Should i take AP Statistics or Calculus to get into an ivy league like MIT

College Search & Selection
#1

<p>So i am about to be a senior and just got my schedule for my last year of highschool
i will be taking
- AP Statistics
-AP Physics
-AP lit
-AP computer science
-AP Microeconomics
-AP Marco economics
-AP Biology
-honors government (couldn't take AP government because interfered with me having robotics)
-Robotics<br>
-mentorship</p>

<p>i have a 3.896 GPA but really low SAT(bad test taker) but retaking seriously in October
I really want to go to MIT and been told should to take Calculus but i cant switch my Statistics because my schedule will not allow me to still have robotics and AP computer science if i switch. Ps. i want to become a Robotic engineer. Did i make the right choice or will colleges look down on me for taking Statistics and should i change ?</p>

#2

<p>The vast majority of your peers applying to MIT will have AP calc. You have a conflict, however it is because of electives, not a core class. I understand they are very important classes to you, however they are still considered electives. Another possibility would be to take Calc at a local community college during the first semester. Obviously this would be a heavy schedule but you would get to keep the classes important to you and maintain course rigor. I believe there is an active MIT rep, MITChris, on their forum. You may want to post the question there.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/massachusetts-institute-technology/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

#3

<p>mit is not ivy, and there are no ivy league schools "like" mit. </p>

<p>while calc is preferable, one course won't make or break at schools like these. stay with stat and explain your course selection in your application. do well on sat 2 math.</p>

<p>are there other options - local comm college?</p>

#4

<p>For MIT in particular, its freshman calculus (18.01 and its variants) compresses what is normally a year of calculus into a semester (i.e. double speed compared to high school calculus BC, quadruple speed compared to high school AP calculus AB). That may be hard to handle for someone who has not seen calculus before in high school.</p>

<p>AP statistics is of very low value in terms of usefulness for subject credit in universities.</p>

#5

<p>Yes, most admitted freshmen at MIT take AP Calculus in High School. If it is offered at your school, not taking it would mean you are not taking the most rigorous classes available to you, which would look very bad on your application.</p>

<p>BTW, MIT is ** not ** a member of the Ivy League.</p>

#6

<p>Thanks for the advice going to go to my school monday and see if i drop biology and take Calculus. And if i cant will start looking for community colleges</p>

#7

<p>I've always felt that for most of us, in life, knowledge of statistics is more valuable than calculus, but I suspect for college admission, the opposite is a no-brainer. I can see this for an engineering program, but I'm surprised statistics commands so little respect in both HS and college.</p>

#8

<p>I would take AP classes that have to do with humanities to stand out.</p>

#9

<p>The following is from MIT's admission page showing what type of classes they expect in high school. They require calculus as well as biology. Unless you already have a year of biology you will want to keep it in your schedule.</p>

<p>
[quote]
One year of high school physics
One year of high school chemistry
One year of high school biology
Math, through calculus
Two years of a foreign language
Four years of English
Two years of history and/or social sciences

[/quote]

What</a> To Do In High School | MIT Admissions</p>

<p>You also need to consider the other schools you will be applying to.</p>

#10

<p>


</p>

<p>Probably because AP statistics is equivalent to a very low level one semester university statistics course -- many majors that require a statistics course require a calculus-based course.</p>

<p>Also, the concepts of calculus can help one avoid being misled. For example if you hear or read that "job growth in [type of job] is high", you will understand that this statement does not necessarily mean that job prospects in that type of job are good, since there may not be very many of that type of job compared to those seeking them (even after several years of high growth).</p>

#11

<p>blueiguana has given you good advice- you need to check each college to see what specific course they require.</p>

<p>Your senior courseload seems like a bit of overload (9 classes? do you have a time turner?!!) Why do you need to take those two economics courses? Why do you need computer science? I think you would be better to stick with Physics, Bio and Calculus and Lit. Take Robotics only if they don't conflict with these 4 core courses.</p>

#12

<p>I hope you are applying to a wide range of other colleges as well. We know someone here that is brilliant, off the charts in Math & Science......he was accepted to Princeton, Caltech and Harvard and rejected from MIT.........and his math level was already college level and beyond when he graduated h.s.</p>

<p>Look into CMU too, that may be a better fit.....</p>

#13

<p>I'd switch to calculus, for all of the excellent reasons cited above. There's plenty of time to take real computer science and stats in college.</p>

<p>It is hard to imagine a HS that would schedule robotics so that none of the top science/math kids in the class, all of whom will be taking calculus, can take it, unless it is a course not aimed at serious science/math kids. Or maybe I'm over-thinking it. </p>

<p>By all means apply to MIT, but do have a range of other suitable schools also. MIT's admissions seem to have grown increasingly quirky in recent years, and kids with what one would think are bullet-proof STEM backgrounds are routinely rejected. What other schools are on your list? And what are your real SAT and SATII scores as of now? If you share that, people here can help you make up a good, realistic list.</p>

#14

<p>I am glad for all of the comments and took your advices and dropped stats for calc though had to drop robotics(yeah i know horrible but study on my own so its fine and im in first robotics lol) and got a different engineering class i liked so this will be my schedule of fun next year
i will be taking
- AP calc
-AP Physics
-AP lit
-AP computer science
-AP Microeconomics
-AP Marco economics
-AP Biology
-honors government
-engineering applications
-mentorship</p>

#15

<p>
[quote]
Did i make the right choice or will colleges look down on me for taking Statistics and should i change ?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Wrong question. Colleges such as MIT will "look down" on your for a low SAT if you are unhooked. Calc vs. Stat won't matter if your SAT score is <700/test.</p>

#16

<p>thank you bluebayou for the advice when i retake the sat in October will make sure to tell you my score been studying all summer so will have a different result than last time but as for my schedule you can agree that is fine</p>

#17

<p>if you are into engineering, I'd drop both econs and take Stats instead. Stats will also help you with a few questions on the Math 2 subject test.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

#18

<p>Thanks but need econ to graduate in Georgia so have to take it but going to learn stats and alot of other stuff on free courses on online in spare time</p>