Statistics or Calculus?

Question

I hear Stats is easier than Calc but I dont really know what Stats requires. Note these are both AP courses. Im unsure of my major in college but am looking towards Social Work or Counseling so I wont really need either but do you think the harder course will look better on my Transcript/Resume?

Answer 1

I took AP stats because I thought it would be easy too, but it's very wordy, and a lot of it has to do with understanding concepts. If you liked algebra then take calculus, it's all about formulas and using what you learned in algebra. And also, as long as it says AP on your transcript, it will look good. Neither one is necessarily harder than the other in general.

Answer 2

It really depends on what you want to do.

Social work and counseling involves research (at least understanding exitsing research) -- and research does require statistics, not calculus.

UPDATE: What looks good on your transcript when applying to schools is whatever is required for the program you're applying to. They don't generally care about other courses.

Resumes never list individual courses or grades, and rarely are transcripts requested by employers, unless they require particular coursework outside the requirement for a degree. In almost 40 years, I have only been asked for a transcript for teaching jobs, and for state government jobs (automatically required whenever a degree was required).

Answer 3

Well it depends on where you would like to apply, but generally colleges prefer harder classes to great grades.

I'm in AP Calculus and I enjoy it, but I really like math.  

Answer 4

All AP courses you get a grade higher than a B- in look great on a resume. I'm guessing that you'll run into statistics more often in your chosen field, simply because it's more common in the world outside of science & engineering.

Answer 5

I am a senior in college right now majoring in Psychology and I can tell you RIGHT NOW that you WILL have to take Statistics unless you go for the BA degree instead of the BS degree.

So many people are afraid of statistics for some reason and just for that they hold out on taking it. I was one of those people that held out on it for as long as I could, but there is one specific psychology class that I HAVE to take and in order to take the class I had to take statistics first. I went ahead and took statistics last semester (Spring 08) and I came out of it with a HIGH A (like a 96 or 97). I thought stats would be bad but it's not as bad as people think it is. It has its hard points, but nonetheless, it's do-able. It all depends on you and your teacher. As far as what stats requires, I know with most majors it requires that you have atleast a college algebra up under your belt. GOOD LUCK!!