Hello, I am currently a senior at Boston Latin School. Currently, I’m enrolled in Physics 1. I’m not allowed to take any other Physics courses due to a lack of prerequisites, and with my current teacher, it’s exceedingly rare for anyone to get above a C. My SAT is 2160 and my GPA is 2.33/2.5. I had/have previously undiagnosed ADD, and am about to start trying medication, so although it’s a bit late I’m hoping to make this a turnaround year of sorts for whatever little it is worth (perhaps PG school is a good idea).
Obviously that’s not too doable with my current physics class (especially with AP Econ, AP Stats and AP Gov on the side, none of which I’m willing to drop). I am highly considering just switch to regular Calculus (because 3 APs is the max at my school and it’s almost definitely an easy A) but I’ve heard from a few people that I’ve “gotta take physics” for the sake of having a varied transcript. My plans are to major in Economics and Political Science, so I’m doubtful I’d apply physics very much in any future jobs, whereas I can at the very least see concepts of Calc being useful. What should I do?
Physics is only #3 in importance.
Biology is #1, obviously because everyone lives in a biological shell and has to understand it’s care and maintenance.
Chemistry is #2 because of the need to understand the world around us, and, to some degree, it’s relation to #1.
Physics is #3 because you can pretty much get by with letting all the scientists and engineers out there corral the physical factors we come in daily contact with.
@JustOneDad: Completely off topic, but a retired biology instructor at my CC once told me that chemistry was more important that biology because it is Foundational of All the Sciences (I could hear the caps).
However, I think OP cares not a whit about the real world importance of these subjects. From the perspective of college admissions–many selective schools want to see three lab based sciences on your transcripts. If you were my kid, I’d advise you to trade one lab science for another–do they teach anatomy or advanced bio, for example? If you’ve already taken three lab sciences (a ninth grade physical sciences class would not count here), I think calc would probably work fine.
I’ve taken Bio, Chem and AP Bio. None of which were to my tastes but Chem was easily the most successful.
What should you do? You should ask your counselor. You attend arguably one of the finest high schools in the country; use the resources available to you.
While having all three of biology, chemistry, and physics is preferred for college preparation (particularly for students who will be taking college courses in those subjects), it is unlikely to matter much for the colleges at the selectivity level that will admit a student with a 2.33 HS GPA who will not be majoring in anything that requires college science courses (though the student should check the admission requirements of each school to be sure).
Calculus is a prerequisite for intermediate economics courses at colleges with strong economics departments.
Realistically, the OP may want to consider if starting at a community college and doing well there will offer more options of four year schools as a junior-level transfer applicant than s/he will find as a frosh applicant with a 2.33 HS GPA. (Yes, transfer students have far fewer merit scholarship opportunities than frosh applicants, but a frosh applicant with a 2.33 HS GPA will not find much in the way of merit scholarships.)