How to use the elective course combination comparison calculator
Choosing which elective or AP courses to take pulls in several directions at once: the score you expect, the workload, how interested you are, how well it lines up with a major. Weighing that in your head tends to favour whichever option you thought about last. Set out your criteria with a weight for each, enter a score per criterion for every combination, and this page reports a weighted score and a ranking calculated the same way for all of them.
The math is a weighted average: each item score is multiplied by its weight, the products are added up and the total is divided by the sum of the weights. The weights do not have to add up to 100, and because the sum divides out, the result sits on the same scale as the item scores. You can use any number of criteria, and each combination line needs one score per criterion; when a line does not, the page names it. The gap between first and second is shown too, so a near tie is easy to tell from a clear lead.
One limit matters more than the rest: this page does not conclude which combination is the better choice. The ranking is a product of the weights you supplied, and different weights produce a different order. Adjustments that depend on how everyone else performs are settled only after the exam, so they are not modelled here, and no admissions formula from any particular school is applied. Check the requirements of the programs you care about separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The page scores the combinations with the weights you enter and sorts them, nothing more. Change the weights and the order changes, so treat the result as your own priorities written out in numbers.
Flip the scale when you enter it. Name the criterion something like "lighter workload" and give the easier combination the higher score. Every criterion is treated as higher is better.
No. Any adjustment that depends on how the whole group of test takers performs is only settled after the exam, so it cannot be worked out in advance. This page uses only the scores and weights you type in.