Help with HS science sequence

<p>My daughter is a sophmore and would like most of all to go to Univ. of Michigan (Education major). Here's what she's done:</p>

<p>Freshman: Physical Science (required) 1/2 physics, 1/2 chemistry. Excelled in physics (grade A), had a tough time in chem (grade B) overall A-</p>

<p>Sophmore: Biology (required) - finding it hard, getting a B+</p>

<p>Then she could take physics or chemistry next year, and the other, the following year. OR she could take Physics next year and AP Physics in Senior year OR AP Environmental Science. She doesn't care that much about sciences frankly and just wants to do what is best for getting into college. Can she skip Chemistry all together and still be competitive?</p>

<p>Thanks! She needs to select next year's science course this week which is why I'm asking now.</p>

<p>for umich: take whichever class she can get an A in.......doesn't matter what it is or what level.....just get the A.....other schools, diff story......</p>

<p>I wouldn't skip chem though....standard for grad</p>

<p>Umich will not look at your D's freshman year grades when they recalculate her GPA. Is your daughter planning on applying as a preferred admit to the School of Education? If so, admission will be very competitive. You can follow this link to requirements: </p>

<p>Office</a> of Undergraduate Admissions: Requirements</p>

<p>You can see for LSA they require two years of physical/biological sciences with three years recommended; if your D enjoys physics and is willing to continue with that through AP Physics, I think that would be a good route- there is real demand for science teachers. What about a Chemistry course through a CC?</p>

<p>Thanks to both of you for your input.</p>

<p>Chemistry isn't required here, and my daughter thinks it will be a struggle. Even regular Chemistry at her school is known to be HARD. But she would suffer through it if it betters her chances for Michigan. We hadn't thought about taking it at a CC - good idea, perhaps during the summer?</p>

<p>I didn't know that Michigan doesn't look at Freshman grades, so just Sophmore and Junior (and senior)? Don't they care that you take lots of AP courses? I thought that doing that made a huge difference?</p>

<p>Sabaray - not even sure what the preferred admit is for the School of Education. Will look at it now. Thanks.
- Edit - yes, that is what she wants to do.</p>

<p>UM GPA: only soph/junior; math, sci, eng. ss, lang. they say they want honors/ap's, but have admitted higher GPA's w/o rigor...</p>

<p>all A's=4.0
B's=3.0
c's=2.0</p>

<p>no plusses or minuses.....</p>

<p>hope that helps......sooooo, 10 grades that's it for GPA.....</p>

<p>UMich actually does a good job of showing how their admissions process works and the different criteria they look at: </p>

<p>Office</a> of Undergraduate Admissions: Application Review</p>

<p>If she believes she will perform better in Physics, then I would go that route at the high school. Michigan does want you to take a rigorous course load, but a "B" in an honors or AP course is not going to kill your admission.</p>

<p>Thanks again. I think she would get an A in both AP Physics and AP Enviro, but no higher than a B in any Chemistry course. Just wondering if they would care if she didn't take chemistry at all. She has no desire to be a science teacher!</p>

<p>My D was recently admitted to U of Michigan in Engineering for next fall. She took the usual science classes at her school which were pre-AP (honors) Biology 9th grade, pre-AP chemistry 10th grade, pre-AP physics 11th grade. Physics was her favorite of these classes but her school didn't offer AP physics due to lack of demand by students so she took physics this last fall at a nearby university. Her overall Michigan GPA was a 3.9 but she did have a B one semester in Chemistry. She also had B's in Biology but they were freshman year so I guess didn't count. </p>

<p>Definitely apply early in the fall. Good luck!</p>