Trying to help my second kid, HS class of 2026, pick her junior year courses. She hopes to attend a top LAC, probably study bio or chem, and then go to med school. She has a 4.0UW at this time, and takes all of the hardest courses available to her. She took Accelerated Biology in 9th and is taking Accelerated Chemistry this year. She is also in her first year of a three-year science research seminar. (Also currently taking Accelerated Precalculus and will take either AB or BC next year.)
She wants to take AP Chemistry next year and AP Biology her senior year. Is not taking physics going to disqualify her from some colleges? (She is not interested in engineering.) I feel like given her goals, AP Bio and AP Chem are probably more useful, and because of the research seminar I think taking a third science class simultaneously would be a bit much.
Without getting into a discussion on AP science credits and med school admissions, if she’s a pre-med, her first college physics class, which she will need to take as a med school prerequisite, will be filled with hundreds of premeds that had exposure to physics in HS and they are all jockeying for the A which will be limited by the curve.
One year of college level physics is a med school admissions requirement and will be tested on the MCAT.
While you will not need engineering level physics, but I don’t know if a smaller school has enough enrollment to offer separate levels. She doesn’t need physics for admission to many schools. But. Would you want her to take physics for the first time in college?
If she is premed she will have to take physics in college. It will be much easier to get a good grade (which she will need when applying to med school) if she already had physics in high school.
Top schools are looking for students that have taken the highest rigor possible that is available to them. Is it required? At most schools, no. But you will be competing for admission against kids that did take it. Skipping physics would be a mistake in my opinion.
At her high school, you cannot take AP Physics without first taking regular physics. So taking AP Chem junior year and AP Bio or Organic Chemistry her senior year would be more rigorous than taking physics one of those years, right?
But I do take the point from others that not having exposure to physics may put her at a disadvantage when taking physics in college.
Many competitive schools want to see 1 year each of bio, chem and physics. I would not advise skipping physics (doesn’t need to be AP level), if your student is going to be applying to some reach schools.
She doesn’t need both. TBH, regular physics is better preparation than any AP Physics course IMO, since it covers more topics. And if AP Physics is AP Physics C, she doesn’t need at all. Nor does she need to jam in every AP simply because it’s an AP
Agree with all the posts here - one year each of Bio, Chem, Physics before adding on advanced courses. Regular or honors Physics junior year would be my recommendation.
I didn’t realize the path would leave her with no physics at all. That will probably be a bit of a red flag, and put her at a little disadvantage in college physics. I’m surprised that her school let her skip it.
That said, this is all about choices. Trying to read so AO’s mind and then completely blowing up her desired path isn’t ideal either. OChem/Biochem was one of our son’s favorite high school courses.
College physics is hard. I had a poor high school physics class. AP physics wasn’t offered, and regular physics was a joke. I really struggled with physics when I got to college. I would have given anything to have a good foundation in it!
I got my first C ever that first semester of physics, and a B second semester. I went on to graduate in engineering with high honors, so that gives you an idea of how hard physics was.
If she wants her application to be taken seriously as a would-be science major at selective colleges, she would need to take bio, chem, and physics then 1 AP in chem or bio if that’s all she can take.
Physics is one of the 3 foundational science courses all future science majors are supposed to have been exposed to in hs.
For a premed, AP Chem is probably a better idea since there are several weedout chem courses she’ll need to take.
The basic curriculum for a competitive applicant to a very selective college typically is:
4 years each of English and History/Social Science, including some AP
Math through precalculus or calculus
Bio, chem, physics +1 more
foreign language through level 3 or 4
a class of interest, art, music…
This would then be adjusted senior year depending on the intended major.
Exactly. In addition to the strategic considerations involving college admissions or taking it for the first time as a graded pre-med prereq, there is actually a reason it is a pre-med prereq! What you learn in Physics is really basic to fully understanding all the natural sciences, all sorts of technology including medical technology, the functioning of bodies and what can happen to them in accidents or during medical procedures, and on and on.
So even holding aside what is require or strategic, I completely agree that everyone should take a decent Physics course before moving on to advanced studies in any STEM or related field, or really (in my view) college in general.