Does anyone know how necessary it is to have a Chem course on a HS transcript in terms of admissions?
The background: our HS has an ok Bio program, excellent Physics and terrible Chem. If possible, my D would like to avoid taking Chem at school and just take it from the scratch at college.
She is a freshman (so is taking Bio) Her current plan is to have AP Physics1, AP Bio, AP Physics C which gives the most benefit in terms of knowledge as the classes are very challenging and the teachers are strong. However, that leaves her without Chemistry.
She is a strong student, definitely a STEM-oriented kid but without any chosen direction so far.
Currently she is leaning towards Bio and if this interest continues, she is likely to be applying to majors where Chem is very much needed.
We definitely consider taking Chemistry in the local CC but their classes are usually overflowing and it’s hard to get a spot
Online would be great but Chem is a lab science…
It depends upon the target college. Top colleges typically request a year of bio/chem/physics. Tippy top colleges will request an additional year of at least one at an advanced level.
Will an application be auto-rejected without chem? No. Schools at that tier evaluate holistically. Although, as I often say, the plural of anecdote is not data, I took no bio in HS, and did quite well with admissions roulette.
Having said that, the College Board advises a year of chem prior to AP Bio:
I agree that it’s best to have all three of them, but it seems a waste to take poorly-taught Chem instead of excellently taught AP Physics or AP Bio.
She has already asked her Bio teacher and it looks like just reviewing some chem topics (long live Khan academy!) should be sufficient.
She will definitely have at least one AP Physics, likely AP Bio and 4 years of science by the time she graduates. It’s just I heard somewhere that some colleges want to see Chem if applying for specific majors (such as Bio, I assume) and I started mommy-worrying
In many cases, first year general chemistry in college assumes knowledge of high school level chemistry.
Here are some examples (in all cases, 1A and 1B are the typical first year general chemistry courses for most students in majors like biology, engineering majors, etc.):
If the high school chemistry courses are really worthless in terms of learning, then the other options are taking an introductory course at a community college (which you said was overflowing) or self-studying (but then no or not much lab). If she self-studies, there may be some on-line quizzes to check her knowledge (the SAT subject test page has one).
It would not be a good idea to go into first year general chemistry with not even high school level chemistry knowledge, especially when the course tends to have a competitive environment (with lots of pre-meds for whom A is the only acceptable grade).
Chemistry is really the lynchpin of science and engineering courses. It would be difficult to get admitted at selective schools for those majors without it. You could get away with not having bio for engineering or not having physics for science, but not chemistry for either. The only way I could see a selective college overlooking the lack of a chemistry course for a science or engineering major would be if she had a good AP or SAT II Chem score.
A first semester college class is generally the same as a year long AP class. Many of the students will have taken AP Chem and are there to make sure they are totally solid and/or to help with their GPA (especially pre-meds.) I would not want to be there with no chemistry under my belt. If you know your school doesn’t teach this well at the outset, why not simply plan on getting a tutor and/or supplementing with online study?
Avoiding it now because it has a bad reputation seems like a good way to make even a well taught college class really rough.
My kids needed THREE science lab courses fo their colleges of interest. So…check that out…
They both had to take chemistry, and biology. One too physical science (a lab course at this HS), and the other took a DE Anatomy and Physiology course.
What sciences will your kiddo take to fulfill a three year science requirement?
@thumper1, do you mind telling me which colleges wanted three science courses? That’s exactly the information I was looking for - I guess, there is no going around that kind of requirement.
I really don’t like the idea of spending twice the time for any course - be it for the tutor or (even worse!) re-taking it at college but if there is no other way - that’s what we will have to do.
The good news is that we still have a year to decide, so maybe some new information will come up or something else will change
However, you should think beyond college admissions and more to the point of preparing for college. In college, biology majors commonly take general chemistry in the first year. Those without at least a high school level knowledge of chemistry will find it more difficult. (Note that other prospective biology majors sometimes post on these forums wanting to skip high school physics, which is a bad idea for similar reasons, since they will have to take physics in college that commonly assumes a high school level knowledge of physics.)
My daughter is also a freshman taking Bio. She can’t take AP Bio without first taking Chem and Physics. She currently has an A+ in Bio, but is dreading Chem. I wish she was allowed to go right to AP Bio without Chem!
Oh, taking all 3 would be the perfect plan! And yes, we would prefer skipping regular Bio but our HS has this requirement for all freshmen to take (regular) Bio with only other 3 years left for everything else.
mommdc, you are absolutely right - she has no idea what she wants to do and is actually quite worried about it. However, notice, that your suggested plan has 5 years built in, while HS is only 4 years If only they would allow to start the actual sciences in Middle school!
Most likely, we will either risk it and skip the Chem with possibly some online studying to better support it in college or she will have to forgo AP Bio or AP Physics C (which will be a shame) and take Chem H or AP at school.
And again, it will all largely depend on the prerequisites.
Thank you, everyone! As usual, this forum is so helpful!
^ I am pretty sure she will be up to physics C after AP physics 1. What I don’t know is if she will like physics and if she will want to take physics C - she may still end up taking that Chem (H or AP - it doesn’t make sense to take regular - way too easy and boring)
It’s just physics C (and physics in general) at our school is especially good and gives that background knowledge not just for college, but for life. I know quite a few kids who went to major in physics after taking it in school but you wonn’t find many chem majors going out of our HS. I want my D to love what she is learning or at least respect it - not to hate it.
I don’t worry too much about intro college courses - they are usually not too hard (I checked ) and she is a tough girl and can study on her own to prepare if needed. Prerequisites and college entrance requirements are a different story…
The more I ponder this the more I’d definitely sign up for the Chem class even if it’s not great and skip a physics class.
My HS Chemistry wasn’t great in the least–I don’t think we did many labs at all and the teacher was new to it-- but it still helped a lot when I got to college to know some of the concepts and math.
It also would allow your D to test the waters before plowing into some field that requires a lot of it.
@koshkas Many students double up in science for a year (at least in our HS). They’ll take HS bio, AP bio/HS chemistry, AP Chemistry, AP Physics. Some start doubling up freshman year and take those higher science classes.
I would think most colleges would expect a high school student to have taken chemistry. In our HS, it’s actually required for graduation.
