Taking AP physics 2 after taking both AP physics C would be mostly redundant (and could look like grade grubbing).
If you can, include multivariable calculus as a DE / college math course in 11th grade, so that you have a calculus instructor who may be able to give you a recommendation for those colleges that would prefer a recommendation from calculus specifically or a more advanced math course than geometry.
I decided to take Physics 2 because I didn’t know what other class to take and I had to take 6 classes. Will this be a big factor in my application?
I am currently registered for DE discrete math. Would that work? I am on the waitlist for multivariable calculus, so I’m not sure if I will be able to take it.
Congratulations on being an exceptional student and you will have some wonderful college options next year. I am not going to chance you but provide you with some admit data based on the ME and Math majors. Unfortunately not all 2022 data is available currently.
Cal Poly SLO projected target acceptance rate for ME is around 19.7% while Math is around 35%. SLO does consider an alternate major occasionally but not guaranteed.
UCLA UCEE report shows ME had an 8.3% admit rate for 2021.
Math is found in the College of Letters and Sciences which does not admit by major with an overall admit rate of 10% in 2022. UCLA does not consider alternate majors.
UCB’s College of Engineering admit rate for 2022 was 7%. I do not have ME specific data. Math is in the College of Letters and Sciences which does not admit by major. Below is table of admit rates based on the Fully weighted uncapped UC GPA by College. UCB admit by GPA
| GPA | L&S | CoE | CoC | CNR | CED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.800-4.000 | 6.3% | 2.7% | 4.5% | 11.5% | 8.7% |
| 4.001-4.199 | 10.6% | 3.9% | 8.2% | 23.7% | 14.7% |
| 4.200-4.399 | 21.8% | 8.8% | 17.5% | 38.9% | 29.1% |
| 4.400-4.599 | 34.8% | 16.4% | 33.3% | 53.0% | 39.5% |
| 4.600-4.799 | 40.9% | 21.4% | 39.6% | 52.4% | 49.4% |
| 4.800-5.000 | 41.5% | 20.7% | 36.2% | 46.1% | 43.0% |
UCSD does not have any major specific admit rate data. UCSD admits into the University first and then into the major, they consider alternate majors especially if the 1st choice major is Capped like ME. Both ME and Math majors are in the top ten of most applied majors.
UCI admit rate for ME 2022 was 15.0% and Math was 35.8%. UCI admits into the University first and then into the major and does consider alternate majors.
UCSB’s College of Engineering had a 22% admit rate with an average fully weighted uncapped UC GPA of 4.52. CCS had a 4.37 average fully weighted uncapped UC GPA with a 21% admit rate for 2022.
For UCD, no major specific data is available. ME is the 2nd most popular engineering major and the College of Engineering had an overall admit rate of 29% for 2022.
Since UCSC does not have ME, the Math admit rate for 2022 was 56%.
Best of luck.
Cornell engineering specifically wants a recommendation from precalculus or calculus in 11th or 12th grade. Discrete math is neither.
However, since college math courses are typically one semester long, you may be able to get into multivariable calculus in the spring semester if you cannot get into it in the fall semester.
Regarding physics 2, are there any other courses that you can take (not necessarily math or science) that would not be repeats of what you have already taken?
Oh I meant I am registered for discrete math in the spring and on the waitlist for multivariable in the spring as well. Perhaps I can take it next fall.
I am already taking the class, so I can’t drop it now, but all the other choices of courses were elective art classes that I was not interested in.
Note that math is not normally an overloaded or highly competitive major for admission (either as frosh or later when undeclared students declare major), except where it receives an overflow of CS rejects like at UCSD.
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