<p>Is taking four years of science absolutely necessary for entrance into the top schools (Georgetown, Penn, Yale, etc)? I want to major in IR in college and for my senior year I am thinking of taking Chinese in addition to German instead of a science. A lot of my friends say that colleges prefer it if you take four years of science. Is that true? I am good at science but it isn’t something I want to pursue in college whereas IR is and I think Chinese would be more beneficial to me in that way. What do you think?</p>
<p>It might depend on the school, but if you take the 4tth year of Science along with the 4th year of math ect it’s a no apology situation. I don’t know how the Chinese benefits you as they look at it if you are already taking German.</p>
<p>These types of questions are always better answered bu talking to Guidance and to the school rep’s when they come and make presentations either at the school or some college fair. Call or write a school or two that you may be interested in.</p>
<p>thanks for your reply, anyone else?</p>
<p>I think you should go with the 4th year of science too, not because I think it’s absolutely necessary but because that one year of Chinese won’t be enough to replace an introductory college Chinese class, so the time would be lost.</p>
<p>I agree with the post above about the lost time… however, I do think that you should actually check out the requirements of the schools you are interested in. Some will say “3-4 years lab science recommended” and others will say “4 years required.” Obviously, even recommendations are obviously necessary if you want to be a top applicant at the top schools, but if it is actually listed as a requirement… there ya go, decision made. If you are really dead set on taking Chinese and dropping science, be ready to justify yourself. I encountered a <em>similar</em> though slightly different path. I am also a prospective IR major so this may seem silly, but I chose to forgo my fourth year Spanish studies in order to pursue a senior elective history course that was built for me (covering Modern Middle East one semester and US Foreign policy the next) The Spanish program at my school was extremely poor and I intend on learning Arabic in college anyway. This raised some questions with some schools that i had to explain, but in the end, I have been admitted to one of my top choices (still waiting on others) and couldn’t be happier with the choice I made. </p>
<p>Just something to keep in mind. Pursue what you love… but be ready to justify yourself.</p>
<p>they prefer science, but trust me, senior year without science is sooooo nice. It’s a tough choice to make. Colleges like to see 4 years of everything, but it wouldn’t necessarily kill you to drop one year of science.</p>
<p>If you take Physics and they have a lower section avaliable take that over the more difficult one. I know it goes against the grain a bit about always taking the toughest one aval, but the lower sections tend to be more hands on and alot more fun. A lot of kids just don’t take Physics at all or they endup dropping the more difficult course. Then they have the dreaded WF on their grades. I think just having Physics on your application is enough to show the college that you are challenging yourself in your senior schedule.</p>