Hi! I am a high school sophomore and I am trying to navigate what I should do for the rest of high school and college. I aiming to major in a health science (public health) and possibly go the pharmacy route but not entirely sure yet. I apologize if this kinda gets wacky.
Is it okay to not take AP Pyschology? I know it’s a really good class to take in high school, but honestly, I don’t know if I have any room in my junior and senior schedule. Will it affect my “college admissions?”
I’m thinking about taking an AP science but I don’t know if it’s best. I do want to major in a health science. I’ve taken honors biology and honors chemistry and I will be taken normal anatomy/physiology, global health, and biotech. These are normal because it is, and I am, apart of my school’s medical academy. AP Physics isn’t really in the books for me (not a physics person), so we have AP Bio and AP Chem. At my school, we only have one AP Bio teacher and from everyone who has taken their class… the teacher is horrendous in all possible ways. I’m a bit in a tight end and lowkey don’t know what to do. Should I take AP Chem? AP Bio? I would love to know anyone’s opinion.
Some more info on me: Classes I’ve taken include: Honors English (2 yrs.), Spanish 1/2, Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, Algebra 1/2 and Geometry, AP Euro, Health, and a couple college classes for more health and art credit; Classes I’m planning to take for both junior and senior year (and I’m sure of) include: Pre-calc, APStats, AP US History, AP Government, AP Economics, AP Lang, AP Lit, (regular) Anatomy, Biotech
I’m somewhat concerned you are taking no Physics at all (from what I can tell). You definitely do not need to take AP Physics specifically, but Physics is a foundational science relevant to many other sciences, engineering, and tech subjects. And at least in the US, many graduate programs in health, pharmacy, and medical schools and such will want you to take some Physics in college, on what is sometimes called collectively a “pre-health track”. And many colleges themselves might prefer you take some Physics in HS, including in preparation for possible college Physics classes on a pre-health track.
In addition to having some Physics, ordinarily given your interests I would also suggest at least one of AP Bio or AP Chem. Again, not necessarily for the AP itself, but because the same pre-health tracks are typically going to include Bio and Chem, and it is a good idea to be as prepared as possible for those college-level classes, which are often quite competitive. I understand the concern with the AP Bio teacher, but what about Chem?
So my suggestion is you prioritize getting in a Physics class and maybe at least AP Chem. To me you have a lot of other stuff which looks like an “elective” that you don’t really need for college admissions, and frankly a lot of those APs are not necessarily seen as all that great for college preparation either. So I think cutting a couple of those “elective” courses to make room for a couple more foundational science classes would make a lot of sense both for colleges, and in fact for your actual education.
In addition to the great advice given by @NiceUnparticularMan, you should also continue with Spanish 3 and 4. I’m not sure what colleges you are planning to apply to, but many recommend 3 or even 4 years of the same language. And the Spanish will serve you well in a health related field.
This is a really critical point in my view. I know here we filter everything through a college admissions lens, but I really don’t think we should lose sight of the fact that a solid education has lifelong benefits. And languages in particular are notoriously an area where for most people, the farther you can get while young the easier you will have it as an adult.
So this is a great opportunity for the OP to get credit for studying Spanish when it will actually be likely to do the most good for the OP in the future. And I know it is not always the most exciting prospect to kids, but I am pretty sure their future selves with thank them for making choices like that.
Thanks all!
I am planning on taking Spanish 3 over the summer and that’s the highest I’m allowed to take in my school beside going the further step to AP Spanish.
Is it okay to take an AP Chemistry class senior year? I honestly do not have any more room in my junior schedule to take that class because of all the classes I need for my medical academy.
Do you think taking physics college class (over the summer) is okay? I think my school only offers physics to our engineering academy but I need to check that.
Any thoughts on AP Pyschology? If I do not take it (possibly because I have no space), will it “harm” me in any way?
If you have a list of schools that interest you (and I don’t know that you do), you can check their application websites for the recommended high school curriculum.
If you don’t have a list of schools, you might choose a few - maybe your local flagship or if you think you are high end - an Ivy campus.
Or the U of California A-G requirements are often a good surrogate for most schools.
Given you desire a pre-pharmacy, math and science will be important - that you sort of would know up front - but you can see how many years of each subject a school requires by looking at their HS academic preparation pages.
So if your school has special rules for what you can or can’t do, that will definitely be a factor in what colleges expect to see (they should get this information from the school profile and counselor report). So do not worry if are doing what you can within those rules.
Generally it is fine to take AP Chem (or any AP natural science) as a senior. I’d say the “normal” sequence is actually first-level Physics, Bio, and Chem in some order, then an AP or equivalent of your choice senior year. Anything beyond that in natural sciences is what I would consider elective and not something a college would normally demand.
