<p>I agree that a college statistics course probably covers more (I took it in college, it was not offered at my high school). But I think some grounding in it in high school makes it easier in college, and it helped D1 when she got into the class where they were doing the SPSS analysis (which in turn led to some interviews). Sounds like he is going to take the AP stats course anyway.</p>
<p>I think your son is inclined to go with the courses taught by the best teachers, and I think that’s a wise move. AP Euro can be very challenging (whether it’s more or less challenging thatn AP USH will depend on the teacher - our HS has a very tough, but wonderful, AP Euro teacher.) Since it is in his area of interest, it’s a strong recommendation, both for a college springboard and for his personal enjoyment.
Your son reminds me of my middle son, who was very strong in math and science, but chose to go with History/Econ and language study in college. He carried the knowledge from those brilliant HS teachers forward into his university studies, and they were a great help. Intellectually, you have to realize that your son may have eclipsed a number of HS teachers and the poor teachers simply cannot be of much benefit. In fact, if the two of them, teacher and student, get into some kind of power struggle, which can definitely happen with certain 18 year olds, there can be quite a negative outcome. Let your son take the courses he is most interested in, and he’ll have a less stressful and more productive senior year.
AP Stats in senior year sounds perfect, as it is not a hard course for a talented math kid, but will be helpful for his first or second year of college.
Anyone with three AP science courses and BC Calc by junior year is not going to be hurt by any of the senior year choices you’ve described.</p>
<p>Let your son choose the schedule he wants. He will do best when he likes the classes most. He has a forced choice to make and all of his options are good. Don’t worry that a different choice could have been better for the college apps. Remember he has to live his senior year of HS and should make it the best one for him, not for gaming the application process. He will not regret choosing the classes he wants instead of ones he “should” have taken. Let him decide if he wants the Academic Decathalon class (an EC around here) instead of any others.</p>