Or, put another way, more than 1 in 7 have not taken calculus; 1 in 5 have not taken all three of bio, chem, and physics; and 2 out of every 9 have taken three years or fewer of a single foreign language.
Just sayin’.
1 Like
Wow! This is super helpful! Thank you!
Since WPI is test blind, I don’t know that my son will qualify for quite as much merit. He’s a better test taker than a homework-turner-inner. ( 3.82 UW GPA)
So glad your son is enjoying it! I was reading more about the approach today, and it sounds amazing!
I guess it’s all perspective. My high school was only 10th-12th grade and had 700-800 kids in each graduating class. D25’s school has to travel about an hour and a half to get to the other schools in the league for sports and those schools all have 2000-2500 students.
at ours, you take either AB OR BC, not both. So your decision wasn’t made way back
1 Like
Do I think it is absolutely “required” to get in? no.
I also think acceptance rate /selectivity matters more than that ranking for what I am talking about and I should have been clearer on that.
ASU is VERY different than Northeastern or BU…Apples to oranges on what AOs require.
At the schools with low selectivity, they will want to see lots of rigor in lots of areas, regardless of major. Kids at BU are going to be mainly in top level offered at their school in almost every subject. I see kids at Umass on naviance with 1550 SATs and a nearly 5 weighted GPA (meaning top rigor across the board) not getting in - admittedly that is probably for CS majors (super competitive there), but you get idea… that is still not a top 25 school.
Once again I want to emphasize it also matters what is offered at ones school and the norms w/in their own school. our LPS has ~50%+ of kids take AP eng lang. Over 25% an AP Calc class. If you want to appear to be in the top 25% you need these classes…(we don’t have rank)
Take a look (if you haven’t) kids getting in, or not, on these boards and their stats. Kids with 12APs and high GPAs won’t get into schools in these ranges…
1 Like
I’m going to private-message you so I don’t take up space. Well, I meant to, but it won’t let me, so I’ll just let it go, other than to say that lots of people are being deferred/waitlisted for yield protection.
agreed, for sure.
Also I think the whole thing is bonkers - I am not remotely advocating any of this good or the way it “should” be, but also like to be realistic about the ridiculousness of it all!
2 Likes
My S25 has to choose classes soon. This year he chose Advanced Calc because he struggled for a B with a tough teacher last year in Advanced Pre-Calc. This year he said something clicked and he has a 97 this quarter and an A the previous 2. Can you go from Advanced Calc to AP Calc BC? Or would you take AP Calc AB?
Technically, he only needs a year of English and a semester of history to graduate….
He will be a stem major.
I am thinking the schedule is looking like this- (without having sat down and looked at the requirements with him yet)
AP Comp Sci
AP Lang or Lit
JROTC
Band
Spanish 3
AP Stats (or a Calc see ? above)
CHS (dual enrollment) one semester history he is taking CHS government now, 1 semester.
*he has taken Bio, Adv. Chem and Physics does he need another science?
Doesn’t advanced calc basically cover the A part of the curriculum?
I have no idea that is why I am asking. My highest level of math way back in the ‘80’s was Algebra 2. I would never get into college today 
I imagine that is what it is, in which case BC. Can you ask?
If you want to be competitive for the 1st and 2nd tier UCs, I would take Calc.
I know that that was offered in jest, but some actual stats (from NCES, based on 2019 graduates, coming from a decennial review): The vast majority of high school students cap out at Algebra 2 or lower (with more capping out at Geometry than either Algebra I or II). A minority take Precalc and less than 1 in 5 take Calc.
My highly cynical take: The idea that college admission is impossible for students who don’t take Calculus is a myth that helps hypernervous middle-class families feel okay with being hypernervous, and as a side benefit helps create a market for for-profit college admissions coaches.
