So I am an incoming sophomore in high school and very serious about getting into a top college. I am definitely going to do some sort of degree involving Government/politics and Economics as I am very interested in these areas. I obviously will not use science for these areas and have very little interest in the sciences anyway. However, I will be required to take a science this year, which is chemistry. I got A; in both honors biology and honors geometry last year, but I decided that since I am not interested in science, I would just take the regular chemistry college prep course. But lately, I have been thinking that if I want to get into a top college would the admissions staff want to see that I have taken honors science even though that’s not related to my intended college major? It’s not like that without honors chemistry I will not have an impressive courseload this year: I am taking 2 AP history courses, 2 honors maths (my school is on a block schedule allowing me to take a course one semester for double the time, which lets me take two levels of a subject in one academic year), honors mandarin 3 and 4, honors english 2, as well as prepping for 4 ap courses on my own. I know I would be able to handle honors chemistry in my schedule and I wouldn’t have any particular problem getting a good grade, but if it is not relevant to my intended career path, will the top colleges care?
While you think you may not need these science courses, taking them (as well as other courses you may deem as “pointless”) is crucial. If you look at what these top schools look for, its someone who is well-rounded academically and outside of school. Thus, the average well rounded student will take:
4 years of science
4 years of math
3-4 years of a social studies course
3-4 years of a foreign language
4 years of English
SOME exposure to the visual/performing arts if available
So yes, I would opt for Chem. It will also give you some math practice, which you will need for various aspects of PoliSci and Econ. Cant hurt to get that.
Colleges want to see rigor no matter what you’re going into. They actually analyze your transcript to see if you took rigor in both related and unrelated classes. If you can handle Honors Chem, I recommend you take it. Even though it’s not related, it is still showing you are attempting a rigorous courseload.
Yes, colleges will want you to have on average 5 Honors (and Aps - total) per year and preferably all core courses unless you have a serious reason (dyscalculia, school doesn’t offer honors version, etc). choosing the regular option for the reason you cite would be an almost immediate cut during the academic review, unless you have something special like two foreign languages at AP level , math through multivariable calc, etc. In addition, I’m not sure that your guidance counselor would check “most rigorous available” to describe your curriculum (and not having “most rigorous” is a no-no at top 25 universities and basically all top 50 LACs.)