<p>^ I need to know so I can adjust my schedule. I have the option to take it, but I fear taking it would ruin my gpa.</p>
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<p>Show rigor!
Our student had 2 years of AP Calc.
Look at the colleges’ freshman math placement options…fwiw you will see that there are many levels of cal–and so they are expecting yout to come with some exposure.
If you are a rising Sr…your current transcript and next years schedule are part of what you need to show coaches now, this summer as you head into fall/offical visits…along with recent SAT2s, ACTs,SATs, etc</p>
<p>OP. I suggest searching and reading about athletic recruiting bands and slots at the Ivy league schools. The cliff note version is that the IVYies are allowed a set number of athletic recruits in bands … where bands are roughly equivalent to a standard deviation from the “typical admit” … lots of recruits are in the first band next to the typical admit (e.g., their academics can be a tad below the median … btw this is true of a ton of the non athletic admits also) … a few can be admitted in the second band … and a handful can be admitted in the third band. Given the folks in the third band are given the biggest break thse slots tend to go to high impact athletes and often in the high visibility sports (for example, a star quarterback … as opposed to a back-up field hockey goalie (possibily getting a B does not count as a struggle).</p>
<p>So do you need high school calculus … I’d guess it depends on what type of recruit your are … if you’re a first band recruit your academics need to be comparable to typcial admits so I’d think not having Caculus would be a big negative … if you’re in that third band there would be much more slack around your course selection. </p>
<p>Two final thoughts … the first thing highly selective colleges look at is your transcript and they are looking for both high grades and tough courses not folks who picked one over the other … second, the IVYies have 30+ varsity teams and have a hand full (or two) of those third band slots to use across all sports so they are very tough to get. (So bottom line if you were my kid and going to a top school was the priority over the sport I’d recommend taking calculus unless math is a real struggle)</p>
<p>If you’re thinking HYP or any Ivy, I would suggest a rigorous or high level courses when ever possible. However, if you at the edge of the band (that 3togo mentions above) or an AI average then grades become more important. I would also factor in whether calculus is important to your major and what level of athlete you are. </p>
<p>You are competing against other athletes in your sport and the coach is going to back who he thinks is his best athlete and best chance to get through admission. If it is questionable that you can get through Admissions, he may turn his attention to a similiar athlete who did take Calculus or AP Calculus. Nobody said this was easy.</p>
<p>What if I already had 4-5 APs in my schedule for next year though? Then would taking calculus matter as much?</p>
<p>None of us can tell for sure, but you’ve gotten some good advice here, and from what i know I would say that no hs calculus would make you an exception amongst all ivy athletic recruits. It’s probably a good estimate that the majority of all ivy athletic recruits took AP Calc.</p>
<p>I hate to tell anyone how to game the system, but obviously you could sign up for AP Calc, go through fall recruiting, get the LL, and try as hard as you can to do well in Calc. If you just can’t do it, you will have one lousy grade to explain at semester, you drop Calc, and everything will probably turn out fine. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, this is a risky path. Also, oftentimes a good high school math teacher can give you a solid foundation in Calc that will serve you well when you take Calc, Stats, or whatever your major requires you to take in college. Most majors at any college do require some competency in math, and you might as well take every opportunity to embrace it. Best wishes.</p>
<p>I have a similar problem except at my school they do not allow you to double up on math (I would want to take pre calc and calc at the same time) and my school also will not allow me to take a summer program of calc (but I am going to try to get them to make an exception). Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I’m just going to do it. Can’t be that bad. Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>^ Good for you.
