Calculus

So going into senior year I will have taken math up to trigonometry, which means senior year I will be taking honors Precalculus senior year... Will that hurt me in the admissions process? Also, is it better to take a fourth year of Spanish or a course on statistics and probability (Discrete Math)?

As always, thanks!

Pers3us said:

So going into senior year I will have taken math up to trigonometry, which means senior year I will be taking honors Precalculus senior year... Will that hurt me in the admissions process? Also, is it better to take a fourth year of Spanish or a course on statistics and probability (Discrete Math)?

As always, thanks!

Click to expand...

I believe that admissions would much rather see you taking Calculus rather than precalculus senior year. I hope I am reading this right, but are you currently a Junior? If so, you may be able to take Precalculus over the summer and then take Calculus your Senior year. I have had a few friends that have done this. Now I can't say which they prefer for the Spanish and Stats question.

Pers3us said:

So going into senior year I will have taken math up to trigonometry, which means senior year I will be taking honors Precalculus senior year... Will that hurt me in the admissions process? Also, is it better to take a fourth year of Spanish or a course on statistics and probability (Discrete Math)?

As always, thanks!

Click to expand...

Calculus is better. That being said, it would not be wise to push through pre-cal this summer IF you think that your foundation will not be great and you will end up doing poorly in Cal your senior year.
I would think that an A in honors pre-cal senior year would be better than, for instance, a community college summer pre-cal followed by a C in calculus senior year. Talk to your math instructor and get their thoughts on your ability, honestly, to master pre-cal over the summer and excel in calculus next year.
The worst case scenario, I would think, is that if you are otherwise a GREAT candidate, the pre-cal could lead to prep school...maybe.
Would your 4th year of Spanish be AP? Also, could you do AP Stats? Lots of kids at our children's schools who are not on the AP Cal senior year track are still strong enough to do pre-cal and AP stats senior year.
S

If youre a recruited athlete, you can probably get away with taking pre-calculus senior year. I know of several mids (recruited athletes) who took precalculus during fall semester plebe year...some of them even went to NAPs beforehand. Also the Dant's son has taken Calculus 1 THREE times at USNA

Not a recruited athlete. Took precalc my senior year.

Agreed. I know MANY who did not take HS calc.

It is better to have Calculus and is more important today than in my day b/c now calculus is much more commonly offered in h.s.

That said, it is not required. If you do well in pre-calc and otherwise have a strong h.s. curriculum and do well on your math SAT/ACT, you'll be in good stead.