<p>I am going to be a senior this year and am getting ready to apply for college. I am a 4.0 student and have taken a lot of AP classes. This fall I will be taking AP Calc BC, AP Chem, AP Lit, Advanced Bio: Anatomy, and Advanced Sports Medicine. I have not taken physics yet and am not planning on taking it next year. Will this prevent me from getting into some colleges, especially if I want to major in bioengineering and biochemistry? (I am planning on applying to University of Washington, Stanford, UPenn, and Washington U in St. Louis) Will physics in college be super difficult if I don't take it in high school?</p>
<p>Usually, if you don’t take AP Physics and only take regular physics, it will only be algebra-based. This is ESSENTIAL background if you want to take physics in college, which will be calc-based. Based on the caliber of those schools you listed, I am sure physics in college will be very difficult if you haven’t taken some physics in high school. You will be expected to derive equations and you can’t do that if you don’t know where to start. For engineering, physics in high school is a pre-requisite. It may not be explicitly stated anywhere, but deans of engineering will strongly discourage you from engineering if you’ve had no preparation in physics.</p>
<p>You will be competing against students who have taken physics. Since it’s one of these ‘benchmark’ (challenging) courses it may put you at a disadvantage for admissions, especially if the ad committee decides that the Advanced Sports Medicine class sounds like a ‘mick’ as we used to say in my days…</p>
<p>I don’t really want to change my schedule if at all possible so are there any other options besides taking a high school physics course? Could I study it on my own or take an online class? A community college class?</p>
<p>Will colleges immediately reject me because I have not taken physics in high school?</p>
<p>stressedstudent2 -</p>
<p>I am in the exact same position as you! I tried to take AP Physics last year but it didn’t fit into my schedule. This year, I wanted to take AP Chem instead. Now, as a hopeful bioengineering major to UPenn, Lehigh, or Villanova, I found that some schools (like Villanova) REQUIRE Physics! I am not going to take apart my schedule… I don’t know what to do.</p>
<p>So, I am also thinking of self studying, but I don’t know if that’s going to help. Will colleges even care? I am worried now, too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help,
- Mike</p>
<p>What are you taking Advanced Sports Medicine for? Those schools won’t care whether you’ve taken that class because it can’t be compared since most schools don’t offer it. Physics is something they can compare since it’s taught across the board. So when they come across an applicant who has taken AP Physics vs someone who took Advanced Sports Medicine, which would they favor? Do you see your problem here? </p>
<p>Also, you can self-study Physics but it’s a tough thing to do since you can’t do labs w/o equipment and labs are an essential part of the course. You also wouldn’t be able to ask a qualified instructor for help when you get stuck on a problem - and trust me, you will get stuck on waaaay more than one problem. The other viable alternative is to take it through a community college. While you could do this, it is an added workload on top of what you already have. It also moves at a quicker pace than high school (semester vs year) and you’re already expected to know some algebra-based physics because it’s calculus-based. Are you familiar with the formulas for force, work, power, torque, etc. because you will have to derive various other formulas from them. You will need to know where each came from and it needs to make sense to you mathematically and logically. And all this knowledge should be had BEFORE you start calc-based, which is what community colleges teach.</p>
<p>I am taking sports med because I want to go to med school after undergrad. At my school, we have a sports med internship that goes along with the advanced class, which will give me a lot of medical experience. Also, my school wouldn’t allow me to take AP Physics unless I take regular physics before it which I haven’t taken yet. I do have some general physics knowledge because I took physical science in 9th grade, so I do know some basic information. Also, I took AP Calc AB last year and am taking BC this year, which incorporates some of the problem solving techniques used in physics.</p>
<p>Lehigh2017 - I am so glad I am not the only one in this situation! I was really frustrated with this when choosing my classes in March, and I am still trying to figure out what to do. I emailed a few of the admissions counselors at the colleges I listed and will tell you what they have to say when I hear back from them.</p>
