Taking Statistics in 12th grade instead of Calculus

[Anonymous]

Too 20 and that’s your takeaway??

[Anonymous]

NP here. When my kids were applying to colleges a few years ago William & Mary and others made clear on their websites that they wanted math through Calculus and that Statistics is not considered a good substitute. I don't know if that has changed. What I do know is that my kids with Calculus did better in college admissions than my one kid without. Most applicants to top 25 schools will definitely have taken Calculus, even aspiring humanities majors, and OP shouldn't fool herself: without it, you're at a disadvantage. The only question is how much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a humanities kid that is fairly good at math, she will be taking pre-calc in 10th and (I assume) AP calc in 11th. From this thread it seems like AP statistics would be fine in 12th even if she is targeting a top 20 school given her interests. Is that correct or am I missing something?

It may hurt, it is not ideal, but admission to Top 20s is holistic, so admission without calc is not impossible. Choosing stats over calc, when one has the opportunity to take calc, makes that student's transcript less rigorous. How much it matters in the end is hard to say, like most other factors.

Couldn't hurt to call an AO and ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. DD is a strong humanities and English student (good GPA because of her non-STEM classes with Math being the lowest and anomalous grade) so she will be targeting top 25 schools and UMich, UVA, and maybe UCLA. She will not be applying to any Ivies. We're just concerned whether Statistics vs. calculus will be viewed as a negative by strong schools because they believe it indicates that the student was not willing to push themselves within the offered curriculum? Or do the top schools not care about the Math track because the student is clearly a history/English/humanities and foreign langauge kid.

The problem is the current B- in pre-calc. It indicates that calculus could be a real struggle. It is better to get an A in stats than a B- or worse in calculus. The OOS competition is very tough at Michigan, UVA and UCLA. Near perfect grades are the first criteria then rigor.

Finally! The is exactly the point. For the schools where stats versus Calc would matter, she’s already totally out of the running because of the B minus in pre-Calc. So frankly for the next tier schools – it’s fine either way.

Not true.

[Anonymous]

My son is good at math but doesn't like it. He would rather spend his time on social studies and English. He is taking statistics, but also dual enrolled in English and History at NVCC, all of his other classes are AP/Honors. He was accepted ED at his first choice school as a poli sci major. If the kid knows that they want to go into doesn't involve math and they are stretching themselves in other areas, I think its fine.

[Anonymous]

There are schools for which taking calc would make the difference, and not only MIT and Caltech. But all of those schools are probably out of reach with a B- in junior math. But that leaves many, many excellent schools. Choose off of the students interest balanced by the private school's advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a humanities kid that is fairly good at math, she will be taking pre-calc in 10th and (I assume) AP calc in 11th. From this thread it seems like AP statistics would be fine in 12th even if she is targeting a top 20 school given her interests. Is that correct or am I missing something?

It may hurt, it is not ideal, but admission to Top 20s is holistic, so admission without calc is not impossible. Choosing stats over calc, when one has the opportunity to take calc, makes that student's transcript less rigorous. How much it matters in the end is hard to say, like most other factors.

Couldn't hurt to call an AO and ask.

Also top 20 is probably overly broad here. HYPSM you're courting trouble by not taking calc. #15 in the top 20? Possibly less so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a humanities kid that is fairly good at math, she will be taking pre-calc in 10th and (I assume) AP calc in 11th. From this thread it seems like AP statistics would be fine in 12th even if she is targeting a top 20 school given her interests. Is that correct or am I missing something?

It may hurt, it is not ideal, but admission to Top 20s is holistic, so admission without calc is not impossible. Choosing stats over calc, when one has the opportunity to take calc, makes that student's transcript less rigorous. How much it matters in the end is hard to say, like most other factors.

Couldn't hurt to call an AO and ask.

Also top 20 is probably overly broad here. HYPSM you're courting trouble by not taking calc. #15 in the top 20? Possibly less so.

+1, yes, exactly.

I think of selectivity as a continuum from roughly top-10, then 10-25, then 25-40, 40-50, 50+. And of course the importance of calc vs no-calc (for the student who had the opportunity) also rests on the rest of the transcript, and the fact that we are discussing a potential humanities (Eng/history) major, not STEM, not undergrad business, and not econ.

[Anonymous]

Could you all please clarify if you mean AP Calc AB in 11th AND AP Calc BC in 12th or is just AP Calc AB in 11th okay then AP Stats in 12th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could you all please clarify if you mean AP Calc AB in 11th AND AP Calc BC in 12th or is just AP Calc AB in 11th okay then AP Stats in 12th?

OP's child is taking precalc in 11th, and so is probably choosing between AP calc AB and AP stats for her 12th grade schedule. Your question is a different one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is good at math but doesn't like it. He would rather spend his time on social studies and English. He is taking statistics, but also dual enrolled in English and History at NVCC, all of his other classes are AP/Honors. He was accepted ED at his first choice school as a poli sci major. If the kid knows that they want to go into doesn't involve math and they are stretching themselves in other areas, I think its fine.

This is no help if you won't identify the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could you all please clarify if you mean AP Calc AB in 11th AND AP Calc BC in 12th or is just AP Calc AB in 11th okay then AP Stats in 12th?

Calculus is usually a 2 semester sequence in college. AB covers one semester of college calc in a year. BC covers two semesters of college calc over a year. Does your DC need/want to learn calc at half-pace?

[Anonymous]

Yes b/c humanities kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. When my kids were applying to colleges a few years ago William & Mary and others made clear on their websites that they wanted math through Calculus and that Statistics is not considered a good substitute. I don't know if that has changed. What I do know is that my kids with Calculus did better in college admissions than my one kid without. Most applicants to top 25 schools will definitely have taken Calculus, even aspiring humanities majors, and OP shouldn't fool herself: without it, you're at a disadvantage. The only question is how much.

Has changed or was never a rule. I have one graduate from W&M who took AP Stats. I also have one at Michigan now who took AP Stats. Neither had problems getting into a number of schools a that level. I have a junior now show just did registration for next year -- AP Stats. May be a problem for Ivies, though my kids haven't applied to any. But with my kids they each got into top level public and privates with AP Stats.