<p>I dont want to take AP Biology.
I prefer to take APCS and Engineering.
I think it will be OK for MIT or CalTech</p>
<p>Either would be fine. Both would be better, if you can do well in both classes.</p>
<p>Yes I want to take both.
APCS and Engineering.
Are those classes considered as a science?</p>
<p>An email–from the student–to the admissions ofice at a college/university to clarify this point would not be amiss. Our son did seek such information when he found himself out of Math courses to take in HS, and it was ehlpful.</p>
<p>“Are those classes considered as a science?”
yes</p>
<p>“Are those classes considered as a science?”
yes</p>
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<p>Generally classes that are half-semester with a lower level of difficulties are considered “electives.” And for many schools, this seems to be the case with half-semester AP Classes.</p>
<p>Not the OP here, but an answer to a question. In our district students could, and many did, take AP Physics as their only Physics course in HS. They took AP Chemistry only after regular Chemistry. The HS’s offer only Advanced Biology, not AP. Likewise some took AP US History without taking the regular US History course first. </p>
<p>I think it is an excellent idea to explore comp sci in HS before committing to a college course.</p>
<p>An aside. I was looking at the Chemistry major curriculum for one of the UW system schools recently and compared it to the highly ranked UW-Madison courses. Wow- so many differences in lab hours. A college major can include a 3 hour or 8-9 hours of lab time (2 sessions) per week for one advanced Chemistry lab. Just as all HS’s are not the same, so is there variation among colleges.</p>
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<p>I agree. My oldest son did this and discovered that he really didn’t like programming. This was after having taken two other programming classes. After starting to visit colleges with the intention of perhaps majoring in CS, he changed his mind and ended up in majoring in English! Youngest son took the same set of courses, found that while he was pretty good at programming, he would rather major in IST or IS. For my guys, that class was a real eye-opener into the future. </p>
<p>I think it’s also the best way to show interest in that field. Why would a person thinking of majoring in CS choose a science over his field of interest?</p>
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<p>Check all of the universities that you are interested in to see if they actually do require four years of science, and whether the above courses count if they do require four years of science.</p>
<p>I will answer all the questions together :)</p>
<p>Our HS pre-req for taking AP Physics B is Chemistry and Alg2/Trig, which son had.</p>
<p>He also wants to figure out whether the CS major is going to be his cup of tea. He would never otherwise take the initiative and learn Java or what have you on his own. </p>
<p>The GC recommended this route so that he can justify not taking another science course as someone here pointed out. She is the one who suggested APCS since she knew his affinity for Tech.</p>
<p>Marian, did provide the right insight into this, better than I could have ;)</p>
<p>Overall he has done regular Bio, regular Chem and AP Physics B. All three had labs.</p>