My daughter is struggling with her course selection for senior year. What would be the better AP class to take in preparation for nursing…AP Stats or AP Physics? She can either take AP statistics and regular Physics or Calculus and AP Physics. In her school, you are required to take Calc along with AP Physics. She has a heavy load of AP courses so did not want to double up on math… a few of the admissions counselor have mentioned Stats is a good course to take.
You can’t go wrong with either but AP stats would take care of your stats class in college as that is usually a requirement.
Stats is required in almost all nursing curriculums. Physics and calculus are not.
In a senior year, a student should not stretch themselves too thin with very hard classes that are not relevant. The most important thing is to have time and energy to concentrate upon AP bio, if that is offered.
Anatomy, chemistry and psychology classes can also be helpful. It is much easier to handle college level classes if you have been exposed to much of the material in high school.
I second taking AP stats, but calc isn’t a bad choice, either.
My daughter is a junior. This year she took honors pre-calc, AP stats and anatomy. The anatomy class should be classified as an honors class, and she is planning on bringing her binder and flashcards to college - the teacher is that good. She hates AP stats, and only took it because it will make things easier down the road in college. Doubling in math wasn’t too bad for her, but that of course will vary by school.
She took both honors bio and honors chem in the Year from Hell - sophomore year - but did not advance to AP the following year in those courses like some kids did. She doubled up science sophomore year because she was warned away from taking honors chemistry and anatomy together in our school - that is very tough, especially if you throw other challenging classes in.
Next year as a senior she is taking AP Calc and a dual enrollment physics course. She is padding her schedule with easier things to balance those two. She is also taking a fourth year of Spanish but not AP.
^^ i agree with above . I have 2 daughters in nursing right now ( one will graduate in May) . Both had AP Stats and AP calc ( they both happen to like math a lot !) and were able to get out of taking Stats in college which opened up a space for something else . Both took Ap Bio and just regular college prep Chem so they did have to take Chem in college but were fine with it . Neither of my d s took physics at all . Thankfully neither of their nursing programs required it for admission , although I know there are a few programs that do. if they had chosen to take physics I would have recommended they not take AP as I really don’t think it is necessary at all for nursing .My son is a high school junior in AP Physics right now and has found it to be by far his most difficult class so far in high school and very time consuming ! He does have a very tough teacher who is preparing the kids for college but I am really glad my ds did not take it . I think Stats / Calc is fine…Calc not really necessary for nursing but both my daughters enjoyed it.
I’d go with AP Stats and Regular Physics. AP bio would be very important, as well as Anatomy/Physiology.
I’d encourage AP Psychology (even if you don’t get credit for it) and pushing Spanish to the highest possible level.
@collegecrazies I’m a senior and will be attending SDSU nursing this fall. It really depends where she goes to college. I’m in California and Physics is definitely not required for nursing, so I don’t see the point of AP Physics. Most nursing programs do stats, but I know UCLA requires calculus. I am actually taking AP Calculus AB right now, but since I decided to attend SDSU which does not require Calculus, I am skipping the AP test. I’m going to take Stats over the summer at community college to get that requirement out of the way.
Where is your daughter going to apply?
I am a senior taking AP Biology but I am not going to take the test since the units will not transfer to any of the California nursing programs. I will be attending SDSU nursing this fall. I don’t regret taking AP biology because I believe it helped my application, but it’s a waste of time taking the test.
I disagree about prior post for AP Physics. At least here in California Physics is not required for any nursing programs.
I suggest you check out the AP policies at the schools she is planning to apply to help her choose AP courses that will actually transfer.
My daughter received AP credit for Bio at her nursing program. However, it only counted towards the basic bio class. The nursing students start out in a much harder bio class. They assume that most nursing students have taken some form of AP level bio in high school… Therefore, she received the credit, but was not exempted from any classes. That actually worked out well. Some people place out of a college class with AP, but then have a tough time starting out with a higher level college class. For that reason, some students audit or retake an important class for which they receive AP credit.
Thank you for all the comments! My daughter has decided to take AP stats and Anatomy. She is going to skip physics and Calculus. Currently she is taking AP Bio and Honors Pre-Calc. I have noticed that many of the nursing programs expect applications to be submitted very early in the year. My daughter will barely have her first quarter grades in before she applies. Had she known this, she should have taken Anatomy and possibly Stats a year earlier…live and learn!
^ Stats and anatomy is perfect ! Make sure she applies early everywhere . I’m presently doing college visits with my son ( not nursing …thank God since already did that with 2 others)…everywhere we go the admissions people make a point to address potential nursing majors to nale sure that they get applications in as soon as possible! Both my ds applied to nursing as soon as the apps came out in July or August depending on the schools.
I love forums like this! I am also a Junior and I have already taken A&P and am currently taking AP Bio and Honors Pre-calc. For my senior year I had planned on taking AP Calc , AP Psych and AP US Gov and based on this thread I am going to take AP Stats instead of AP US Gov. I am still undecided as to whether I should take AP Calc AB or not.
Also, @NJMOM3 I am very appreciative of your posts. The info you share on your two daughters in nursing school has been very helpful.
Collegecrazies: The high school will report what classes are being taken, even there are no grades ready. Therefore taking challenging classes that are applicable to nursing should help in any case.
@collegecrazies
I don’t think you should worry. In most schools you can not just pile all the relevant classes by Junior year. That’s why there is senior year too! The school that my kids go has so inflexible schedule and so much conflict that is impossible to do all those classes even by senior year. But kids get in to the nursing programs all the time.
@ncnrs2be …These forums have helped my kids out tremendously ! Glad I can help out in any way!
Stats most BSN programs require it. Very few nursing programs require PreCalc and Physics.