How challenging is AP Statistics?

[Anonymous]

How difficult is this class for a kid who is not a math whiz? Trying to decide between this and AP Psychology for senior year. Kid will have 3 other AP classes (literature, environmental studies, and comp govt) plus an honors math and honors Chinese. Kid wants a demanding schedule; my concern is that statistics may just be too much. Kid is capable of hard work but not the typical DCUM super gifted child.

[Anonymous]

Honors math plus AP Stats is a lot for a non math whiz kid. Psychology is more interesting anyway

[Anonymous]

I agree that honors math + AP Stats is a lot for non-math kid.

My kid is in both AP Stats and AP Psychology now. He is a math kid, and while he's doing fine with Stats, he really enjoys his Psychology class. It's his favorite class this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How difficult is this class for a kid who is not a math whiz? Trying to decide between this and AP Psychology for senior year. Kid will have 3 other AP classes (literature, environmental studies, and comp govt) plus an honors math and honors Chinese. Kid wants a demanding schedule; my concern is that statistics may just be too much. Kid is capable of hard work but not the typical DCUM super gifted child.

Who is trying to decide? You or your kid?

AP Stat is a good choice for a kid still aiming for a top college but who isn't a math whiz. AP Psych is more fluffy. If your kid has high aspirations, stats it is.

[Anonymous]

It will depend on the teacher to some degree. AP stats can be moderately demanding if the teacher is pushing all the students. I would also say that 4 APs and 2 honors courses is a lot. This is especially true in early May when they take two exams a week. I would make sure you all know that and think about how they respond to text anxiety, etc. Also, remember that Senioritis is a legit thing and many seniors have a particularly hard time if they give themselves too rigorous a schedule (I was a HS teacher for 9 years). If you haven’t already, ask one of his favorite teachers what they think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will depend on the teacher to some degree. AP stats can be moderately demanding if the teacher is pushing all the students. I would also say that 4 APs and 2 honors courses is a lot. This is especially true in early May when they take two exams a week. I would make sure you all know that and think about how they respond to text anxiety, etc. Also, remember that Senioritis is a legit thing and many seniors have a particularly hard time if they give themselves too rigorous a schedule (I was a HS teacher for 9 years). If you haven’t already, ask one of his favorite teachers what they think.

My kid's senior year: AP Stats, AP Spanish, AP English, AP Econ, AP Environmental Science, AP Government. And it wasn't considered to be all that difficult because it didn't include AP Calculus.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. Part of the thinking on stats is that he's a year behind in math - he'll be in honors precalc. I posted about this last week; we bumped him down in middle school, he gets all As in math since but not without effort. He wanted to take precalc during the summer so that he could "catch up." DCUM and his counselor helped me convince him that was a bad idea, but he still feels like he has something to prove.

BTW I wish he had a favorite teacher! One of the real losses of the pandemic is that they just don't get to know the teachers at all and vice versa.

[Anonymous]

I have a high achiever but not particularly a math kid. AP stats sophomore year was a huge GPA boost for her. It wasn’t a ton of work, she did very well in class, I believe ended up with a 4 on the exam but I believe could have pulled a five if she had studied more. She had a really good teacher, that did make a difference.

[Anonymous]

AP Psych and AP Stats are both good for a kid that wants to study Psych in college. A huge portion of the practical Psych work is statistics (for purpose of experiments).

[Anonymous]

What is he going to have left to take in college?

[Anonymous]

I went to a state college, so not sure of this is the same an higher tier colleges; but general stats was usually taught by a foreign grad/post grad student and they were impossible to understand. This made the material a lot more difficult to work through.

[Anonymous]

I think AP Psych will be more interesting. He can take stats in college if it will be useful for his major (such as if he decides to major in psych!). Otherwise, he won’t be missing out on much. I took both in HS and found Psych more interesting than Stats (Calc beat out both, but not an option right now)

- MIT grad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think AP Psych will be more interesting. He can take stats in college if it will be useful for his major (such as if he decides to major in psych!). Otherwise, he won’t be missing out on much. I took both in HS and found Psych more interesting than Stats (Calc beat out both, but not an option right now)

- MIT grad

ETA I actually retained a decent amount from my AP Psych class, 20 years ago. Like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and those weird experiments they did with monkey babies and Stanford students.

[Anonymous]

It's kinda interesting how involved parents get. I'm pretty hands off and have let my oldest son make all his own choices. He's headed into 10th and is taking AP Calc and AP German. He manages his own schedule and time. If he over commits that's a lesson he will learn. I've just alwsys let him explore what he's wanted and it's worked out well. Gotta say though, I'm not terribly impressed with the rigors of American public schools. We spent the first 11 years of his life in Germany in their public system and it's pitifully easy here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's kinda interesting how involved parents get. I'm pretty hands off and have let my oldest son make all his own choices. He's headed into 10th and is taking AP Calc and AP German. He manages his own schedule and time. If he over commits that's a lesson he will learn. I've just alwsys let him explore what he's wanted and it's worked out well. Gotta say though, I'm not terribly impressed with the rigors of American public schools. We spent the first 11 years of his life in Germany in their public system and it's pitifully easy here.

You must realize that not all kids are exactly like yours right?