<p>Count me among those who find it appalling that posters on this forum throw out terms like “laziness” in describing the OPs schedule. What planet are you people on?</p>
<p>Cryingcloud, IMHO, you should take the classes that you find most interesting and intellectually stimulating. If you’re really concerned about not having a physics class on your transcript for college and you can’t fit it in your schedule, do what my daughter did: take introductory physics during the summer at a local college or university. </p>
<p>Your counselor knows a lot more about you, about your school, and about your school’s history of college placement than some random posters on CC who don’t even know what an IB program is. Why would you value our advice more than his/hers?</p>
<p>OP, given your gracious reply, you should do just fine in IR. :)</p>
<p>Given your interests and the conflicts of your schedule, I’d have a hard time pushing you into Physics. I do think it’s a useful course for someone interested in IR, but you should be able to find a way to take a nonmajor’s version in college. The concern is how this would play out in college admissions. You might want to post your question on the forums dedicated to your specific schools, talk to your school GC (if you’ve not already done so), and, finally, talk to the admissions reps for your areas for your reachiest schools. Lay out your dilemma to them and ask if they see any issue with you not taking physics in high school. </p>
<p>cryingcloud: DD school had physics (Regular/Hons.) at freshman level compulsory for all.
The reason was not only that it is required to get into a top school but also from the very practical point of introducing students to problem solving.</p>
<p>That is what physics is. It tells you how the whole world works. If you have watched “The big bang theory” then you might remember the phrase “If you know the laws of physics, anything is possible”.</p>
<p>Must take physics not only to get into the college of your choice but also from the point of completing your education.</p>
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<p>It seems no one have told you that a course in AP Calc BC have lots of physics problem.
It seems unproductive to do differential and intergral calculus without basic knowledge of physics.</p>
Go back and read it again in context. Of course the OP is not <em>lazy</em> in the sense of wanting to take the easiest or even of not wanting to work academically at all.</p>
<p>At this point - still in high school - she appears to be unwilling or afraid of stepping out of the box. She wants to take foreign language classes because they interest her and she knows she is good at it. She doesn’t know if she will be “good at” physics.
She said in the Original post it was not a matter of scheduling at all. so take that out of the equation.</p>
<p>Personally, whether or not kids take college courses, AP or IB in high school - I believe that high school is a time to take a variety of well rounded courses. Kids should be exposed to a lot of different classes and should have a well rounded schedule of English, Math, Social Science/History, Science and Foreign Lang.
The OP in her post was looking for validation for not taking science - physics - during her fourth year of high school.</p>
<p>The OP was not looking for validation…at least not in the initial post. Her request was very specific:</p>
<p>"Will skipping physics be a serious problem when it comes to applications [to selective colleges]? Do any of you have kids who didn’t take it in high school or any experience with this? "</p>
<p>She has received answers to those questions, as well as other constructive comments with reasons why it might be useful/helpful/worthwhile to take physics.</p>
<p>The comments about her lack of ambition are neither constructive nor do they appear to be reality (harsh or otherwise), given topics that have been self studied, AP Calc B-C and IB Calc along with a large number of other advanced courses she is planning on taking.</p>
<p>The OP has been exceedingly eloquent and gracious in her responses and explanations, especially given some of the comments that have been directed to her. I hope she enjoys the rest of HS and gets into the college of her choice.</p>
<p>Although I think you should do very well in Honors Physics, given that you will be taking AP Calculus, I do not think that not taking Physics will be a deal-breaker. I would note, however, that adcoms prefer physics over environmental science as it is a more fundamental course. So if you can fit all the classes you want to take (history, languages) and re-arrange your schedule to fit in Honors Physics, this is what I would encourage you to take.</p>