During scheduling last May, AP physics wouldn’t fit in my schedule so I ended up getting my alternate (AP stats) instead. As a result, I’ll be going to college without any background in physics except for freshman intro physics. At the moment, I’m trying to decide between switching out of stats and into an Honors Physics course, or just sticking with stats. I’m thinking of going pre-med in college, and physics would really help with that, but on the other hand I really really like the stats teacher, and I’ve heard that in general stats is more useful than physics in life. Also, would colleges care if I had three APs on my transcript (along with two honors and an elective), or would they like the four APs more?
tl;dr should I take AP stats, or switch into Honors Physics?
If you are going Engineering, then you would benefit from having physics, and more than likely, the college would want to see that on your transcript. However, most colleges will require 3 years minimum of science, and I’m assuming you have Bio, Chem and Intro Physics, so you should be OK in that regard.
As long as you are showing rigor on your transcript and choice of classes, you should be in good shape.
Do you have any science classes? It doesn’t have to be physics but any science. Most colleges require 3 years but most want 4 years of your core classes. If you already have another math course it might actually be better to switch to Physics Honors. 3 APs vs 4 APs won’t make so much of a difference and colleges understand things like scheduling conflicts so dont worry.
@ishkundu I’m actually taking AP bio and organic chemistry this year. In the past I’ve also taken AP chemistry, honors chemistry, and honors biology. What I’m wondering is which will benefit me more between stats and physics?
Just stick with stats. You’ve already taken a year of physics, so you’re fine. That is more than enough preparation for college physics.
Yeah a 2nd science course isnt nessesary esp since you’ve taken a year of physics. That should be good enough then. Unless you decide to change to engineering or something just Stick to stat.