<p>I am eventually going to do all of them, but is it better to do AP Stats first or Calc? What about stats before precal?</p>
<p>Very different things. AP Stat is widely considered to be a joke of a class, in general.</p>
<p>I’d go with Calc earlier; you take less difficult classes early on in your academic career, and you can take additional math later on. AP Stat is a nice class for senior year, or junior year. In senior year you can really just slack off, in junior year it provides a nice break.</p>
<p>Do colleges prefer one over the other?</p>
<p>I would assume they’d prefer calc. Most people I know self-studied stats while taking calc (we don’t have a stats class). Statistics was always considered a course “beneath” calculus.</p>
<p>However, I believe that all students should have at least a rudimentary understanding of both branches of mathematics.</p>
<p>Well, at my school, I heard that AP Calc is the hardest class. My junior year is supposed to be my hardest since our school also has AP History and English together. I don’t know whether it would be wise to take it at the same time or to take it in my senior year. I am not sure how much rigor is in my senior year though.</p>
<p>Agreed, AP Stats is essentially a joke. Take it in like senior year, when you experience senioritis. It’s usually generally chill.</p>
<p>So just take AP Calc in junior year. Don’t worry I’m sure you’ll find a way to manage.</p>
<p>I took AP Stat in sophomore year and I’m taking AP Calc now in senior year, and it’s not really an issue. AP Stat is mostly memorizing formulas and stuff, while AP Calc is like hard math</p>
<p>I did them simultaneously junior year. Generally, calc>stats and stats=precalc with different topics.</p>
<p>Completely different. Take both, and it’s easy to do simultaneously. I did Calc AB junior year, this year Calc BC + Stats as well.</p>
<p>About stats, isn’t it mostly word problems? I think the word problems are the hardest in math.</p>
<p>Stats is not really like any math class you have ever taken. Yes, it is word problems, but different types of word problems. It is not just centered around math, but also around experimental and statistical research. So there are terms to know and concepts to understand that actually involve no math at all. It’s just… different.</p>
<p>Calculus is like the traditional math course, except it is also different in its own way. Unlike stats, it is all math, but an interesting type of math. To be honest, I find Calculus to be one of the most interesting courses I have ever taken. It is right up there with Chemistry for me. It shows the true elegance of mathematics and dives into an area of math that you may not even thought was possible. Did you ever think you could find the volume of a vase that is based off of a sine graph? You can with calculus! It is just so elegant. I would recommend it just for the pure excitement behind the subject. I sound like a big nerd, but I love calculus.</p>
<p>So basically colleges will like to see Calculus more than statistics. Some don’t even give credit for statistics (at least nothing useful), while almost all colleges give credit to Calculus. It’s really your choice and hopefully my descriptions above help. Stats is more life applicable while calc is necessary if you want to go into a tech field. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m taking AP Stat right now as a junior…it’s moderately challenging just because of the nature of the material (not very math-based in the “traditional”-sense). But I haven’t had much problem with it.</p>
<p>Take AP Calc first, if you’re going to choose one of them. It’s horrible to have your math skills atrophy while you’re taking AP Stat and then have to take AP Calc the next year or so. Yes, it is such a joke that your math skills will inevitably atrophy unless you keep up with them outside of school. No joke.</p>
<p>AP Statistics is more like a social science class than a math class. It certainly has more in common with AP Psychology than it does with AP Calculus. Take it for senioritis, or if the rest of your courses are particularly challenging.</p>
<p>Ok thanks. :)</p>
<p>Would it look bad if you took AP Stat before AP Calc?
I decided to take Stat instead of Calc Junior year since I thought I would be overwhelmed if I took AP Calc on top of my other classes and EC’s.</p>
<p>^
I don’t think they will care at all. You took both. On the other hand, if someone took Statistics but not Calculus, I think that colleges might care.</p>
<p>Is AP Statistics really that easy? Less than 25% of the kids in my school’s AP Statistics class have an A. Then again, my Honors Algebra 2/Trig teacher is also the AP Statistics teacher… And like I said… I have a D in Honors Algebra 2/Trig… So maybe that’s why.</p>
<p>Depending on your future college and major, you may not even need stats. Calculus is the stepping stone to higher branches of mathematics. If you took BC in your junior year, you might be able to take a Linear Algebra class or something at a CC senior year. I didn’t take AP stats in hs, but precalc was a requirement and I think it may be in college, though I don’t know why. Stats is supposed to be an easier AP and as a subject, is more of a social science.</p>
<p>AP Stat is really trivial. My teacher will take points away for really minor details, and we rarely even use actual math.</p>
<p>i want to take AP STATS in 10th grade, but i have only completed Geometry in 9th, what should I do??</p>