Dilemma: Should I continue taking Science??!

Applying to College
1

<p>So my junior year I decided to take two science courses: AP Chem and physics honors...dumb decision, i know. </p>

<p>I have B+ in both classes, while I have A's in all others (except maybe latin, an A-) which is bad for my class rank.</p>

<p>anyway, senior year I was signed up for AP Physics, but now I really don't want to. I want to know if colleges such as IVYs would look down on me not taking a science senior yr, since i took 2 junior yr. (also, my senior courseload already has 5 other APs) </p>

<p>will it look like I'm avoiding my weakness? or will it be ok, b/c im not majoring in science and dont like it anymore</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>can someone please answer? im seeing my GC about my schedule on fri.</p>

3

<p>ap physics is one of the hardest APs... it is math and science... take something easier like AP BIOLOGY if you want a science class.</p>

4

<p>Well, see..AP Bio at my school is notably horrible, b/c the teacher doesn't teach at all and all you do is take notes every day, plus I have a really bad memory, lol..I would rather take a harder AP than bio..thanks though</p>

<p>can someone else please give their opinion on my situation??</p>

5

<p>You can't just drop science. You need to take a science course.</p>

6

<p>You can take something a bit less deamanding like AP Eniro or Psych. I think taking 4 years of every major subject is very imporatant.</p>

7

<p>If you already have 4 years of science (1 freshman, 1 sophomore, 2 junior) with labs, you don't need to take a science your senior year. They're looking at the courses themselves, not when you took them. That is, unless you want to major in a science or technology related field. If you don't intend to be an engineer or a chemist, you're fine without a 5th year of science.</p>

8

<p>We don't have environment and psych is classified in history at my school..</p>

<p>chedva, thanks for the advice. can anyone confirm that?</p>

9

<p>oh yea, and i wont be majoring in science at all</p>

10

<p>Go the either the individual college websites or to the collegeboard.com site and look it up for each school. There is no rule for every school, but each will indicate either a required or recommended HS course of study for what they consider to be adequate preparation and you should take these recommendations very seriously. What you will find is that no school expects more than 4 lab science classes and some stop at recommending 3. You have taken 4 lab sciences and it does not matter if you have taken them prior to senior year or not. </p>

<p>The person who said that you need to take science is mistaken, it completely depends on the situation. If you have already taken 3 or 4 honors or higher level science classes and intend to fill the slot with an honors or higher level class in another subject, you're fine. You need to take a full schedule of demanding classes.</p>

11

<p>You can't just drop a subject your senior year. It looks awful. It's a red flag.</p>

12

<p>Four years of science is not necessary, especially if it has nothing to do with your intended major. Take that extra space in your schedule and use it by taking a diff. AP that you enjoy.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
You can't just drop a subject your senior year. It looks awful. It's a red flag.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Colleges won't know that he originally signed up for science and then changed his mind. The OP has taken more than the recommended units of science already. No need to take AP Physics, especially if it's a weak area for you.</p>

14

<p>ok, then i guess the general consensus is that I should drop AP Physics...can anyone else give an opinion before I change it tom.?</p>

15

<p>I agree entirely with ses. If you're applying to an Ivy League university, you really should have a science course in your senior year, even if you took two in your junior.</p>

16

<p>yea i agree with aristotle and ses.
i also dreaded taking science senior year but for the sake of applying to ivy schools i forced myself to.
i chose ap bio. yes, there's a lot of memorization but overall it's not very hard.
if you really want to go to an ivyleague school you dont' want to do anything that will decrease your chances.
just suffer through it, only one more year left.</p>

17

<p>i believe ivy's want 4 years of science courses, as well as 4 years of pretty much every major core class. it would be unwise to drop your science class</p>

18

<p>i appreciate all the advice!</p>

<p>so basically 4 yrs of science are def. recommended, but maybe it doesn't mean it has to be spread over 4 yrs.? is that how it works?</p>

<p>hmm now im torn again :/</p>

19

<p>You have taken four years of science. If you read the posts carefully you'll see that there are a bunch of people who think that you've only taken three and are thus, recommending four. There are also students who think they have to take four because they are scared stiff that they will get rejected because they took a different AP. This is not real information, this is anxiety speaking. If you want real information, go to the source. No school expects more than four years of lab science and there is absolutely nothing wrong with front-loading those courses and taking something else. </p>

<p>And here's one more bit of advice--call the schools themselves if you don't believe what you are hearing. Believe it or not, they will answer this sort of question directly.</p>

20

<p>Some schools give details in units, others in years. Either way, one unit is considered to be the same as one year, so you have 4 units, which is the equivalent of 4 years, already. No school asks for more than 4 units of science.</p>