I’m a freshman as of now and my mathematical cycle is
9th: Algebra 1
10th: Geometry
11th: Algebra 2
12th: Pre-Calculus
But is taking AP Calc AB recommended for colleges? My top choice as of now is UCLA. (This is out of curiosity)
As long as you get to precalculus (and get good grades), you’re fine, even for UCLA! 
Of course, if you intend on majoring in engineering, it may be a good idea to “accelerate” by taking a Community College or online class over the summer, so that you do end up with calculus, but even that isn’t a requirement.
The UC minimum is geometry and algebra 2, but the admissions readers at UCLA will probably count it against you if you stop math after 11th grade for reasons other than running out of math courses at your high school. So take precalculus in 12th grade. In any case, you will need to be ready for calculus in college for many majors (any science or engineering major, economics, or business), so having at least precalculus complete in high school avoids needing remedial math in college.
we aren’t allowed to post links to blogs, but asmmssun (who used to post regularly here) has a post titled “UC Freshman Admissions Tips” that addresses this. You can find that post with a search engine. She is a private admissions counselor. She says that UCLA and most other UCs use the un-capped weighted GPA in application review. So if you take AP Calc AB you will look better than someone taking pre-calc. Furthermore she says they look at the number of honors & AP taken; again, nod here to the kid taking AP Calc.
UC math admission req is 3 years with 4 recommended. Kids in S’s hs mainly got to AP Calc because they were allowed to take Algebra starting in 7/8 grade. Either your junior high did not allow 7/8 graders to take algebra or math isn’t your strong suit?? Why not just take next course in the sequence (ie precalc). Can’t you show a more rigorous senior year schedule in other subjects areas.
NO. N O.
My friend is a senior and they are in Algebra II… - they didn’t pass one of the earlier math classes so they had to retake it - Guess what school they got into? UC Berkeley. They didn’t even have high test scores, didn’t get recruited, and they needed Financial Aid.
Just dob’t worry as long as you have 3 years of Math with higher than a C-; and write good essays!
Best of luck!