10 Likes
I am not one to up the ante about exclusionary academic standards or take joy in it, but for folks who want an affordable UC as an option for their kids, I would take Calc. 1 in 8 people in the U.S. live in California and they all want a UC admission or SDSU or SLO admission for their kids. Maybe most SDSU applicants don’t have Calc, but I’d bet Davis and UCSD applicants do.
2 Likes
Agree with @kirroyalemum We were JUST talking about this with our (non-STEM) S25 looking at his senior year plan.
He’ll also be applying to the UC’s and was told by his school counselor that given the choice between AP Stats and AP Calc AB, he should pick Calc to be as competitive as possible for the UC’s. 
As @dfbdfb points out, I’m sure it’s not necessary for many/most colleges and students, but when competing for seats at your in-state when it happens to be the University of California, I’m guessing it probably makes a difference.
P.S. D23 was a year behind her brother in math, Pre-Calc her senior year as a STEM major. Waitlisted at Cal Poly SLO, we wondered if that extra year of math might have tipped the scales for her, but we’ll never know.
3 Likes
Our high school has just over 300 kids. lol AP Calc AB is the highest math offered. Most kids take that senior year if they’re going to take it(usually about 10 kids) but D25 is taking it this year (she and 2 other students were on the very accelerated track at our school). AP Stats is the more popular AP math for senior year but most kids don’t take that either as only 3 years of math are required for graduation.
re: Math, I’d also think about likelihood of success. For example, my kid is deciding between Multivariable and AP Stats for his senior year (he’s taking BC calc now). Multi is the “normal” next course in our high school. But he knows (a) the one teacher who teaches it is not known for being a particularly strong teacher and (b) he’s really struggled in BC this year to maintain a grade where he wants it. So with those two facts, he’s decided to take the “easier” next course - it will be nice to have an easier good grade, then to bust his behind and likely get a not very good grade. And that easier good grade will, we think, look better to the colleges he’s probably applying to then a not great grade in a harder class. It might not make a difference - our goal is for him to submit all his applications as early as possible, so there might not be grades to report at the time, but if there are, I’d rather an A in an easy class than a C in a hard one.
2 Likes
An A vs a C yes. A vs a B, debatable (but kids mistakingly think any Bs are death). But again, school and college list context matter in all these decisions.
5 Likes
Can you explain how your high school’s A-G rate is dismal? Are you saying that very few student complete the A-G requirements? Both the UCs and the CSUs require completion of A-G requirements at a minimum. The overwhelming majority of applicants complete much more than the minimum.
CSU minimum admission requirements: Freshman: Admission Requirements | CSU
UC minimum admission requirements. Freshman requirements | UC Admissions
This gives some context. If she is in the top 9% of her class, she would qualify for UC ELC local guarantee. Talk to her guidance counselor to confirm that she is on track for ELC. ELC means that, if she applies to a UC and is not accepted, she is guaranteed admission into a UC that has space (ie. Merced).
Also, you might calculate her UC/CSU GPA. Use these directions to calculate it. Make sure you look up which of her HS honors courses are considered honors by the UC/CSU systems. Courses like Geometry H, Algebra 2H and English 1,2 H usually aren’t considered honors by UC/CSU. You can look up which of her HS courses are considered honors by UC/CSU here.
Many juniors are undecided about majors or what college they want to attend. My best advice is to set her up so that she has options. That means encouraging her to take rigorous courses in all subject areas. If she avoids the calculus/physics teacher, she may be limiting her options in the future.
2 Likes
Thank you for the detailed response. On the California School Dashboard you can drill down and see the A-G completion rate (minimum requirements met). Our school is only 24%. It gives context to the school as a whole, unfortunately.
I agree about not closing doors with class choice, but it is a fine line for sure. I’ve been tracking her UC GPA since sophomore year and she is currently at a 4.15. She will max out on the honors points this semester. The Doorways sight was where I learned that AP Computer Science Principles is listed under the science category. So if she takes that and Physics she will have 5 years of science.
1 Like