If I could only choose one, which is better for which majors (like for example computer science, medicine, business, etc.) I would be doing one of these classes after AP Calc BC.
I have a couple options.
AP Calc AB to AP Calc BC to one of the above classes.
OR
AP Calc BC to Multi/Linear then AP Stats
OR
AP Calc BC then Multi then Linear.
Finally, is AP Statistics worth taking compared to Multi and Linear? (in terms of career readiness/college prep)
Thanks in advance.
Anything above BC isn’t needed for business or pre-med (the latter isn’t a major).
AP Stats would be useful for business and pre-med, but will be too low-level for CS (although still good as a foundation).
Whether you should start in AB vs BC depends on the course progression at your school and your own aptitude.
Thank you! And yes I am aware that pre-med is not a major, but I was referring to the medical career as a whole. Maybe I conveyed it wrong, sorry.
No worries
So note there is a decent chance you might retake such classes in college, which is fine.
My two cents is MVC, aka Calc III, is a very obvious choice after Calc II, aka BC. Diffy Q would probably be my next suggestion if you were most interested in math for its applications in sciences.
Eventually you will most likely want to take all of linear algebra, multivariate calculus, differential equations, and statistics, and something with probability theory (which might be combined with simple statistics). However, these can all be taken in university. You really do not need any of them while you are still in high school.
Personally I have used all of these math classes a LOT, including in subsequent math classes and on the job. I was however a math major in university, so it is perhaps not a big surprise that I would end up with jobs that used math.
In graduate school I took one single class that was not a math class. It was econometrics, and therefore might be something that could be of interest to a business major. It used a lot of linear algebra, and was in fact the class that forced me to really understand linear algebra very well. Again however, there is plenty of time to take both linear algebra and econometrics after you get to university.
For medical school you would need to take some physics, and some calculus might also be useful. I only took regular high school physics and then regular university physics through special relativity and quantum physics. Physics in general uses a lot of of calculus. One daughter was pre-vet, which means that the required undergraduate courses were the same as the required premed classes (she had a lot of friends who were premed). She ended up taking physics without calculus and then later physics with calculus. She felt that physics with calculus was a lot better and easier to understand. Calculus was in fact originally developed to help understand physics better, so this makes sense. For this particular daughter to some extent the required premed/pre-vet math and physics classes were the way to get solid A’s to make up for her grades in organic chemistry, but your results may vary.
Regarding computer science and software engineering, there are a lot of different types of software engineering jobs. Some require math. Some do not. My personal belief is that the software jobs that use math are the more interesting ones, but I might be biased on this subject. If AI and machine learning take away any software jobs, it is probably the jobs that are the most challenging, such as by requiring a lot of math, that might be safer ones to have (and AI and ML themselves use quite a bit of math).
Probability theory and statistics might be useful for any of these three career paths. At least the probably theory classes that I took (and I took a lot of them) drew very heavily on calculus. Multi-variate calculus showed up all over the place. I have heard that there are statistics classes that do not require calculus at all. These might be enough for medical school admissions. While people who are concerned about studying epidemics might have a use for both calculus and statistics, I would be surprised if a normal day to day doctor uses any of these on the job (even if you might need calculus or statistics to get into medical school).
However, you can learn all of this after you get to university.
Perhaps my main issue would be that because these math classes are so useful in so many places, whatever you do take is worth learning very well. Also, make sure that you are solid on the prerequisites before you take any more advanced math classes.
These points cannot be emphasized enough. And this is part of why it is perfectly fine if you do a sort of intro version of an advanced math course in HS, then repeat it as a college course. It very likely won’t just be redundant, and instead you will just be well-prepared to get the most out of the college version.
I would do either the first or third option. Do not take Stats as your only math class senior year. You can take Stats as an elective while also taking one of the others if you want. My daughter went straight to AP Calc BC Junior Year after precalc and then took Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations her Senior year. She did not have to take math in college because her 5’s on the Calc BC exam covered her math requirement. She did not have time in her schedule to do Stats in High School so she did opt to take it in college. It is a useful class but looks like you took your foot off the gas if it’s the only math class you take when others are available to you.
IMHO there are two separate decisions here:
You should make the first decision independently of other considerations, and then figure out the second one.
At some schools, it is normal for strong students to go straight to Calc BC, and all of the material is taught in a way that is suitable for a first exposure. At others, AB-to-BC is the norm, and the way BC is taught reflects that, moving quickly through a review of AB and then on to the new material. What is the norm at your school?
Usually, people I know have skipped straight to AP Calc BC, so I believe that is the norm. I am leaning towards doing the same, but I don’t know if that will be too difficult
I don’t think I have space in my schedule for 2 math classes in 1 year, but thank you for your feedback!
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me this feedback. I will take all your points into consideration.
Thanks for the advice!
In terms of math intensity, there are some general classes of majors:
High school multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations courses that are not dual-enrollment with a college generally will not give credit or advanced placement in college, although some colleges’ math departments may allow for subject credit by exam on the material.