Need advice: AP Stat vs AP Calc AB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About half of humanities admits at Princeton did not take any Calculus.

Can you share your source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid got into UCLA, UCSD, and CMC as a humanities major w/AP Stat but not AP Calc

OP asked about selective colleges…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About half of humanities admits at Princeton did not take any Calculus.

About half of US high schools don't offer it, though. So the question is whether there is an admissions hit if your HS offers it but you don't take it.

It’s what your HS and other HS in the school district offer. You are competing with kids in your region

[Anonymous]

He should take AP Stats.

My son, also planning a Humanities major, pushed himself into AP Calc BC and it was a disaster. He could perhaps have made a half-decent grade with a good teacher, but unfortunately the teacher was very rigid and didn't let the kids take grades tests home to study their mistakes, and he also didn't explain where they went wrong. I complained to the school but he was their only Calc BC teacher and they couldn't sway him. It ended up being extremely stressful for DS, when really, statistics would probably have been more useful.

Even with a D in AP Calc BC, he got into decent colleges, since he had straight As everywhere else, including in all the Humanities APs he could take, but the experience was terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About half of humanities admits at Princeton did not take any Calculus.

About half of US high schools don't offer it, though. So the question is whether there is an admissions hit if your HS offers it but you don't take it.

It’s what your HS and other HS in the school district offer. You are competing with kids in your region

You are competing with the kids in your school much more than the kids in your region. If you’re in the DMV, you’re not penalized for not attending TJ if you live in DC. It’s true that colleges will only take so many kids from a particular region, but that effect matters less than how many they will take from a single school.

Bottom line, if your school offers the harder math class, the ones who take it *and* do well in it will be stronger competitively, but if taking the easier class means your overall average will be high, while the other way will make your average go down, I’d take the easier class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got into UCLA, UCSD, and CMC as a humanities major w/AP Stat but not AP Calc

OP asked about selective colleges…

Go away. UCLA is a very good university. "Selective" does not mean Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the candid responses. Kid was ready and geared to take AP Calc but for several reasons is realizing that he wasn't prepared well for it. We are encouraging him that he can still put in his best application w/o it. The info on the college websites all state to take the rigorous path that makes sense to you and your interests, and that Calc is strongly recommended for engineers.

I hate that we are stressing over this one decision, but everything seems so high stakes in this whole process.

This may be your answer. If interest is clearly humanities and they will be more successful in Stats, this is probably the better path. I get the angst though. Generally, the rigor perception of BC > AB > Stats (depending on what is available) is assumed. But I have been ready more chatter challenging the Calc should be the default pathway over Stats if only taking one of them.

There are some many factors aside from this one data point. They will look at the transcript and assign a rating per their rubric. Did the general challenge themselves? How did they do in classes? Is there evidence they will be successful here? etc. An engineer avoiding Calc when available would be a red flag. A PolySci major taking Stats probably makes sense or at least may not raise alarm.

Then they move on to the rest of the application

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got into UCLA, UCSD, and CMC as a humanities major w/AP Stat but not AP Calc

OP asked about selective colleges…

Go away. UCLA is a very good university. "Selective" does not mean Ivy.

Selective just means less than a 50% acceptance rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the candid responses. Kid was ready and geared to take AP Calc but for several reasons is realizing that he wasn't prepared well for it. We are encouraging him that he can still put in his best application w/o it. The info on the college websites all state to take the rigorous path that makes sense to you and your interests, and that Calc is strongly recommended for engineers.

I hate that we are stressing over this one decision, but everything seems so high stakes in this whole process.

I would take AP stats then. Especially since he’s not well prepared for Calc. It can get hard!

From carefully watching colleges acceptances at my kid’s school, I’ve learned it’s not the kids who take the most rigorous classes or have the highest SATs that get into good schools. Preserve that GPA!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid got into UCLA, UCSD, and CMC as a humanities major w/AP Stat but not AP Calc

OP asked about selective colleges…

UCLA has a 9% acceptance rate. CMC is about 11%. Even UCSD is only 25%. They ARE selective.

[Anonymous]

Not commenting on college but as an Engineer with an MBA - I use my stats background a lot more then my hardcore math including Calculus. Unless they are going to be a nuclear engineer or such - Calculus is not needed in life. But stats is so useful for business, science, any type of research and more

[Anonymous]

OP here, fingers cross the schedule changes work out today. If we do make the switch, I will come back to let you all know how college admissions worked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, fingers cross the schedule changes work out today. If we do make the switch, I will come back to let you all know how college admissions worked out.

Please do!

[Anonymous]

Sometimes you just have to make a schedule change despite what the consequences are. Sure, maybe they won’t get into a reach school, but they probably wouldn’t have gotten in anyway. I promise an A in AP stats will be better than a B in Calc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He should take AP Stats.

My son, also planning a Humanities major, pushed himself into AP Calc BC and it was a disaster. He could perhaps have made a half-decent grade with a good teacher, but unfortunately the teacher was very rigid and didn't let the kids take grades tests home to study their mistakes, and he also didn't explain where they went wrong. I complained to the school but he was their only Calc BC teacher and they couldn't sway him. It ended up being extremely stressful for DS, when really, statistics would probably have been more useful.

Even with a D in AP Calc BC, he got into decent colleges, since he had straight As everywhere else, including in all the Humanities APs he could take, but the experience was terrible.

My social science DS had a similar experience in AP Calc AB, and got a C both semesters, working with a tutor at end of the second. His Top 30 ED2 school had no problem with it, so it varies. Some reward the effort, others may punish.

The most important thing, though, is your kid’s mental health. If he isn’t up for it, I wouldn’t push it.