<p>D. is a sophomore. She is not sure what she wants to do in the future and major in college. right now she is thinking about either business or law. She took biology last year and loved it. But still she didn't think she'd major STEM in college. Her math is good. Her parents are both physics profs. Last year she took AP U.S. government. This year she is taking APUSH and AP chem. </p>
<p>We wish she could take AP econ of some kind to test water, but her school doesn't offer it. If she takes AP physics B, (which her school offers), she may be able to do well enough to get a 5, based on her aptitude in math, and of course she will have family support and free tutoring from the parents. My question is if taking AP physics is necessary in her case, in terms of college admission. They are so busy, we want to optimize the benefit of course choice. </p>
<p>Right now the plan is that she'll take AP Calc, AP physics, AP English composition next year. Her school also offers AP psych, (that's another choice for juniors), and maybe we can talk to her school to see if she can take AP econ online. </p>
<p>First a side note: if she is taking AP USH and AP chem this year, in May or June she should consider taking the corresponding subject tests.</p>
<p>Regarding AP course selection, I’ve heard that for college admissions purposes, the subjects considered more impressive are those that are the top class in a series, rather than those that are one-offs. Calc, sciences, foreign language are more impressive than psych, econ, etc.</p>
<p>At many schools, there are AP courses that are well taught, where most of the students end up with 4s or 5s on the AP exam. And there are other APs that are not so well taught, and most students get low exam scores.</p>
<p>If a student really wants to take a course in the second group, it’s best to wait until senior year. AP scores obtained at the end of senior year are never seen by admissions committees.</p>
<p>The same strategy could also apply to AP courses in subjects where the student does not excel. Those could also benefit from being postponed until senior year.</p>
<p>I think all college bound students should have a year of physics, chemistry and biology. It doesn’t have to be at the AP level, but students who are applying to selective colleges, even ones who aren’t planning to be science majors should probably have one or two AP science courses. AP Physics B is not particularly onerous. It’s also not given college credit at many universities. In fact our school eliminated honors physics and substituted AP Physics B since it was virtually the same course. This course is aimed at our high school sophomores and they generally take it concurrently with Algebra 2. The serious physics kids take AP Physics C later.</p>
<p>Rigor of course is judged in the context of the school, but my impression from colleges is that 1 or 2 AP courses as a sophomore, 2 or 3 as a junior, and 3 or 4 as a senior is rigorous enough to put you in contention nearly anywhere.</p>
<p>Marian makes a good point, my younger son waited till senior year to take AP Physics C. I’m really glad he took it then, because it would have been hard for him to do really well on the exam or the course at least compared to AP Bio, which he did much better in. In general, go for the course that’s better taught, don’t make yourself crazy feeling you have to take every AP offered. There’s probably a slight bump for taking AP courses that cover a year of college material rather than only a semester. (AP Calc BC not AB, AP Bio not AP Enviro etc.)</p>
<p>Both my boys chose not to take AP English either junior or senior year. They didn’t like the teacher or the reading list. Instead they took English electives which weren’t even honors courses. They both enjoyed the easy A’s, but also really enjoyed the reading. Older son got into Harvard and Carnegie Mellon while the younger son got into Tufts, U of Chicago and Vassar. They both had 8 or 9 AP courses, and older son had a post AP math course as well.</p>
<p>So even for someone who may not be interested in STEM major in college, in terms of college admission, taking an AP physics is still advantageous? and it’s worth more than something like AP econ?</p>
<p>The “value” of taking AP exams is not just to impress college admissions but to be exempt from taking some classes required for college graduation (either as a core/general education requirement or as a requirement for your major). It frees up schedules for students to take more advanced level classes in their area of interest/major instead.</p>
<p>Take the courses that the most involved & engaged teachers teach.
As long as it is a college prep class, ( including courses that sound more fluffy like drawing or psychology), the teacher is the important piece.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think that AP courses in areas OUTSIDE your D’s areas of interest can be a great benefit to her. If she can do well on the exams she may be able to get out of taking classes she doesn’t like in college. My son is a math/economics major. He loves math but doesn’t really like science at all. So he took AP chem and AP physics in HS. He got a 5 on chem and a 4 in physics and has totally fulfilled his science requirement in college which made him extremely happy. </p>
<p>If you think your D will be able to succeed in Physics I would have her take it especially if she doesn’t really like science.</p>
<p>Colleges vary in how they treat AP courses. At my daughter’s school, for example, they allow AP courses for credit towards graduation, but they will not allow them to substitute for an intro course. The only type of course that will substitute for one of their own is “a college course taken at a college.”</p>
<p>But at my son’s school, an AP course gives you both credit and placement out of an intro course–depending on your score.</p>
<p>My S did what proudpatriot suggests - got credit for 5’s on AP Psych and US History, both English tests (even though he had 3’s on them!), so instead of the 9 courses he would have had to take outside his comp sci/math/science area, he has to only take 5. He liked the US Hist and Psych courses he took in HS though, so it was not too much of a hardship. He did not take any AP science classes, but one DE physics.</p>
<p>My D took Econ last year and Psych this year - she is enjoying the classes, so I would not have discouraged her from taking them because they are not as well regarded.</p>