There is only 1 physics teacher at their school and he has zero interest in teaching. Many students and parents we talked to confirmed that. My kid 1st quarter grade will be sent to those RD schools. Should my kid still take physics? I am worried about getting bad grades in the Physics class since the major we are looking at are science-related majors. Could you please share your thoughts?
My son took AP physics with a teacher who had just had twins and also had narcolepsy. The teacher slept in a room next door. I kid you not.
There were 5 kids and they got a textboook from an adult they knew and taught each other. At least some of them got 5âs on the AP exam.
That said, there is no need to take physics. It can also be taken online. We got our school to accept classes from VHSlearning.org and eventually our public school even joined.
For a kid wanting a science related major, I disagree. Many colleges recommend at least three years of lab sciences including biology, chemistry, and physics. Not taking physics is leaving a hole in the college applications.
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Totally agree. Most schools want to see one year of bio, chem and physics. Especially for stem , but really for everyone.
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Yes. Otherwise, how does he plan on explaining? âI opted not to take physics because the teacher sucks and I require excellent instructors who will spoon-feed meâ is not an explanation that will be viewed positively.
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Both my kids had awful teachers for pre-calculus and physics. Itâs pretty common to have at least one teacher that is just not interested in teaching (or worse delights in making them miserable). Kids have to learn to deal with it, get tutoring, self-learn.
They will have crappy professors in college too.
But many schools require a year of lab bio, chem, and physics. For a prospective STEM major it could be a red flag.
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Depends on the level of school - for some yes, for many itâs not necessary. You could sub in APES or another class.
A prospective science major not having physics in high school could be at a disadvantage in:
- College admissions, where subjective review may notice that omission.
- College, where science majors typically are required to take physics, and those who have not had physics in high school will not have a high school level familiarity with the subject.
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In our high school, for the kids who couldnât take physics (because of their ability), the district waived the physics requirement. Otherwise, kids who wanted to get a straight diploma, were required to have biology, chemistry, and physics to get their HS Diploma.
You had better check the high school graduation requirements to see if physics is required because otherwise, he could end up without a high school diploma.
Thatâs what happened to the âintended valedictorianâ at our high school in my sonâs grade. Our son was in similar classes and was also one of the top five students at the HS.
His mother âtook overâ the course decisions from the counselor and neglected to include biology. The mother wanted to tailor his course schedule for his âamazing abilitiesâ. From what I understand there were several contentious meetings and the district finally advised the counseling staff to let the mother do what she wanted, as long as she was aware of the graduation requirements.
Prior to the kidâs last semester, I knew that the counselor had advised them that they still didnât have biology on the transcript and the mother assured the counselor that her child would be taking it online or at the community college.
The counselor knew that my son and the womanâs son were on the same team and would say, âif you get a chance to talk to Mom, tell her I need to her to see me about her son.â
(I was on staff at the high school, and had a number of special needs students whose parents worked with me and the counselor on their schedules.)
He had to wait to graduate until he took a course at the local community college because the parent was advised in writing and verbally, but by the time they responded, that there were no open basic biology classes to meet the high school graduation deadline; the kid was stuck.
I always advise students to check their districts high school diploma requirements.
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I agree totally. The student should take physics at their high school. Any course a college is âexpectingâ to see should be done at the HS when offered.
Our kids had a few crappy teachers, and itâs just part of life. Having a bad teacher can be even more frustrating in college and itâs good for them to already know how to get through it.
I recall parents in K-12 who would freak out over certain teachers. In almost every case, the teacher might not have been great, but they werenât horrible. We didnât make a big deal out of it and neither did our kids.
Our kid took 2 physics classes from a crappy HS teacher because that was expected of him; he and his friends had to mostly self-teach but ended up liking the teacher personally and did well on the AP exams. His freshman math teacher was so bad that a group of them banded together to support each other and eventually became what is his closest friend group to this day.
Some of the parents on college facebook pages are STILL losing their everloving minds over crappy teachers. Based on their kidsâ reactions and their own reactions itâs apparent theyâve done their kids a disservice over the years. My son had the college prof that everyone goes crazy about the most. He said she wasnât great, but it was really no big deal and he got an A. Heâs autistic so weâve taught him explicitly over the years how to deal with different people interpersonally. I think thatâs helped him a lot with his teachers. He tends to do just fine with and sometimes even likes the âcrappyâ teachers.
So this could be a good opportunity to help your child learn how to navigate a challenging situation and gain some great interpersonal and scholastic tools along the way. Be kind and respectful, work hard and creatively, learn to be resourceful and independent, form a study group and help each other, and rise above the gossipy fray. Communicate: âthis may be challenging but youâve got this!â
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Is dual enrollment an option?
Physics is a key class in stem. Yes. They should take it. Unless I am reading it incorrectly, I would also apply EA not RD unless there is a reason to do so. Good luck.
But what school? If itâs grand valley state, it wonât matter. If itâs Grinnell, it will.
It will matter once the student gets to (any) college and has to take physics in college without having seen a high school level preview of the subject.
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But thatâs not the question.
The question is related to admissions. And I donât think anyone can answer that question without understanding the school list.
The parent already assumes the student isnât going to learn.
No, it isnât. OP never asked if it would affect admissions. Just asked if they should take it or not. I think the majority of people would say you need physics in high school to build a foundation before you get to college.
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Itâs sort of about admissions. The OPâs concern is that their child may get a bad grade that would affect admissions at RD schools.
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Fair enough. I missed that part. Apologies!
I think it really matter whether itâs ânot greatâ or abysmal. If the teacher is just not great - Iâd say donât skip the foundational course and use it as a learning experience for your kid to deal with the future prof or TA thatâs also not great. If itâs a really terrible teacher and there are some who really do not belong in a classroom, Iâd look to have my kid take the course either online or via dual enrollment if theyâre looking at STEM.
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I missed the part about wanting to major in science. Two of my kids got into top colleges without physics but werenât science majors.
We had some terrible teachers. My kid who really wanted to learn took online classes instead, for an AP science class and an AP US history class and did well on the exams. Kids in her school class got 2â3 and 3âs.
You might be able to get an online class approved if you tell guidance what the issue is.
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