I apologize if this is the wrong place to post. My son (he is away for the summer so I am acting as an intermediary) is a senior in high school and hopes to major in biology, chemistry or math. He had hoped to take both AP Physics and Chemistry this year, but they both won’t fit into his schedule. He prefers to take Chemistry and wait to take Physics in college. His counselor thinks he should take Physics. He has taken Honors Biology and Chemistry, as well as AP Biology so far. One concern is that the kids in the physics course will be the less serious students in his class, so he feels he would get more out of the course by waiting until college. The Chemistry class is small and has the top kids in it. Will not having Physics affect his chances for admission? He is looking mostly at second/third tier schools.
<p>What reasons is the counselor using to justify his recommendtion for physics? It seems odd that your son says the physics class is lesser quality. Is the Chem class a special college level course? Is the counselor thinking that your son will take plenty of Chem in college and would not be gaining from using his single class option in HS? You need to investigate the reasoning.</p>
<p>If your son prefers to take chemistry over physics and they will not both fit into his schedule, then I believe he should take chemistry. </p>
<p>Has he taken or will he be taking calculus? If he learns calculus well BEFORE he takes physics, then he may learn more from the physics class. Also, you indicate that for some reason (which seems odd) the less serious students will be in the physics class. If this is indeed the case, then the teacher may teach to the lower students. I have found that when physics is taught at a lower level (i.e. using algebra and memorization, rather than using calculus and derivation based on fundamentals) that it does not resemble college-level physics.</p>
<p>I was my high school valedictorian and had a 100 percent average in high school physics, but I didn't really like it that much because it was taught as a bunch of rules and formulas we had to memorize. When I got to college, I realized how much I loved physics because it was taught in a much more rigorous way, deriving everything from a few fundamental principles and using calculus (and I went on to PhD in mechanical engineering).</p>
<p>If your son decides to forego taking physics his senior year, he might consider reading through a self-study book on AP physics next summer before college classes start, to not feel at a disadvantage compared to other students who had taken high school physics.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I wonder why schools teach physics prior to calculus?</p>
<p>they don't at my school. they're taken concurrently or calculus is taken one year before phyiscs (ap physics anyways)</p>
<p>Take Chemistry. </p>
<p>Physics is universally one of the weakest college prep classes taught in HS. Too often it's not much differenct than the intro to Physics you probably took in 8th grade. You'll will get much more out of your college class. While that may be true for other subjects, the difference in the calibre of classes is greater in Physics than any other subject I've ever taken. Here are some of my reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Calculus. Physics makes much more sense with an understanding of calculus, even better if you're taking DiffEQ.</p></li>
<li><p>Lecture Demonstrations. Great in-class demonstrations make a huge difference in the class.</p></li>
<li><p>Labs. The college labs are much better in college.</p></li>
</ol>