<p>9th Grade Physical Science is NOT physics. Like you, I took 9th Grade Physical Science, which covered basic topics in everything from chemistry to earth science. Remember that you’re not applying to med school here. I am also a pre-med though I will be majoring in ChemE. Undergraduate institutions will not care if you have medical experience or not simply because that’s not what they’re looking for! They are looking for a student who can successfully manage their courses and if you haven’t taken regular physics, that looks bad - especially to the engineering department. </p>
<p>For instance, could you solve a simple physics problem if I said I threw a ball straight up from 1.2 m off the ground at a velocity of 4.1 m/s, where would it be after 0.5 s? Problems like these are the essence of kinematics - the first part of physics.</p>
<p>I would check the individual websites of the colleges that interest you and see what they have to say about it. For example, you will not get into Cal Poly SLO without a HS year or CC semester of physics. I’ve heard of different students at our HS that were burned by this because they never investigated it and the counselors never stressed it.</p>
<p>stressedstudent2 -</p>
<p>Yes, please please tell me what the colleges say! I just emailed Lehigh about something else, so when my admissions counselor responds, I will similarly ask her about physics and engineering.</p>
<p>This question goes out to anyone who knows… Would it be at all possible to tell a college that you will take a physics course at a CC over the summer prior to enrolling (so after senior year)? With 6 AP classes I couldn’t possibly fit another class into my schedule until the summer.</p>
<p>Thanks all,
- Mike</p>
<p>As you are serious about pursuing medical school, I highly recommend taking Physics in high school. You will need at least 2 semesters of Physics in college, and it will be a very good idea to have a decent background in the subject before entering the class, especially since you want a very high grade in the class to keep your GPA up. You are taking 6 classes, can you fit in a physics class in your schedule?</p>
<p>Edit: nevermind!</p>
<p>cortana431 - my sixth class is a semester of art and a semester of PE, which are requirements for my school.</p>
<p>lehigh2017 - the admissions counselor from upenn emailed me back and said that it is required for engineering students to take physics. I don’t want to change my schedule at all so I am planning on taking a physics class at a community college next summer. I think that when filling out application info on common app, I will just list it under current year courses. If your admissions counselor responds with any other info, please tell me!!!</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone else for all the input!</p>
<p>Ahh… That’s very unfortunate. I really wanted to apply to UPenn. I will definitely tell you about the other schools I’m asking but since they probably won’t get back to me for a while I’ll PM you. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t put it under current year courses. That’s something that should probably go under additional information.</p>
<p>Another possible option: do you have to declare for Engineering now, or will you be able to transfer into Engineering? You could than take Physics over the summer, to prepare for the first semester of classes. Unless they have classes restricted to only engineering majors, you should be able to take the same classes, and switch into the program, if they will allow.</p>
<p>The most selective colleges prefer students to have all three main sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics), and college physics courses for physics and engineering majors often recommend high school physics as a prerequisite (you can take college physics without previous high school physics, but you are likely to find it more difficult).</p>
<p>For college applications, does a physics course at a community college look better or worse than a high school class?</p>
<p>Stressedstudent2 -</p>
<p>Just to let you know, I went on the websites of my top three schools and found something along these lines (just change the school name and voil</p>
<p>I have the same problem! I’m not looking at schools as “good” as yours, but I couldn’t fit Honors Physics into my schedule if I wanted to take AP Bio (which is my intended major). I COULD have fit regular physics into my schedule, but the only time I could is in the first semester, where I have 3 AP classes at the same time. I really want to focus on the other 3 AP classes, so I don’t want to stress myself out too much. I know a lot of schools “recommend” taking physics, but I don’t want to change my schedule around either so I think I’m just going to take it in college. But now I’m not so sure what to do. Sorry if I’m not much help. :)</p>
<p>ShadowMist -</p>
<p>It is nice to know that there are multiple people in the same situation, so you actually are helping! Maybe, since this seems to be a common issue, the adcoms will be aware and possibly understanding?</p>
<p>We can hope, at least!</p>
<p>Best regards,
- Mike</p>