While calculus remains the gold standard of academic rigor in most college admissions offices, educators and employers increasingly champion advanced statistics as critical for navigating today's data-driven workforce. So which math pathway actually shapes long-term success? To find out, we asked UT Austin Associate Professor Matt Giani, graduate assistant Franchesca Lyra, and Fordham's Adam Tyner to analyze course-taking patterns from roughly twenty years of data on more than five million Texas public high school students. Then they focused on the 178,000 students who took either AP Calculus or AP Statistics, tracking them into college and the workforce to compare their long-term outcomes. The study yields several top-line results worth your time. Among them: While taking rigorous math courses improves postsecondary outcomes, students who take AP Calculus don't necessarily earn higher long-term salaries than those who take AP Statistics. In the end, the study underscores the importance of offering multiple advanced math options, suggests that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach for college-bound students, and reaffirms the need to address longstanding disparities in advanced course-taking.