I am currently a junior taking AP Calculus BC, and I am not sure if I should take multivariable calculus next year as a DE class. I am hoping to be a business/neuroscience double major or a neuroscience major with a business minor with the goal of going to medical school. I’m good at math, but neither neuroscience nor business needs MV Calc, and it’s not particularly a class I want to take.
In its place, I want to take Accounting at my school, which I have heard prepares you really well for business in college. I don’t have space for both, and I would prefer to take Accounting. It counts as my senior year math credit at my school, but I don’t want colleges to think that I am not challenging myself by not taking MV Calc. Additionally, there is always the added risk that I end up with a bad grade in DE class, which will show up on my transcript when I apply to medical school.
Am I wrong in taking Accounting instead of advancing to MV Calc?
I’m just a parent and I’m certainly not an expert, but I don’t think it will look bad if you take accounting instead of multivariable calc. This is especially true if the accounting is an honors level class. I agree with the previous poster that if AP Stat is an option, that would be a good one. As would AP Micro and Macro Econ.
My son took calc BC as a junior and is now a comp sci major in college. He did not take multivariable calc as a senior and instead took AP stat and AP econ. My daughter on the other hand is planning to major in math/actuarial in college so she’ll take multivariable her senior year.
Keep in mid too that many high schools don’t even offer multivariable calc as a class as there’s not always enough students to fill a class section, or too many students don’t take calc until senior year so there’s no point in offering something beyond it. So, with that in mind, I don’t think it raises a red flag to not see multivariable calc on a high school transcript. My son’s school has probably 4-5 sections of BC cal, another 4-5 of AB calc, but only one section of multivariable calc as each year only about 30 students take it. So the vast majority of the kids in BC do something else for their senior year math.
My kid finished BC in 11th and was going to take MV Calc at the local CC but the times offered didn’t fit into his schedule, so he would up taking AP Stats which is a pretty easy class, not that useful for him as a CS major. I would say that in your case AP Stats is ok, not sure if Accounting moves the needle for me that much.
@mamaedefamilia@voyagermom@ProfessorPlum168 Thank you for your responses. I took AP Statistics my sophomore year, and I am planning on taking AP Econ next year. I don’t have an easy schedule per se next year: AP Chem, AP Econ, AP Psych, and maybe AP Lit. I felt like AP Chem and AP Econ should have been enough to count as my math class senior year, but my school has pretty specific guidelines as to what counts as a math substitute.
@voyagermom Accounting isn’t offered as an honors class at my school. Will this be a concern in terms of course rigor?
You are done with all the math you need to be premed.
Did you double up in AP Stat and pre-calc last year and they will still make you take math senior year?
Statistics is generally useful in medicine (medical research papers make use of statistical analysis).
However, be aware that all college courses and grades (including college courses taken while in high school) count on your medical school application. So earn A or A+ grades in them to avoid hurting your medical school application.
Are there other DE options besides multivariable? There are a ton of math classes that only have Calc 2 as a prerequisite; you might be able to find something that you’re more interested in and confident about, but that still looks like you’re challenging yourself because it’s a college class.
@bigred01 - Provided you have enough math credits to graduate from high school, you can quit on the math. Truly. Save further calculus for when you are in college and know what is required for your academic goals there. Go ahead and take Accounting if you want to.
@bopper I am going to ask if AP Chem senior year would be sufficient math. If not, I’ll ask if AP Physics 2 + AP Chem works.
@ucbalumnus That is making me hesitate when signing up for DE classes. I definitely don’t want to start off my college career having to climb out of a hole. Thank you for the advice.
Usually, precalculus and/or calculus would be enough (precalculus is the fourth year of math for a student at normal level), but check each college of interest specifically to make sure.
Of course, if you are applying to the most competitive colleges (or engineering divisions/majors), choosing a more advanced college math course versus a high school level business elective may affect an admission reader’s perception of your overall course rigor.
Most colleges want you to start college at Calc 1. Having higher math shows rigor and separates you from the packet.
But… Why not pick a few colleges you are interested in and email your schools regional counselor and ask the question to them and see if there is a consensus? Plus it gives you a bonus contact to that university early in the game.
It really depends on the schools you’re applying to as ucbalumnus pointed out. When I took accounting in high school it was just just bookkeeping, that is not going to look rigorous vs mv calc. As others have said you could look at other d/e classes, linear algebra could be easier than mv calc and show you’re challenging yourself. But without some idea of schools, it’s hard to answer the question, if you said MIT, well then MV calc is the way to go.