fwiw, Our scholar-athlete had 4 APs jr yr and 6 Sr yr…recruited to HYP</p>
<p>Take AP Statistics. Also, if you’re among the early recruits, you have your likely letter early October (maybe before mid semester grades).</p>
<p>AP Stat vs. Calc: D is at the beginning of unofficial visits to 8-9 schools with coach meetings at all. A number of schools (3 top D1’s incl. an Ivy, one top D3) sent her stuff in for admission pre-read last week. As she sat with one coach today, email came in saying she was cleared by admissions.</p>
<p>She took honors pre-calc junior year and was planning on AP Stat instead of calculus as a senior (she’ll have plenty of other AP and honors courses as well). I understand that early clearance is not the same as the fine-tooth combing through her transcript that will happen once she submits applications … but what I want to know is does she HAVE to take calc if admissions seem satisfied with her at the moment? She attends a rigorous school that admission officers are very familiar with. Only a couple of coaches asked for a list of senior year courses by the way. Or is it just implicit that calculus will be one of her senior year courses?</p>
<p>eli, I don’t think there’s anyone who can tell you either way on calc. I would encourage her to take whatever will prepare her best for college. If her future major requires calc, take calc in high school. If it requires stats, go that route. It seem like many BS degrees in social sciences and even pre-med tracks like bio and chem are leaning more toward stats because it is more useful to them in understanding and doing research than calc. </p>
<p>Most decisions about HS curriculum should be based on appropriate and rigorous college preparation. Coaches and admissions people are hoping you see it this way as well.</p>
<p>Riverrunner is spot on! If your child declares a STEM major, it will be expected that the applicant has taken calculus, preferably AP Calc. If your child is not going to need calculus in college, than AP Stats is a good choice, as many majors require statistics. By the way, some students find statistics more difficult than calculus.</p>
<p>hello. harvard athletic recruit here so trust me ;). it depends on how good you are at your sport. i didnt take calculus but was in my schools form of precal for dummies. (not a math person) if the coach wants you bad enough you can get in no prob. gauge the coaches interest…feeling cofident? getting lots of emails and updates? maybe calc wont matter</p>
<p>These are really helpful answers. It just occurred to me to look at the requirements at the ivy she is most interested in (which is also interested in her). And it stated: 4 years of high school math required, calculus for those intending to go into engineering (not D!). But I think what she should do is pose the question to the coaches, as joshsnow suggests (p.s. coach interest is high). Thanks again for responses.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you could call admissions and ask them, especially the representative for your area. Second, shouldn’t your high school counselor know? Lastly, it also depends on the rigor of the school and to what extent admissions is familiar with the school. Some top prep schools limit the number of APs students are allowed to take while at other schools, AP in most classes is expected for top students.</p>
<p>my d was not given the choice. it was AP calc required plus 2 other AP’s. And she is the #1 recruit in the country in her sport. Sanchez QB’d at Yale and he had to take calc in high school as well. From women’s sports to men’s most HYPS athletes take calc (or maybe AP stats) but almost ALL take one.</p>
<p>Thanks pacheight, but how did your daughter know this? Did the coaches or admissions tell her so at some point? Our daughter is on the last legs of a college tour, meeting with coaches at some 10 schools. They have her transcript, academic and athletic resumes and scores; several have sent that information in for early reads, and she’s been cleared by all. Several have offered her official visits. Only one or two coaches asked for senior year courses. </p>
<p>Beenthere2: D attends one of the top schools in the country, a private prep, very well known to admissions for its reputation and extreme rigor, as I’ve mentioned before. Incidentally, it does downplay AP’s. Very few kids take more than 6 over their high school career, 4 to 5 being the norm and yet 30-35+ percent of each graduating class of 100+ goes on to Stanford (9-10% each year), Ivies and top LAC’s.
Our college counselor certainly knows what is required for the general population at D’s school. But athletic recruits? Is there some give or is there not regarding courses (i.e. calc vs. stat)… just as there is give regarding SAT’s and GPA’s? I suppose he could answer this (and we’ll ask him) but we wanted to turn first to the pool of parents of recruits on CC, incl. yourself, whose collective experience has already provided us with so many answers (often to questions we didn’t even know to ask) for a first take on the subject. And now we know to consult admissions at particular colleges, to go back to the high school counselor and etc. But pacheight, still love to know who expressed those requirements to your D.</p>