I’m going to add….your kid needs time to do something beside just studying studying studying in high school. They need some kind of social life, some ECs of interest, time to eat and sleep, time to just chill.
Hoping they are taking some courses that are not just STEM…how about music or art or drama? Do they participate in a school sport?
All of these things are important and they all take…time!
Students in our HS get into “top” schools with 5 APs and they generally all take physics. I don’t know of any who skipped. Our district starts AP classes junior year.
Your daughter is a sophomore and I think she needs to take the schedule that is appropriate for her, but I also think she should take the focus off of “top” LACs followed by med school.
She doesn’t have to attend a “top” LAC to get into med school, and she may not even apply. It’s only halfway through 10th grade.
One step at a time. I would take physics and skip an AP, but that’s just me.
Just want to underscore this point, as it’s my kid’s experience, as well. Humanities kid, was really intimidated by physics, took AP Physics 1 junior year and loved it. Had a great teacher, which was huge. Liked it so much, kid decided to take E&M senior year, despite having no science/math aspirations in college.
Agreed. Different situations.
I’m glad your kid enjoyed it as much as mine did.
I was a mediocre math kid throughout school, and as a result- had mediocre math and science teachers. My kids were strong math kids-- and ended up with fantastic math and science teachers. The right instructor makes or breaks the experience. So energizing (and a little wistful) to watch my kids experiences so different from mine. They all had the same “teacher is nuts” physics teacher who was a big believer in “experimentation is about failure” and they failed so often in so many crazy ways which were loud and messy and team-building and fun!
OP- your kid might LOVE physics!
I’ll add another opinion here. What about leaving time at least senior year for some fun elective? My kids both took culinary arts. They loved it…and still have and use the notebooks from that course. Neither one has any science or math binders from high school.
Our HS dies not require physics.
I’ll just toss in that while describing Physics as fundamental is a very dry, academicky way to put it, it also explains why in the right hands, it can be so fun. Everything happening around us is in some way determined by Physics. And for the curious-minded, the sort of people who are always wondering why things are the way they are, it is the sort of class that can start answering questions and suggesting more questions in a way a lot of such people can find very stimulating.
For a while. Like, you may run out of interest after a year or two. But I really believe that at least one year of Physics is as fundamental to understanding the world around us, and therefore to a good general education, as anything. And it can actually feel very satisfying as a result.
Thanks, I totally agree as well. She is a pre-pro ballet student (5-6 days a week) and also does some less time-consuming extracurriculars at school. She likes to be busy and challenged. I am not driving any of this; she is just that kid. Her brother, who is going to college next year, is very different.
Yeah, my current senior (a good but not confident math student) had a number of years of bad math teachers in MS and early HS, which added to their uncertainty about taking AP physics; they’ve had much better math teachers last year and this year, with a resulting evolution in how they feel about math. Meanwhile, my current sophomore is a math whiz and has had consistently strong math teachers; they’re going to take both segments of Physics C next year alongside Calc BC (a not uncommon approach at their school), and they are perfectly confident in their ability to do so.
Quality of teaching makes a huge difference!
Sometimes it helps these driven kids to be told…they can’t do it all.
Pre-pro ballet takes a LOT of time. This kid needs time to eat and sleep too.
When our kids wanted to take on too many things, we actively said…NO.
It’s an important life skill to know how to prioritize and not take on too much.
Parenting is difficult, isn’t it? I am constantly telling her that stepping back from ballet is an option, as is taking not every advanced class. But as long as she wants to do it all and is getting straight As and still eating (not always a guarantee with ballerinas) and maintaining friendships, I’m reluctant to tell her she can’t do something. But if I see signs that it’s going sideways, I will step in.
Our son was a conservatory level classical musician. He knew when it was time to give up serious musical study. She’ll know when she has too much on her plate.
Out of a class of about 300 at BMS, there is only a handful who are HST students. We are literally talking about shooting for beyond the stars here…
This is what I find surprising - that there are high schools that don’t require one year each of biology, chemistry and physics.
One thing my middle kid did when she wanted to take AP Bio in 10th grade, but the HS insists that you take Chem in 10th (can’t defer to 11th) - take it over the summer. In her case, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to take Chem and AP Bio in one year, but that the schedule did not work for her to take both science courses, as well as taking two foreign languages. Took Chem at a local private school over the summer.
As others have said, while middle kid thought she had an interest in biology, she changed her mind. Went into college very much undecided (though thought she might pursue physics).
As for math, isn’t AP Statistics algebra based? I would think calculus based statistics would be better for for your daughter. Does the HS offer linear algebra? Middle kid took that senior year of HS, and linear algebra is useful in many fields.
This is based on purely anecdotal evidence, but I think most high schools don’t require physics. Probably most require three years of science, but there are many options that would fulfill that requirement. High school graduation requirements are not always the same as college entrance requirements/expectations/norms (or, at the very least, they might reflect minimal entrance requirements for in-state universities). I could be wrong, but that’s my impression.
The short answer is YES. Not taking physics at all is a major issue for SOME colleges, notably the top ones (since you mentioned interest in top colleges).
The LONG answer:
I hear you on the pre-pro ballet. Mine did ballet and other forms of dance for many yrs and worked up to 17-20 hrs a week (5-6 d), AND did a different performance art, for all of HS. She took the maximum rigor which included bio/chem/physics as well all 3 APs. And maximized all the other course areas. And still slept etc. Yes this could be seen as over the top but she picked it all-and loves a challenge. My point is it can be done and in fact now that she and her sister are both at top schools, I can assure you that the vast majority of students (including non-stem kids )at the top schools have done physics in HS. Among premed/stem kids, most have done similar or just “below” what my ballet kid D23 did as far as courses, and many had an EC that required close to 20 hrs a week in HS. Entering a top school as a premed with less than the preparation that most have is a huge mistake, in my opinion. It would have been a mistake back when I was a premed and it has gotten even more competitive : it is a long road and a serious premed needs to be ready to compete with their college peers.
My kids attend a private school and hardly anyone takes Physics, I was really surprised. My S25 is in AP Physics and there are 15 kids (all boys for some reason) in his class and it’s the only offered Physics class. D23 took Bio, Chem, and AP Environmental Science, but she’s majoring in Communications and Studio Art, so lack of Physics hasn’t hurt. I would think anyone pre-med, Math, Engineering, science of any kind, should take Physics.
Honors or regular Physics was required at my D’s HS, but AP C only had 6 students.
All freshman at our HS take a physical science class which is a very general survey of physics and chemistry. Otherwise physics is not required. And even with the requirement for regular/honors science classes before AP there are about 40 kids in the AP Physics C class, (they have two sections), this is about the same number of kids who take APUSH.