Do I need to take Calculus to get into a good college?
Okay, so I am a freshman in high school, and I know it is kind of early to think about college, but I like setting goals for my life. Plus, I need to have an idea of what I want to do for college so I can build my four year high school class plan. Some of the schools I want to consider going to are:
Stanford
USC
NYU
Northwestern
Emory
Vanderbilt
Georgetown
I want to go to a good school with good academic standing. I am not at the very top of my class, I think I am ranked third or fourth right now - I won't be valedictorian or salutatorian, but I am confident in my capability. I was wondering though, is calculus crucial to admittance to these types of schools? I would only get through AP Calculus AB without taking summer courses, but after a conversation with my dad, I started thinking about not taking Calculus my senior year, and just taking Statistics, and being in an auditioned singing group my senior year. My plan was to take
AP Stats
AP Calc AB
AP English Lit
AP US History
Physics (not AP)
Theology (required at my school)
And I was thinking come senior year, I could drop AP Calculus and do the singing group instead, which I'll be doing next year, and probably junior year too. Would this be a bad move? To go to these types of schools, would I need to take Calculus? I know it is suggested, but would it hurt my chances of admission?
Update:The only AP classes at school I wouldn't take would be Physics (at least probably not), Biology, Computer Science, French, and art. We don't really have that many.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
It all depends on what you're looking to go into. If you're thinking about majoring in English/History/Philosophy/some area in the humanities, then you don't need either AP Calc or AP Stats. I would check with all of those schools to see what their policies are for getting credit in math if you took one or both those classes. It's possible that you can take a math class at one of those schools that's more interesting than calculus and statistics. My school (Loyola College in MD) offered ciphers and codes as well as math, numbers, and the real world as math classes that non-math majors can take to satisfy the math requirement.
If you're looking to do Economics/Psychology/Sociology/Political Science, I'd definitely take the statistics class since it's very applicable to those fields than calculus. However, if you choose to study economics, you're going to need calculus, which you can always take at the university.
If you're going into math or science, then you will need both classes without a doubt. And if you had to choose just one of those, I'd take the statistics class because your father is correct. There are so many applications of statistics to the real world, and there are a TON of jobs you can get with a degree in statistics or something closely related.
First of all, what do you mean by a "good school"? If you're talking Ivy League, then yes, you do have reason to worry. Also, you don't HAVE to send any school that AP test score, so don't stress about that one. Then, you have to remember that a C in an AP class is better than a B in an Honors class. The worst thing you can do is stress so much about this, it'll only harm your health and all your other grades. If you still have enough credits to graduate, you can probably see if your school will allow you to drop the class. There's a lot of drastic measures you can take, but you do need to calm down. One bad grade isn't the end of the world. Unless you plan to major in math, you'll be fine.
Most colleges require 3 or 4 math classes in High School. Alg I, Geom, Alg II, and maybe Trig. I think you should be fine. I am junior and just finished Calc this year. So i'm over and am looking for electives to fill my schedule for Senior year. You do not want that. Colleges want to see that you are well rounded so you might as well do something you love to do.
If you are going to drop anything drop AP Stats. You should diffidently take AP calc and AP english Lit and Language at some point during your HS years.
it depends on what you want to major in... if its a major where calculus would be towards your advantage then i would take it. however i wouldnt take both stats and calc
Thank you all for your replies and opinions.