I am choosing my classes for my senior year next week and I have some questions. I do not want to take physics (and it is not required) because I do not enjoy math and I wouldlike to do dual-enrollment of science classes with AP-Enviornmental and Marine Bio. I also plan to take AP Psych, normal statistics class, AP literature, along with electives. I am considering AP Spanish but still debating it as I heard it is very, very hard.
My question is that could I take a physics course online over the summer instead of taking it senior year? Is it possible to do this and show colleges that I have taken the course and the grade I received? The only reason why I want to do physics is because I heard it is a requirement to get accepted into some colleges and I don’t want to limit my options.
Hello, from what I understand, it is not really a requirement to take physics for most schools, but it is generally highly encouraged as physics, chemistry, and biology are generally the foundations of higher science courses. I would say to look at requirements of schools for courses and whether they consider environmental science a science course. I only mention this because I know seniors who have not been accepted to schools they were otherwise likely for because they did not read the required courses. Basically, be careful but you can probably take environmental.
For your other question about a summer course, I would ask your school directly. If your school offers summer courses to get ahead of the game, they may offer one in physics. I also did something like this for Algebra 2 during the summer after freshman year, and for me, the summer course and grade does show up on my transcript.
For competitive colleges you need some level of physics. I would not recommend cramming it into a summer course. It’s fine to take regular physics and not AP. I personally would advise prioritizing physics over APES or psych.
Chances are slim that any school is going to give you credit for APES/Marine Biology. Take regular Physics instead. Physics will show rigor, and it would be a very difficult class to take during summer.
Not sure what you plan to major in, but my daughter took AP Stats senior year. She’s a business major, and AP Stats helped her greatly, when taking college Stats.
Why do you say this? I don’t think it’s true. My daughter got credit for APES. I think most public universities would give credit for this. OP has not indicated what schools they are targeting.
I do think it’s a good idea to take physics but if the OP is planning to be a humanities or social science major at a state school and then it’s not necessary.
I guess it depends on school and major.
I still say Physics and AP Stats over APES. My daughter took AP Psych, which she enjoyed, but wasn’t accepted as credit.
Based on your other threads, you have a 3.93 UW gpa , had a 5 on AP World in 10th, are in APBio, APush, APseminar now, and mention you are interested in Prevet and the only specific schools I see you mentioned were GTown and UW. With all of that put together, it seems you will likely be interested in at least considering some schools in the Top 50-75 or better. If that is the case, then you definitely need Physics, and best to take it at your school. If you want to be competitive for T30 type schools(though absolutely not necessary and not many of them are well-suited for prevet required animal work), you need the highest level of Physics you can take at your school and should take AP stats or whatever the highest level of math is available to you. Are you in Precalc now? Can you take AP Calc next year? That would be better over Stats. For highly competitive schools, you need to have 5 core courses (math, Eng, History, Science, Language) all 4 years if possible, at the highest level available.
If pre-vet, then you will take physics in college. Do you want to have your first look at physics in college, or do you want at least a high school level look at it first?
My daughter was an exercise science major who regretted not taking physics in high school since she had to take it in college. Her younger brother and sister were encouraged to take it as electives freshman year in high school by a math teacher just to get it done.
To get into college, no, you don’t need Physics. MANY students from our school get into colleges each year without it.
That said, for certain majors they will want to see Physics. Engineering is one of those biggies. Then for some career paths you will need Physics in college. Pre-med/vet is one of those.
As @ucbalumnus said, you don’t want your first experience with Physics to be in college when the grade really counts.
If you have a non-AP option open to you, that would be one to consider.
IF you take Physics at a local college, that grade will count for Pre-med/vet. All classes at local colleges count, even if you take them while in high school.
Ok so what I am hearing is that it shows more rigor to take normal Physics over APES? AP Physics is not an option for me personally. I am not looking for credit for Marine bio it’s just a really fun class that I wanted to take in addition to another science class.
How challenging is AP stats for someone who is not math inclined?
You should just take what you want and let the chips fall where they may. There are many ways to show rigor and there are lots of great schools out there. If you get denied from where you want, it will not be because of no physics unless you are going to do engineering. My daughter is going into business and so far got direct admit into everyone she has heard from. She did not take physics because it did not fit into her schedule. That being said, do not waste your time with regular stats, you have to take AP. You also probably need Calc AB if you are trying to get into a well regarded program because all science programs most likely require calc.
Stats can be challenging for many students, but it’s not a typical math, so don’t write it off before you would start it. Many who don’t care for Calc actually like Stats.
As with any math, if you don’t understand something, don’t put it off to figure it out later (next day can be ok as your brain will continue to work on things overnight while you sleep). Math builds on itself - Stats included - so you often need to know A to be able to do B.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to google for a different teacher to explain something. Kahn Academy can be useful. Your goal is for your brain to understand it. Calculators are used, but you don’t want to memorize calculator steps. You want to know what each step is doing and why.
If you do that, you’ll find yourself getting a 5 on the AP exam most likely. Kids who understand Stats often do well on the exam. Students who skate by understanding bits and pieces don’t.
Oh, and if you like Marine Bio, take that course, but on your own (Google is wonderful) put some time into learning Physics so you don’t see it first in college - self study the basics. It can be done. So much is available online.
Enjoy your high school years and still prepare yourself well for your future.
Mine took APStats in 9th concurrent with Precal, a common concurrent class for kids with Stats. If you are in precalc now, APstats should be fine next year .
FWIW, in an average public school, neither Pre-Calc nor Stats is common for a 9th grader.
Yet kids still go on to college and do fine - with some even getting into Top 20 schools or Engineering majors.
ETA: This list is quite typical for our school, and it lists AP Stats as most commonly taken by seniors - calc too. We have some juniors who take it too. I can’t recall any who have taken it in 9th grade. Maybe there was a 10th grader at some point.
You definitely don’t need physics to get into college - even selective schools. My daughter didn’t have it and got into some with high selectivity.
That said it’s also major dependent. If you’re majoring in Poli Sci vs a STEM it could impact your application or how you perform when you get to school.
My daughter and her bff took it in 10th along with precalculus and I’m so glad she did, it was her favorite HS class and she was able to take bc calc senior year. Her goal is actuarial science and her bff is an engineering major.
Knowing what I know of your HS record, target schools, and desired career, I would recommend regular physics over APES. (Would honors physics be an option?)
Even though many selective schools don’t ‘require’ physics, most of their accepted students have taken bio, chem, and physics in high school. For example, 82% of students accepted to Wesleyan last year (not generally thought of as a Stem-centric school) had taken bio, chem, and physics in HS. I also agree with posters who have said if you are still a pre-vet student, you do not want your first exposure of physics to be in college.
You haven’t said what math you are in right now, but I also recommend you take calc instead of AP stats (if you haven’t taken calc). (86% of accepted Wesleyan students last year had taken calc in HS).