Struggle with AP Statistics...

D (going to York Fall 2018) is struggling with AP statistics. I have her in tutoring now at Mathnaseum – fortunately her teacher is giving her credit for homework because she has test grades so far of C, D, and C. I guess her overall average is a C. We hope the tutoring helps with the next test (next week).

She doesn’t intend to take the AP exam but can get dual enrollment credit from the CC if she gets a C or better. BUT I am pretty sure York won’t accept it anyway – they will accept all her other dual enrollments but the curriculum says Statistics must be taken AT York. So it appears to me that her AP Stat is futile.

D is not happy that she will have to endure Statistics again – I told her the good news is it should be easier to understand the 2nd time??? Am I right or delusional?

I believe it will make college stats a little easier, since there is at least some familiarity. I don’t think it’s a waste of time to take it in high school if you are wanting to major in nursing.

My daughter took AP Stats last year as a junior. Did well in the class, not so well on the exam. It was not her favorite class, even though she has an affinity for math - it’s quite a different way of looking at math. But one of the purposes behind her taking it was to make college stats a bit smoother. She fully expects to take stats again, and hopefully it will be fine (she’s saved all her notes).

She is in AP Calculus right now with an A - many programs require Algebra 101/102 the first year. Not sure if she can CLEP out of it and fulfill the math requirement. But if she takes it again, it’s okay … hopefully it will be that much easier.

Same with stats.

I agree. Taking stats in high school will help a student handle it in college. My daughter is not a math whiz, and I don’t remember her complaining about the difficulty of the stats class at York. She mainly complained about the difficulty of the science classes that nursing students had to take, even though she is very good at science.

Good to know @Charliesch - the poor kid is paranoid!

Unless the class is needed for graduation what is the point in continuing on second semester?

1 I would think she would have a better chance taking the AP calculus exam to get out of first year math. I don't think CLEP is as popular at universities as it once was.

^OP says that their daughter’s college requires a statistics class to be taken AT that college. AP Calculus isn’t going to get her out of taking the statistics class.

The point of finishing the second semester, in this case, is to make it easier for her when she has to take statistics at York - she’ll have already been exposed to the concepts and hopefully will have an easier time.

@Dad2020 It is too late to drop without getting an F - she doesn’t really have a choice now. Other than THIS particular course, York already shows it takes her classes for dual enrollment. For other majors they take it, not sure why they don’t for nursing

@toomanyteens my daughter is in the same boat! She had emailed some of the colleges nursing programs last year asking if it was better to take AP Stats, AP Calc or AP Physics, because my D’s schedule couldn’t allow all. All of them recommended Stats as most programs require it. She is fine with the homework, but really struggles on the tests. Hopefully the experience this year will help with next year.

@collegecrazies Same with my D - she gets the test questions and isn’t sure what to do with them and does fine on the homework. Her new tutor’s daughter had this teacher so hopefully he can shed some light

5 My first line was to the OP. MY second two lines was to poster #1.

OP- Is the stats class one semester?

Nope all year!!

@Dad2020 I have soft-inquired about AP Calc filling the math requirement, and admissions said they take what is in the course chart. But that was before she was admitted, so I’ll ask again when she goes for honors weekend. Maybe there is a way … CLEP is still out there, but the program may or may not allow it (haven’t gotten that far).

Most students would find calc harder than stats. Calc also has fewer uses in life, and has zero uses for nursing. Stats is particularly useful if a student will eventually continue to grad school.

It’s okay if she has an easier (for her) math class first year. If she can get out of it completely, that would be even better. We will ask more questions, but it will all work out fine.

My daughter said the first required math class at York for nurses was very easy. It was an applied math class to provide a basic foundation for the science classes. (That was 4 years ago)

So she is still struggling even WITH a tutor gah – and now I cannot find where on the York website I thought I saw that they transfer credit for statistics isn’t ok… she thinks she can squeak a C out so maybe I was wrong???

I don’t know about Stats, but there were some science classes that you had to take at York College. My daughter was able to fulfill the social studies requirements by taking online US history classes over the summer from the local community college. That made her schedule less stressful during the semesters with the hard science classes.

Things are starting to look up – she has a solid C average and a new chapter started after holiday break. I advised her to go back to the beginning with her tutor because she ‘missed’ something that is making it hard to move forward in complete understanding. So she did that and did an extra session with her tutor to make sure she totally understood the chapter they are now working in class – she apparently she got an A on today’s quiz., THAT is good news!!

MORE good news!! She got an 86 on the chapter test. She said she was never so happy for an 86 in her life LOL. I hate that she is struggling but I hope she has learned something about how to turn around a challenge and take action. If she takes that lesson to college it was okay.

If a student has trouble with a particular subject, they might try to take it over the summer from a community college. It may be less strenuous than their regular college’s class, and during the summer they can concentrate on a single academic subject. My daughter was able to take an online class each summer while working full time, because the scheduling was flexible.