S21 is set to start school on Tuesday. He’s scheduled to take AP Env Science this year. He took Pre AP Bio In 9th and Pre AP Chem In 10th. He’s not considering pre med or any science major/career and is planning on applying to all Texas public schools (TAMU, UT, UTD, UTSA, Texas State etc and a couple private schools…SMU, Southwestern). His class rank is currently 19th percentile.
My questions: Should he be taking Physics in 11th grade instead of Env Sci? Does the order of science matter? He mentioned today that most of his friends are taking Physics this year. When we met with his counselor last spring to work out 11th grade schedule I mentioned him taking Physics senior year and they said it was fine. The plan is for him to
graduate with 4 math, 4 science, 4 history, 4 English…am I second guessing his schedule choice for no reason?
Traditionally most students on a normal science track would take Bio, Chem and Physics their first 3 years. In your kid’s case it probably doesn’t matter that much the order in 11th and 12th.
It really doesn’t matter that much as long as he takes classes that interest him and he can keep his grades up and score well on the SAT/ACT. UT and A&M are going to be the reach schools for . If he’s in the top 20%, he shouldn’t have any real trouble getting into U of H, Texas Tech, Texas State, etc.
It should not matter. He will have the 4x4 that is the major want so which ones, especially still as AP’s should not make a difference
It doesn’t matter, he can take Physics senior year and APES junior year.
Make sure he also has 4 years of foreign language (or has reached level 4 in a language, including 1 level completed in Middle School).
Note: if you need financial aid, private colleges give a boost to applicants from further away than 400 miles and another state, especially if they’re from a region they have fewer applicants from. In your case, the PNW, the Midwest, and the Midatlantic would likely be good targets.
Run the NPC on Southwestern, Austin College, St Edward’s, Hendrix, Rhodes, but also Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Goucher, Allegheny, Beloit, Augustana IL, DePaul, Drew…
Thank you everyone for your input! He put in a schedule change request the first day of school but the AP Physics class this term is conflicting with band class period and the Pre AP Physics classes are full so he’ll stay in APES and just take Physics senior year.