I don’t think you should normally feel obligated to take summer classes for college admissions purposes, but I do wonder if you would benefit anyway from taking Physics in the summer to be better prepared for college when it will really count.
AP Psych is a perfectly decent elective option, but not something I would think of as specifically required. But I agree you should generally make sure to have at least one solid History/Social Science course each year if allowed.
There is nothing special about AP Psych vs. any other course. And agree with everyone else- NOT taking physics is a mistake.
You should not let the specialized courses/electives take the place of the core HS curriculum. If medical academy interferes with you taking English, History, three lab sciences (bio, chem, physics) etc. you should drop medical academy. It is more important to show up at college (any college) with a strong foundation rather than early specialization.
To get into college, you have to graduate from high school, first, and meet your High School Diploma requirements.
Your school district has standards to get a diploma. You have to follow those standards which oftentimes mesh with college admission requirements.
Don’t you have a high school guidance counselor? There could be, somewhere on your HS website, the academic graduation requirements for your high school.
A lot of schools typically have a “college track” where they recommend how many years of English, Math, Science, Arts, and Social Sciences are required.
None of my kids took psychology in high school.
They followed their high school requirements for a diploma, as well as the A through G requirements for admission to the UC’s.
You don’t have to apply to the UCs, but their high school admissions requirements can be used as a really good guide to follow for a number of universities:
A: 2 years of History
B: 4 years of English
C: 3 years of college prep math (4 rec)
D: 2 years of Sciences In the areas of biology, physics, and chemistry. The competitive schools require three years.
-Plus, 1 year of applied science like computer science.
E: 2 years of a Foreign Language/ other than English.
F: 1 year of visual or performing arts.
G: 1 year of a subject/ elective that has gone beyond what you’ve already taken in the other areas. Like computer science, US government, or psychology.
Since a number of universities would like to see a third year of history, students take US government.
My advice to you is to work with your guidance counselor and have an idea of where you want to apply, so that you can open that college’s website, and see what they are actually asking of you, for admission.
For the D requirement, would anatomy/physiology be accepted or as like a 1 year of applied science?
Also, would it look bad or would it harm the way college admissions look at me if I have too much college credit done already in high school? My school has a Dual Enrollment program and I have accomplished a lot of high school and college credit through this. I understand that depending on the school that I may have to retake some credits if done in high school but they don’t accept it. I also am considering taking some random college classes (college credit only) through my local community college “just for fun.” How would that look?
“For each year of the requirement, a grade of C or better in a transferable course of at least 3 semester (4 quarter) units in a natural (physical or biological) science with at least 30 hours of laboratory (not “demonstration”)”
Please stick to whatever the colleges are asking. You need these courses with labs.
You appear to be jumping the gun and trying to get ahead of yourself.
The colleges tend to like students who can follow their directions. If your courses are too narrow in scope, and you don’t have the basic requirements, that THEY want, you may be limiting where you are admitted.
Edited to add: if you are trying to avoid those labs/courses, especially Physics, this does not bode well for admissions. They do NOT require that it has to be an AP course.
Also, “apart” means “to separate” vs. I am a part of my medical academy”.
Sorry I understand most of what you are saying but not exactly.
Are you saying don’t do Dual Enrollment or college classes in high school? I wasn’t planning on doing college classes with labs.
So far I have only done an Art History (so that I can accomplish my high school fine art credits and the college credit was a bonus), a Health 102 (for fun but also got CPR certification as a bonus), and I was planning on just taking a Communications, Psychology (because I wanted to take AP Psychology but I don’t have room in my schedule), and possibly Physics now “for fun” over the next few summers before graduating (and these ones only provide college credit so it’s “just for fun” classes)??? I at first just wanted to take these classes to familiarize myself in these subjects and push myself in harder classes (not intentionally trying to find a loop hole in AP classes) because I don’t have enough room to do “everything” during the academic year, my school doesn’t provide them, and they just sound like “enjoyable” courses.
When do you sleep, eat, or go out with friends? The colleges want kids who are not overscheduled.
Get a part-time job so that you can have experience when you look for on campus jobs.
Play a sport.
Be a high school kid.
Don’t overload your schedule; it doesn’t look good.
They will think you will be a burned-out kid by the time you get to college.
Take a regular course schedule.
The “D” is a science with a lab. Have you read anything that was posted and linked?
What will you do if you’re rejected because you have overscheduled yourself?
You’re supposed to enjoy high school. If you keep adding courses, the colleges will wonder if you had any fun.