<p>Hey all,
I'm currently a sophomore and today my math department decided that incoming juniors (i.e. my grade) are officially allowed to enroll in two math classes. </p>
<p>Here is my projected schedule had the policy NOT been enforced:</p>
<p>Orchestra
AP US History
AP Language
Spanish 5-6
AP Chemistry
Honors Pre-Calculus</p>
<p>Here is my projected schedule with the policy:</p>
<p>Orchestra
AP US History
AP Language
Spanish 5-6
AP Chemistry
Honors Pre-Calculus
AP Statistics</p>
<p>Essentially my schedule would be the same (except for the AP Statistics). According to the application, incoming juniors are ONLY allowed to take AP Statistics. However, I have been told that AP Statistics is geared toward people who are heading for the business route. I think statistics are not that hard, but I am not heading for a business career. Instead I am trying to go down the pre-med route, and for that my teacher told me that I should take AP Calculus BC in my senior year instead. (Juniors are not allowed to take AP Calculus AB; Honors Pre-Calc is the only advanced math course allowed if I am not doing the double enrollment). I am pretty sure the majority of my class is going to take advantage of this opportunity and do AP Stats and Honors Pre-Calc.</p>
<p>My junior friends insist that the extra AP is not worth it. Stacked on with extracurriculars (I am doing school orchestra, community orchestra, and a chamber music group next year, along with my own personal cello pursuits), they have told me not to take the opportunity. I myself am not sure if I should do it or not.</p>
<p>So, is it ideal for me to take the extra AP class?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>-Note- My application is due April 10 (in 2 days), so it would be GREATLY appreciated if any advice could be posted immediately! Thank you for all your responses :)</p>
<p>I’ve often heard that AP Stat isn’t bad at all, depends on your school though. I’ve heard that stats is useful in medicine and research, so it’s not like it’s totally irrelevant.</p>
<p>Take the extra AP. I am a junior right now (rising senior) and I was in a very similar situation when I was signing up for my junior schedule.</p>
<p>I was planning on taking:</p>
<p>AP Chem
AP US History
AP English Language
Honors Pre-calc
Duel Enrollment philosophy (required at my Catholic high school)
Duel Enrollment computer programming (Both of these duel enrollment classes are about a little less challenging than AP courses)
Art (this was supposed to be my easy class)</p>
<p>I was worried that my schedule would be too hard, so I figured it would be a good idea to take one easy class (Art). A few weeks into school, I realized that yes my AP’s and other courses were a lot of work, but I knew I could handle more. Luckily, my school administration let me transfer from Art to AP Psych. Now my schedule is virtually as hard as it can possibly be with the available classes at my school. I am so glad that I switched out of Art to a more challenging class. I recommend that you take the hardest classes available, and if you find yourself overwhelmed with all the work, drop out to an easier course. But it is some what of a pain to do the reverse process (go from easy class to challenging one; I had to make up a few weeks of AP Psych work, which was really annoying). I think you should take the AP Stats and challenge yourself! It will push you to new limits and prepare you for the college experience (especially if you want to study pre-med lol).</p>
<p>I don’t know about your school, but Honors Pre Calc is EXTREMELY HARD at mine, I’m taking it this year as a sophomore and it is like freaking death. I’m not even sure if even 1 person second semester has an A right now (I know one person did but she got a C on the last test so not anymore) I know first Semester there were 8 A’s between 2 classes of 30, 4 per class. I got an 81% first Semester, I currently have a 78% Second Semester. (However most people who got a similar grade to me first Semester have low C’s to High D’s right now)</p>
<p>Bottom line, I’m not saying to not take Honors Pre Calc, but I’m saying that taking that with AP Stats may be a little too much if the math teacher you will have for Honors Pre Calc is anything like the one I have, he gives at least an hour of homework a night, usually two. Your schedule also looks to be fairly challenging otherwise Since you have AP Chemistry, APUSH and AP English.</p>
<p>For me I’m going to take AP Calculus (AB) next year and AP Statistics Senior year, my school allows Juniors to take AP Calculus as a Junior so I have the option of having Calc and Stats. But you should ask older students that are similar in ability to you what the classes are like and how much homework they give, because people on here including me can’t really tell you what the class will be like at your school based on our experiences at our schools.</p>
<p>@RHSclassof16 Our Honors Pre Calc class is a TOTAL JOKE (well, for me). I don’t even have to do the homework anymore! (well in my defense, I compete in a lot of math competitions and I’m working out of a different, more challenging textbook at my leisure, but still… no more repetitious, boring assignments for me!). My teacher is pretty awesome though; having a good teacher can change whether you like or hate a class. </p>
<p>@RHSClassof16 @starlily@DigitalKing@d0texe Hi guys, Thanks for responding to my post so quickly! (literally the fastest ever lol). I was writing this post in a rush and did not add that I spend 30 hours a week on cello. If you guys have taken AP Stats, how much time have you spent on it per week? </p>
<p>@mylifeisgone195 Haha that wasn’t that fast, honestly.
Again, I still think you’ll be fine. Just use your time more productively! (I say while being here…)</p>
<p>@DigitalKing My math teacher is a very good teacher, don’t get me wrong. He also teaches AP Calculus and had a 98% pass rate last year and over 80% of his students every year get a 5 on the AP Test for Calculus. Even people who get a D in his class will get at least a 4 and often a 5 on the AP Test. He just makes his tests 10x harder than the AP test and what the curriculum requires and has given us up to 60 problems for homework due the next day. But people come back from college who got C’s and B’s in his class and say that they are easily getting A’s in their math classes in college.</p>
<p>Honestly, I can see a lot of reasons for taking AP Statistics other than business or accounting. One potential application is scientific research. It would’ve helped me a lot if I understood statistical significance and standard deviation when I was working on my psychology project. </p>
<p>I say go for it. But make sure that the scheduling works in your favor. I took double maths this year and what was terrible was that every day i had 4 hours of straight math. Make sure it is either a.) (if blocking schedule) it doesn’t run more than a double period or b) there are other classes in the middle.</p>
<p>It gets really difficult when you have two math tests on the same day and they are right after each other. This issue caused a drastic drop in averages (A to a B+) but its going up to an A- by the end of the year…</p>