Do I really have to take AP Chem or Bio?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Quick stats: Junior, huge HS, 4.2 W, URM, and I want to major in International Relations.</p>

<p>I struggled through Honors Chem as a freshman, and managed to get by with a B. I read some older threads saying that you basically have to take AP Chem and AP Bio in order to get into competitive schools. Is this really true? I can't stand science and math, nor am I especially talented in these subjects. Can I make up for it with something? Right now I'm taking APES and I have an A.
Instead, I wanted to take these courses next year:
AP US Gov
AP Stat
AP Lit
AP Comparative Government
AP Chinese
Honors Physics
German 2
(I've fulfilled language requirements for my HS, state, etc. since I have 11 credits as of right now - 5 middle/high school years of Spanish, 4 of Chinese, and 2 of German - will this compensate for a lack of a "rigorous" science courseload?)</p>

2

<p>Absolutely have to? No, of course not. It helps, that’s all.</p>

3

<p>When you say that “it helps”, what do you mean? How much does it help? If the effect is negligible, I won’t bother taking either course, since I know I won’t be able to successfully complete either one without neglecting my other classes (thus hurting my transcript). But if it’s the difference between acceptance and rejection, should I take the plunge?</p>

4

<p>Nobody told me that you have to take an AP science to get into a competitive school. Take the courses you want to take. I love the sciences, but I hate social studies and history, so I’m not planning on taking APUSH, AP Euro or AP Comp Gov. Your classes are really good and you’re headed on the right track.</p>