want to scare off applicantsbfrom rural or inner city high schools but if your high school offers 4and you don’t take them then you better have something exceptional to make up for it, and ap stats isn’t it. Don’t forget that you’ll have a foreign language requirement for college graduation too. At Yale, for instance, the default is that students take AP foreign language, there are three paths to completing the graduation requirement based on the score reached, and there are two other paths for those who didn’t reach AP level. That applies to stem majors too.