correct. In fact, some school districts, for the sake of equity, I have read, have talked about taking away any acceleration in middle school so that nobody can take calc as seniors… (needless to say, the kids most likely in AP are white and rich). They are doing this, in part, because they know colleges care, and it puts the other (poor, non-white) kids at a disadvantage in admissions, when looking at context. I am not advocating this, just pointing it out.
Plenty of college counselors are on my instagram reels telling people to start math progression in 8th grade… and parents near me are fighting math directors at LPS over the 6th grade math test to ensure their kids can get in the algebra/geo sequence in middle school.
If a HS offers BC calc, tippy tippy top colleges want to see applicants’ BC calc in general. Think about it as … if the top 20% in your context are taking BC, then you aren’t in the top 20% of your class…these schools (when talking WHARTON level) have so so so so many amazing applicants, they have to cut people off somehow. It isn’t always going to be easy… or really “fair.” Now, if the school doesn’t offer BC, that is another story….then you want to be at the top of what is offered…
It never means “you can NEVER get in” but the context matters, and this is a high-income kid, from CA (an over-represented state) in a private school. I actually didn’t read the whole thread about if school has BC or not..which matters a lot.
She is SUPER impressive, and she should be super proud of herself and she will get in TONS of places.
As an example of my kids is took Calc 1 (AB basically) over the summer so they could take Calc 2/ MV as a senior, so they could be “middle of the road” at their HS. An entirely different context. Top 10% in BC in 9th (or earlier). Calc 1 as senior is in the bottom 20% or so. My kid wanted to do this to be able to take a specific science class, but their college counselors (former AOs at top schools) were sure not against the idea for admission purposes and suggested it after my kid already decided to do it.
Also, for context, I went to an ivy 25-30 years ago and nearly everyone, even then, had taken AP calc in HS regardless of interests (maybe more of a mix of AB and BC than now, where BC is more prominent), but this “requirement” for AP calc is not really new to me. I knew one person in my close friend group who didn’t take any calc - they were a double legacy and an art history major.
Note, this is all wacky, and I don’t like it, but I don’t think that makes it untrue. And it is all for a VERY VERY tiny fraction of colleges. My older kid goes to a top 100 university, and a school highly regarded for their major (well above top 100) and didn’t take AP calc (and it is directly related to their major!). etc. etc. etc.