College Acceptance + Classes Senior Year?

Question

so I really want to go to Stanford and I have a 4.0 total GPA (unweighted - with honors/AP weighted it's a 4.8) and I'm ranked 8th in my class out of 737 juniors. My question is just, how much will dropping two of my classes next year affect my ability of getting into Stanford? (providing that I keep up the 4.0 and do well on the SAT/ACT/etc.) I really want to drop math my senior year (I've already passed Geometry, Alg 1, Alg 2, and am currently doing good in Math Analysis) because it's my worst subject and I'm not exactly thrilled at the idea of Calculus. But I don't want to drop it for something like Photography (I need a fine arts credit though) if it's going to mess up my chances. I'm already planning on dropping French (I've taken 3 years of it already) for Psychology (which is what I want to major in).

But my overall question is, should I drop math for photo senior year or take photo at a community college over the summer and keep math?Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I just wanted to add that I'm already positive I'm going to take
AP/IB English
AP/IB Govt./Econ.
AP/IB Biology 3
AP Psychology

it's just my debate over Calculus vs. Photo that's bothering me =]

Answer 1

According to the Stanford University website, they recommend four years of mathematics, and at least three years of a foreign language. However, you might want to discuss it with your high school guidance counselor before finalizing your schedule because they could give you insights. I also recommend talking to an admissions counselor from Stanford to see how they look at the situation, too. I have included several links of interest that could help you learn more about things.

Answer 2

The calculus would be valuable to you getting in but if you are not comfortable with it, try to get as many AP classes in another area. Stanford is tough and if you slack your senior year (ex: take fewer classes then everybody else) the admissions people will see that.