Should I drop Math Analysis Honors because of scheduling conflicts?

Hi @yeona4e

Thank you for asking this question. I'm certain that many high-achieving students are torn between doing what they love and trying to keep up with their peers who are in a mad race to collect as many APs, and IBs and stack their transcripts with course rigor.

From your CV handle, I'm guessing you are a Korean American female? (Sorry, if I'm mistaken) That means you are in the Top 5 worst demographics to get into Stanford or any Ivy or Elite college. Why? Because there are so many high-achieving Chinese and Koreans who all have amazing GPAs, course rigor, and test scores. So even if you end up with a 4.0, 12 APs (mostly 4s and 5s), and 1560+SAT or 35+ACT, you may not get into these schools unless you differentiate yourself from the fray and do ECs that are spikey or different.

So if I were you I would continue doing what you love and take Artist Orchestra and kick some @ss in that.

The 2nd piece of advice I would give you if you want to go to Stanford is don't do what every other Asian is doing when they apply to Stanford. Don't apply as a CS major or a Pre-Med major. Those 2 are to most popular majors and the hardest to get into. Why? Every Asian parent wants their kids to be a doctor for the wrong reasons. They want instant status and credibility in their community and nothing validates an Asian family more than having a doctor in the making going to Stanford. If they can't have a doctor, then they want a successful tech child making $500K in silicon valley.

Since you are a sophomore, you have enough time to pick a major that is under-subscribed like linguistics, classics, or a language (other than your native tongue). If your EC narrative and intellectual vitality narrative are compelling and believable, you will get accepted. Then after 3 semesters, just declare a different major if you want. It matters so much less to pick a great major than to graduate with the right major okay? Be a turtle, not a rabbit.

If you want to build up your math narrative, just take Pre-Calc or Calculus over the summer. It's easy peasy. I took a 7-week Calc. course on Outlier.org, got an A, earned 3 college credits and Columbia Univ. was totally cool with that instead of AP Calc. You do not have to do everything everyone else is doing at your HS. Just do things to meet the high academic thresholds at Stanford but have something unique about yourself that makes you stand out compared to tens of thousands of Asians applying there each cycle.

Stanford also has an athletic rating on its admissions score card so do yourself a favor and get into a Varsity Sport if you are not doing that already. Tennis, volleyball, x-county, track, swimming, water polo. Do that for 3 years. That will help your application more than robotics club, and other standard ECs.

You do not want your application to read like your peers or your peers in neighboring zip codes. You want to be memorable and stand out. Stanford doesn't like people who only look good on paper, they want the most compelling applicant not necessarily the best-qualified student. Yeah, it's not logical. But Stanford is not a meritocracy either.

Good luck.

While @CameronBameron's answer is extremely thorough (and goes in detail I certainly won't provide here), I found myself in nearly the same situation in highschool. My auditioned choir class, which I absolutely loved, conflicted with AP Stats. I chose what I loved and that's what I recommend you do. Highschool is not just the time to do things to get you into college. You are a person before you're a student and that means making time for the things and courses you enjoy!

At the end of the day, taking AP Calc AB instead of BC is probably not going to make or break your application, even at the most elite schools. And if you really want to end up on that math path, you can do what I did (and @CameronBameron suggests) and take it online. You might be able to do this through your school depending on the online learning opportunities in your state. Talk to your guidance counselor, they'll have a better idea of non-traditional ways to get credit.

Not big on online learning? Talk to your teachers. I had a similar issue pop up for AP Spanish Lang. I spoke with that teacher and the administration and we came up with a unique compromise: I would sit in a period where she taught Spanish 2 but work on my AP materials on my own, under her supervision. Usually, your counselors and teachers want you to end up in the classes you want, and their flexibility might surprise you.