<p>This is my elective schedule for eleventh and twelfth grades. (In my school, electives are time slots where you can pick which subjects you want to take from a range of necessary subjects, like sciences, and fun stuff, like fencing.)</p>
<p>11th:
Bar 1: Algebra II
Bar 2: AP Bio
Bar 3: Debate
ASL
Bar 4: APUSH</p>
<p>12th:
Bar 1: AP Calc/Computer Design (another dilemma that I’ll save for another time)
Bar 2: AP Psych
Bar 3: Not sure (electives are chosen by popular agreement, so I’ll have to see what’s available)
Bar 4: AP Gov
Bar 5: AP English</p>
<p>So I took Bio in 9th and Chem in 10th and this year I’m taking AP Bio. 12th I probably won’t take a science unless you count AP Psych. (I plan to be a psychologist or psychiatrist.)
So here’s the thing. I hear all this stuff about how colleges like 4 years of science, and BCP, and stuff like that. I don’t think physics will be offered in 12th grade (it’s been offered for 2 years which means it probably won’t be next year) so if I ever take physics it will have to be this year, in the slot which now contains debate and ASL, which I want to take. My principal likes me 
so I could probably finagle a change in classes, but I DON’T WANT to take physics! Will colleges hold it (or the fact that I’ll only have 3 years of science) against me? What’s more worth it in the long run?
I have a lot of other things that I want to do this year, like Intel STS, History Day, Dupont Challenge, and lifeguarding and WSI. My parents say it doesn’t matter and I should do what I enjoy. I worry about it, though.
Should I change my schedule?</p>
<p>Bumpitty bumpitty bump bump bump!</p>
<p>Bump!
Please don’t let me down!
This is sad, my only replies are two bumps.</p>
<p>I have a question- I am not a student but a parent. I noticed you are in Algebra II this year and then AP Calc next year. Do you have a pre-calc class or jump straight from Algebra II to AP Calc? </p>
<p>I am a lot like your parents with the idea of not taking a class you don’t like, just for admissions purposes, but then you have to look at your goals and the schools you are aiming at. I would consider their admissions requirements in the decision.</p>
<p>Also, consider the math requirements of the physics class you are considering and if being in Algebra II is enough preparation. You could also ask if physics will be offered next year or not. It’s also possible the schools will count your computer elective as a science (Comp Sci) so there may be no need to take physics. You will still need 4 years of math, but it could be Pre-Calc or Trig. Is AP Chem a possibility? You don’t have room for all the classes, so something would need to be substituted. At least you would know your choices. (also check with your colleges of choice and your guidance counselor about this)
But again, I am like your parents, and if AP Psych is your biggest interest and you love it, then taking the class you love is a good thing as long as you are meeting the requirements of your school and goals. (but I am not an admissions counselor and my own kids were not applying to Harvard, Yale… etc. I have no idea about how these schools would judge)</p>
<p>I will probably not take AP Calc, unless I do really well this year and my parents teach me precalc over the summer. I’ll probably end up in precalc in 12th. I’m just keeping slots open. I may not even take comp sci in 12th either- I won’t know til I make my schedule.
My question is more based on whether you need BCP (bio chem physics) to get into a good college, because my only chance to take physics will be this year (not AP) and I really a) don’t want to and b) want to take the other class I’m already signed up for in that bar. There is no AP Chem in my school, but there is an accredited (but expensive) college chem course that I could take in 12th.
I will definitely take AP Psych in 12th because I want to be a psychologist and that’s my dream class that I’ve been looking forward to since I entered high school. My other slots are undecided, which means that this whole dilemma may become moot.
Is there any really good reason to take physics? I’d love to avoid it.
In an unrelated question, is AP Stats a business course in college or a math course? If it’s a math course, does it make sense to take it instead of precalc if I plan to go into psychology?</p>
<p>Funnily enough, a girl in my class will be taking Algebra II and physics simultaneously, which I find kind of strange. Is that even possible?
Also, the annoying thing at my school is that electives are by popular demand, meaning that they are voted in by students and thus you never know what will be available until the end of the process. So I have no idea what will be available.</p>
<p>I will answer this to bump it up for you, as I have no idea if all of physics/chem/bio is necessary for the colleges you want. There are plenty of people in humanities who have never taken a physics class, but I have no idea when it comes to competitive colleges. Again, that would be a good question for the admissions at the college of your choice.
AP Stats is considered a math, and may not have the weight of AP Calc in admissions,(for engineering/sciences/ challenge) but it is a math. Stats is probably required for the psychology major. Look at the class requirements for the psych majors at the colleges you are interested in.
Some kids are math/science oriented and will have all these classes, but others may end up taking more literature and history classes. How an admissions committee sees this, I don’t know.
Most high school physics is not calculus based, but again, the math prerequisite for the class at your high school is what is important.
I know of students who enter college without calculus or physics, but again, I am not familiar with the selection methods at the most competitive schools. I hope someone will answer you as well, and probably best to check with the schools of your choice to see what they would like.</p>
<p>Thanks! I’m looking into my colleges more to figure out more of what they want (my big ones right now are Barnard and Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College). So far I haven’t seen anything about it on the website for Macaulay at Hunter (I haven’t started contacting colleges or anything like that yet). Thanks for responding!</p>
<p>Looking at Barnard requirements for psyc major… Stats is required and " two courses in a science, both semesters accompanied by a 3-hour laboratory section (astronomy, biology, chemistry, environmental science, geology, or physics). A student may use AP credit towards the outside science requirement if the corresponding department (i.e. biology) and the College accept it as fulfilling the college science requirement."</p>
<p>Which means you can choose physics, but also not choose it and take it from the other sciences. As well as this: “one course from the cognate disciplines (anthropology, computer science, economics, linguistics, philosophy, or sociology”</p>
<p>So look at the requirements at the colleges you are thinking about. Physics may not be required, but another science is… It is possible that taking AP Stats and AP Psych, at your school and comp sci are reasonable choices, but again, the best expert is the admissions office at the school (s)of your choice. Better to know now, than to regret a choice of classes later.</p>
<p>So that sounds awesome based on my plans, but obviously I’m going into it more in depth. And since my physics class wouldn’t be AP, it doesn’t even matter if I take it.
What I really want to know is if it matters to admissions.
Thanks!</p>