Chance an average comp sci kid at her dream schools :)

It may matter if the CS major is engineering based at the college. Some are, but some are not.

As noted, if CS is in the CoE, then yes, it can be an issue. Also, it can help show increased rigor. Depends what you are taking instead.

Iā€™d be taking APES instead. Do you think not taking physics would be a big enough issue to make it worth taking? Iā€™m not sure iā€™d be able to keep an A in it

What is it that you hated about physics? It feels like itā€™s mostly math/calculus, so if you donā€™t mind those, Iā€™m not sure whatā€™s so different about physics. Are you taking Calc BC?

Computer Science majors require a lot of math courses, so if thatā€™s something you want to avoid, you may want to look at an adjacent major (and colleges expect competitive CS applicants to demonstrate real strength in math). Sure, you can be a capable web developer or designer without using a lot of math day to day, but you also donā€™t need a CS degree to do that. For a coder who doesnā€™t love math, a program in software engineering or UI/UX design might be a better fit.

Hereā€™s one piece that speaks more to the difference:

  • ā€œStarting computer science studies to become a software developer is probably going to be disappointing, because Computer Science is more a ā€œdegree in applied mathematicsā€ than a ā€œdegree where you learn how to codeā€, as David Budden puts it.ā€

Worth doing some more research to figure out what classes you really want to take, and which major would best accommodate those.

Itā€™s not that I donā€™t like math or even physics itself, itā€™s more that the class is very rigorous and I think iā€™d be extremely burnt out by the workload

I guess it depends what else you have going on/what you prioritize. You have a LOT of different activities ā€“ a sport, part-time job, 4 school groups, volunteering ā€“ which will be tough to balance with AP classes and college research/applications. Even if you donā€™t take AP physics, I think youā€™ll have a more enjoyable and productive senior year if you step back from one or two school groups and trim your work/volunteer hours ā€“ and your course rigor and grades will have a much bigger impact on college admissions than a long list of ECā€™s. Plus, time really flies senior year ad you want to be able to enjoy it and make some memories!

For what itā€™s worth, AP Physics should be less work than AP Bio or AP Chem, especially because thereā€™s so much overlap with calc.

What else are you taking senior year? Iā€™m concerned that you said you wonā€™t have taken any of the core AP science course.

I would honestly put in AP physics or AP chem over a humanities AP for your intended major.

Question: have you had any physics in high school? If not, then it may be best to take physics in high school (does not necessarily have to be AP), especially if you will have to take physics in college.

Iā€™ll be taking AP French, AP Econ, AP Lit, AP Environmental Science, and calc 3/lin. algebra

Yes, i took honors this year and did fine although it was pretty difficult

Since you already took high school physics, it is not as critical to take AP physics, although if AP physics is the C version (with calculus), and you like math, it may be interesting to you for that reason.

Sounds like plenty of rigor to me.