I am a college senior currently applying to colleges and considering a major in ecology or environmental science, as I recently decided I want to pursue a career in this field. However, I made the foolish mistake of taking absolutely no AP Science or math classes in high school, and now I feel I will be incredibly behind if I attempt to major in a STEM field in college. Am I correct in this assumption or totally off the rails?
I am assuming that you mean that you are a high school senior.
With this assumption, I would not worry about it.
Both I and one daughter went to high schools that did not offer any AP classes at all. Neither of us felt behind once we got to university. We both found ourselves well prepared to take university classes and do well. We both ended up majoring in STEM fields. I did need to take calculus as a freshman in university. It was actually quite a good class – it was very well taught and relatively small since I went to a school where most incoming freshmen had already taken AP calculus. Having to take calculus in university did not prevent me from graduating as a math major at a highly ranked university.
Most successful people do not take the straightest course from when they were born until they become successful. Most try a bit of one thing and a bit of another thing before they find they niche.
You are still young. You will catch up just fine. At some point you might take one more science class and one more math class and two fewer electives compared to some other student. So what?
I don’t see any problem here.
My daughter is currently double majoring in both of those and never took any AP science or math classes in hs, though she did take several humanities AP classes. She is not naturally gifted in science or math, and needs to put extra effort in some of those classes, but she is enjoying them and doing well.
I truly believe if you are a hard worker you will be fine. Working hard at your studies is more important than having AP classes.