I am a junior interested in mechanical engineering. I am taking AP Calculus AB right now. Can I take AP Statistics in my senior year instead of AP Calculus BC. Will I be “penalized” by colleges for less rigor or can it be evidence of a broader skill set?
I would absolutely take AP Calculus BC.
Beyond any argument about the utility of stats vs calculus, and beyond how an AO might view the courses, YOU are going to need to take calculus and advanced math classes in a college for mechanical engineering!
You should try to be as prepared as possible, and taking a year off of calculus would be akin to taking a year off of Spanish when planning to major in Spanish. You might not lose of those skills, but you will likely be rusty when you start college, and that is not a good position for someone in a major notorious for early weed out courses.
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Yes and no.
Who is on your list.
For most, no.
But a year off calc heading into college can be dangerous for you because you’ll be thrown right into it.
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Purdue
Georgia Tech
Wisconsin
Case Western
Marquette
Alabama
Iowa State
UI Chicago
My concern is that I may be bored since AB content is half of BC content.
AP calculus BC will be more useful than AP statistics for an engineering major. Any statistics required for engineering majors will be calculus-based, which AP statistics is not, so AP statistics will not give you subject credit or advanced placement. On the other hand, AP calculus BC will commonly allow advancing another semester in math beyond AP calculus AB, assuming you do well on the AP exam and verify your knowledge on the college’s old calculus 1 and 2 exams.
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The last four no issues.
The first four it could hurt. It was 2019 but mine got into Purdue with merit. With AB.
At our school you did one or the other in 12th grade. At others it seems they do one in 11th and the other in 12th.
You’d have better admission odds at the competitive programs with BC. I can’t help the boredom part but I’m sure you can ask for extra problems.
You’re likely to get just as good a job at Bama / Iowa State so if good with those do what you want. My Bama kid works with Ga Tech, Michigan, Purdue in his cohort and interned with Ga Tech.
But no matter where you go, walking in with 15 months off calc could be a recipe for disaster. Higher ranked or lower rank don’t correlate to ease or difficulty
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Another vote for BC. Purdue is becoming a much tougher admit and they want to see the highest rigor available to you in math. It would be different if your school didn’t offer BC. I suspect the same for the other competitive schools in your list, especially for engineering.
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Agree that BC makes more sense, both for making you the most competitive applicant possible, and for preparing you as well as possible for your engineering studies.
If you don’t have to work as hard in the beginning, when it’s a review of AB material, you can use that time to work on college applications. Fall semester of your senior year is a busy time.
AP Stats is fine for non-STEM students who want a math AP that may be the last math class they ever take. It isn’t really that helpful for a prospective engineer or for someone who intends to continue studying more advanced math in college.
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For any STEM major I’d recommend Calc BC.
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yes (you can take it), yes (you will be penalized), and no (they won’t care).
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They won’t care about your “broader skill set”
Not with filling out college applications, you won’t be
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I’d agree with taking BC. Instead of thinking the AB part is “boring”, think of it as strengthening those skills and having a better understanding of the AB portion.
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At our HS you can’t take BC until after AB, my kids weren’t bored. My finance/math major took AP stats as elective sophomore year so got them all in (we have nothing after BC).
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A lot of this depends on whether this is the normal “track” at your school or not. In my own HS, there was AB for 11th and then BC for 12th, with the end of the year covering additional topics (some number theory, probability, finite math). However, at my kids’ schools, it was clear that AB and BC were instead of one another, and there would be enough overlap that you wouldn’t take both at that school.
In your school, do kids generally do the AB, then BC series? If not, that suggests you may not be in the “top” math level. This may be relevant if you’re aiming for a STEM degree at the schools you listed. Or it may not, if you were a late-ish bloomer.
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A student who’s in AP Calc AB in 11th grade is not a “late-ish bloomer”, even if they aren’t the most accelerated math student at their school.
If OP’s school has the option to do BC after AB, then they should do that as a potential engineering applicant. OP, as you do admissions sessions at the schools you are considering, ask questions about what math they prefer for engineering admits and/or what they recommend in your specific situation. Good luck.
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I think there’s trade off.
If they just do AB because they are absolutely against BC and take the year off, they’ll still easily make - assuming they have decent grades and test - Alabama, Iowa State, UIC, and Marquette. There will be no admission and no likely merit penalty (at Bama and Iowa State for sure) - which was OPs question.
We don’t know the cost situation. For example, they could be in at Bama for under $20K with auto merit and does that trump Wisconsin at over $60K, etc?
So OP can weigh all that.
But to me the biggest weight is if OP thinks they can walk in with 15 months off calc and re-start at any school - that is not a risk I would personally want to take, no matter where they end up.
As for does the school allow you to take both, ours didn’t but I’d assume the OPs does - given they are asking this question.
Best of luck whatever you decide to do.
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This may be true in a national sense, but not in the context of the people with whom OP is competing. I feel like this comes up over and over on CC. YES, I know most high school students never get any calculus and those who do may not get AP and/or not until senior year. We occasionally hear about some magical kid who never took any calculus at all and got into MIT unhooked.
But in real life, the students who will be fighting with OP for those STEM admissions spots next year will be the exact students who took BC in 11th grade, perhaps even in OP’s same high school (if that is a track that exists) - which is why I asked.
It’s not that OP is a late-ish bloomer because they’re taking AB in 11th grade. Rather, it’s that taking AB instead of BC might indicate that OP did not have strong middle-school algebra, when they may indeed not have been as advanced as those whom they now wish to join in the same cohort.
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Knowing the audience to whom I’ve us speaking is critical. CC isn’t a representative microcosm of college bound students - not even those applying to MIT or Caltech, which is not the OP
Implying that a student that doesn’t take AB in junior year is cooked is irresponsible and only adds to the toxic reputation of this site
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I agree that it’s relevant where OP’s cohort is wrt to math, especially if some are applying to the same schools. But OP can’t control that, they can only can control what classes they take.
I wouldn’t recommend OP change their school list based on what classes the most advanced math students at their school might have, but OP’s relative position across a number of factors can make a difference in school categorization/likelihood of acceptance.
Regarding using ‘late-ish bloomer’, my point was the words we use when speaking with HSers are important.
(cross post with skieurope)
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