Hi, I took Geometry in my sophomore year and next year I will be taking Algebra 2/Trig (Honors) as a Junior. As a result, I will not be able to take AP Calculus during my high school career because senior year I will take Pre-calculus. There’s not much I can do about this, but my main concern is whether this will hurt my chances at college admissions. I’ve looked through countless college admission results threads, and usually most applicants and people who were accepted took Calculus during high school. To make up for this, I am thinking about taking AP Statistics my senior year. Something important to note is I have no interest in a stem field (I want to go into Asian Studies/International Relations), so does this matter? Thanks!
Not taking calculus because your middle school placement does not make calculus available to you is less of an issue than not taking calculus because you chose not to take it even though you could have taken it. So don’t worry about it.
Very few colleges (or divisions of colleges) assume calculus in high school. But you probably are not interested in those particular colleges (e.g. Caltech, Harvey Mudd) or divisions (e.g. engineering at Cornell, WUStL) given your major interests.
It depends what schools you are aiming for. For most colleges you should be fine. If you want the hyper-competitve schools you should check with your guidance counselor to see if your schedule is strong enough that he/she would check the box saying you have taken the most rigorous courseload available at your HS.
You could ask admissions at your target schools, but I really don’t think it’s going to hurt someone who isn’t interested in going into math or science. There is no Calc on the ACT.
My kid was afraid of calculus and took AP stats instead. She was accepted into every school she applied to as a Physician Assistant major.
The most competitive schools want their students to have taken calculus in HS. If you really want to take calc senior year perhaps you could do a summer course of pre calc?
If that’s not possible so be it. Accept it and move on. AP Stats isn’t a substitute for AB Calc, however. And this might help those who are afraid of AB Calc: there is a course called BC Calc that moves along much more quickly than AB–that where the gifted math students go.
And, plenty of students don’t take AB Calc and go on to good colleges.
My dsughter, who also didn’t get as far as calc, was told by our private consultant that as a non-STEM major, it would not be an issue. My daughter did well in admissions so it seems the consultant was right. If you think you might want to do a STEM major, take Calc as a summer class. Or you can take it in college.
My D did take AP Stats, and loved it. She is not a math person. Her counselor checked “most rigorous” on her LOR.