I’m a rising senior and I’m preparing to take three AP classes this year, one of them including AP Chem. I know that AP Chemistry has Calculus in the curriculum. So I was wondering if I should switch my AP statistics class with AP Calc so I’m more familiar with the questions that will be asked on the AP Chem test. But I’m also wondering if I should just stick to AP Stat like I ordinarily planned and not waste my time in AP calc. Keep in mind that my school only provides AP calc, there’s no intermediate class for Calc. I’m sadly not the best math person but I know I’ll take have to take Calc in the future anyways so I don’t mind taking it now.
is it AP calc AB or BC? Do you know what you may intend on majoring in?
Are you sure AP Chem has calc in it?
I took AP Chem and AP Calc BC last school year, can’t say that one really helped or was needed for the other. Most of the AP Chem Math was conversions, graphing, and basic arithmetic (plugging into formulas, etc). If you’re between Calc and Stat, just pick the one you think will be most valuable to you going forward.
As far as whether AP Chem has any needed Calculus concepts in it, the answer is no.
Having said that, having AP Calc on your resume will look better on college applications than Stats in most cases, if it comes down to choosing one or the other.
No, it does not.
Whether you should take AP Calc vs AP Stats really comes down to your potential major and the tier of colleges you are targeting. For the more selective colleges, calc would be preferable to stats, IMO.
AP Chemistry doesn’t require calculus. When we asked a chemistry professor at a LAC if our son should take AP calculus or stats his senior year, the professor said if he wants to take STEM major, AP calculus would be more helpful.
Thanks for the info! I thought I read somewhere that AP Chem has Calc in it, but since it doesn’t I won’t take it. Also my major is going to be International Relation so taking statistics would probably be best for me.