<p>OP said nothing about her daughter’s major - that is why I mentioned that she should be especially careful if her daughter were to anticipate a STEM major.</p>
<p>At our public high school, at least half of all the students enrolled in AP math and science apply to college with the intention of majoring in STEM or pre-med. Far fewer graduate with these majors or career plans. Some honestly change interests, some fall short of the curve, and some are advised to leave STEM if they have any ambitions of attending a top law school or another graduate program that will not evaluate GPA holistically.<br>
I specifically brought up STEM when OP mentioned low test scores and “reach school” because - </p>
<p>At Frazzled D’s school and several others that her friends attended, in some top 30 research universities that are not tech schools, over half of all the freshmen initially enroll in gen chem. There are several easier ways to satisfy the science requirement and preserve GPA, but these will not count in the pre-req chain for medical school or STEM majors. Enrollment in physics is probably lower, because by the time students who do not anticipate becoming engineers or majoring in a physical science are ready to take it in sophomore and junior years, quite a few have given up and changed majors.</p>
<p>It seemed to Frazzled D that most of the students in gen chem, even before declaring a major, anticipated attending medical school, and a good many will enroll with the intention of majoring in a STEM field. I am told that it is not unusual for about a third to drop the class after the first exam. </p>
<p>Luckily, most of these schools have many other majors in social sciences and humanities that are well-regarded and attract superbly talented students.</p>