Hello all -
I am a rising junior and I took Algebra 1 and Geometry freshmen year. My sophomore year I took Algebra 2. As I am getting closer to graduating I somewhat know what I want to do: Stocks/ Stockmarket
Now to the question: I signed up for stats because I love numbers and analyzing graphs. However, I just talked to my old math teacher and she did suggest I take Precalc for the challenge.
What the hell do I do?
You want to get through at least precalculus (including algebra 2 and trigonometry) before you graduate high school. Also, it is best to try to do very well in precalc. Calculus seems to be anywhere from relatively easy to very difficult for different students, and I think that how well they are prepared before they take it has a big impact on this.
Regarding which you take junior year versus senior year, I do not have a strong opinion. For me, my high school did not offer statistics at all. This did not stop me from doing very well in probability and statistics and stochastic processes in university and graduate school. To me this suggests that statistics is a nice course to take, whereas precalc is something that you really do want to take and do well in before you graduate high school.
I would take pre-caluclus junior year and calculus senior year.
You will want pre calc, and calc as SR, take stats in addition to but not instead of if you have the space. Consider it an elective vs a math class.
I would go with precalculus and calculus. Stats is often viewed more as an elective math. Stats would be good to fill an elective spot or to take in college.
Based on your choice of major, I think you should take precalculus honors (if you qualify due to good grades in algebra2) and definitely precalculus if an honors version is not available, then Calculus senior year. You can take statistics (or AP stats) as an elective in addition to precalculus but make SURE to do well in precalculus.
You should always take At least up to pre-Calc. Anything less would not make you a good candidate for college and you would most likely need remedial math classes.
If you school offers calculus you should take it(if you can pass with a decent grade). A B- in calc would be better than an A in a basic math class.
If you intend to go to community college or an “easy” state college you could survive with just pre-calc. There is NOTHING wrong with going this route. Its just from my knowledge most people that go into stocks are from top schools(I do not have much knowledge on the topic).
Question: You asked your teacher, who has undoubtedly answered this question before. Why now ask a bunch of strangers?
As a math teacher, I agree with your teacher: Precalc and Calc. Most finance or business majors require Calc.
And for what it’s worth, college statistics isn’t mean, median mode and standard deviation. It’s a difficult course.
Take a look at some of the colleges you might consider. Go to Academics, then to Finance major, and look at the suggested course sequence. I’m guessing you’ll see Calculus a whole lot more often than Statistics.
I just pulled up a local college’s finance major page. Here’s what we’re all saying: https://www.molloy.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/molloy-means-business/undergraduate-business-programs/undergraduate-business-majors/finance/bs-finance
Here’s Penn State: https://bulletins.psu.edu/undergraduate/colleges/capital/finance-bs/#programrequirementstext
Pre calc, then Calc
Take precalculus, then calculus if available.
A business major in college will need to take calculus and statistics. At some colleges, the required statistics course is calculus-based. If you want to go into more quantitative finance, you will need to take additional more advanced math and statistics. Precalculus and calculus in high school will help you get there, which high school or AP statistics will not.
You can take statistics in high school as an elective to help you gauge your interest, but not at the expense of precalculus (and calculus if available).