You’re probably going to need Calc in college for any sort of a science major.
Why not take it now, non-AP, and then re-take in college? You’ll find it easy as a college course, even if you find that you cover far more than your high school class does.
I would suggest regular college prep stats or calculus. Not everything needs to be AP. You will want to take these again in college and this will give you good preparation.
“If you can take regular Calc and AP bio that would probably be the best choice.”
This would be my choice, too.
I don’t know if you had much exposure to bio, but if you have not and are thinking about majoring in bio, it would be a good idea to take the subject on a fairly rigorous level prior to committing to it in college.
He or she can’t take both because they conflict. Definitely take calculus. It is an expected part of the high school math sequence. AP bio is a nice extra but not expected or required. I think a prospective science major who hadn’t taken or was not enrolled in calculus would be at a big disadvantage in admissions.
calculus is required for some college admissions. having taken it once before college in my opinion is a great advantage as it is usually required in science majors. having seen it once before is good especially if math is not easy for you. it is hard for most people. is there any other science? like A&P or chem or environmental bio? it also depends on if you have taken bio already?
What are your other science options? If you’re planning on majoring in biology, you’ll likely be required to take chemistry and physics in college. Have you taken both already in high school? Is an AP version available? That would certainly not be a pointless class to take. I would encourage you to take calculus if you are on track for it and if you are considering ANY major in college that requires calculus. This is, in my opinion, especially important if math is not your strongest subject. Seeing it in high school will make it a lot easier in college, and skipping a year in the normal course progression of math courses will hit a weaker math student a lot harder than a really strong math student.
You’ve asked this a couple of times now, so I’m getting the feeling that this is what you actually want to do and just want validation that it’s okay. And it’s really fine if you want to take biology and statistics. If you’re concerned about what colleges will think, how much it will impact you depends on the types of schools you want to go to and what is considered “rigorous” at your school. Ask your counselor what they think. But if you’d really rather just take statistics and biology, then just do that. It’ll be fine.
Nottelling, we are talking about regular calculus vs. AP calculus. If OP can fit regular calc into his schedule, he should go for AP bio, IMO. FWIW, my bio major kids have not taken any AP classes in HS, just some IB bio etc. No calc BC either. One is in med school, and the other is on track to graduate with a masters in a bio field that uses statistics heavily.
That said… What is the word on the street about the teachers who teach these 2 classes? If one is excellent, and the other is a poor teacher everyone dislikes (I’m not talking about grading ease - some tough graders could be loved because if their teaching style), then IMO the choice is easy…