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What difference does AP Calculus make for college admissions?

I'll be taking several AP courses but I'm not sure I'll do extremely well in AP Calculus (Senior Year). I'm thinking about replacing it with something like AP Art History or Medical Science. Would this be advisable for admissions into selective colleges? (Any of the Ivies, UC's, Stanford, etc. I'm also interested in less competitive schools, but I'd like to do as much as possible to be a candidate for the first list) Do they prefer already having Calculus?

Public Comments

1. Any AP core subject class is good for college. For ivy schools they will expect you to have taken calculus and physics in HS. Take it at an honors level or even general level, but get in calculus
2. Calculus is probably the preferred class as opposed to art but one thing to think about is that when you apply they probably will mainly be looking at your transcript from the classes you took freshman through junior year since you will currently be enrolled senior year. It also depends on what you want to do as a career. If it is something in the art industry, then yes AP Art History would be the smarter choice. Just some things to think about :)
3. NO
4. A lot of the selective schools prefer that you take Calculus, though this it's by no means a requirement. I know students who were more focused on humanities in high school and only got up to pre-calculus, but still earned admission to top colleges. It all depends on your academic strengths and what you would like to pursue more in college. Nevertheless, if you feel that you're strong in math, I would strongly advise you to take AP Calculus. If you score a 4 or a 5 on the exam, you can place into a higher level of math in college, or even place out of a math requirement altogether. In sum, taking AP Calculus will give you a boost in admissions (not a make-or-break deal, but it'll certainly help), and probably help once you're selecting college classes.