I was planning on majoring in Economics and Spanish. I wanted to drop Honors Physics and replace it with an AP Stat class, but wasn’t sure if colleges wanted to see Physics on an applicant’s transcript.
If it helps, my senior schedule will have AP Calc AB, AP Literature & Comp., AP Spanish, H Physics* and two electives.
I’m a senior and I have not taken physics. It did not effect my college application process at all. However, you should see if physics is a requirement for any of the schools you are considering. If it is, you should probably take it.
Many like to see 4 years of science usually including bio and chemistry or physics. Check with the colleges you are targeting.
What are the two electives? Can you replace one of them with AP statistics?
If you are applying to highly selective colleges, they may prefer to see all three of biology, chemistry, and physics in your science course selection.
Agree with all above. If you are aiming high, physics is a must. If you aren’t, yo might be okay without it. FWIW, my kid loved AP Stats and you should take if you can.
My D took 1semester of AP Physics and dropped it (teacher was terrible and sexist to boot). Replaced it with AP Psych, but she has more than 4yrs science. So far has not affected her, but Ivys not yet back. I am positive her counselor still rated her course load “most difficult”. We’ll see.
@Booajo , surely your d had to take basic physics as a prerequisite to AP physics?
Not necessarily. At my HS (though they changed honors to AP 1 and AP 2 after I graduated, which made the problem worse) it was usually honors or AP for physics. No one had time for both unless they doubled up on sciences more than once.
My kid’s high school doesn’t have a physics pre req for AP physics 1. Like @bodangles said, our students also take one or the other (honors or AP), not both.
@Lindagaf no, right into AP Physics is usual plan here. They had a pretty bad intro in 8th grade I think, so some familiarity with the topics.
For my D I don’t care too much but S18 is a kid who might be interested in physics. We are hoping they have fired this teacher by the time S needs physics.
It also depends upon which AP Physics. AP Physics 1 is designed not to need a prior physics course, while one would be find it difficult, but not impossible, ton take AP Physics C with no prior knowledge.
Anyway back to the original question, physics is recommended (but not required) for most top colleges (excluding some high powered STEM unis which do require it). For colleges that are not in the stratosphere, no physics is fine.
I would take physics over stats. If you haven’t had a high school physics course it’s one of the basic three sciences everyone should have. Furthermore you can get a better calculus based statistics course in college.
If the OP is not applying to Engineering or Computer Science programs, it is unlikely that he or she will need Physics. My son got into ten out of fifteen colleges he applied to, and was waitlisted at two others. I doubt that the lack of Physics on his transcript was a determining factor in his rejections from UC Berkeley, UNC-Chapel Hill, and Claremont-McKenna. They are three highly-selective colleges, and were always reaches for him. Tulane and UCSD, along with other prestigious colleges, accepted him without Physics.
D refused to take physics. She took honors bio, chem, anatomy and physiology, and AP Bio senior year. She was accepted at NYU and placed into their scholars program. She also dropped math junior year and took College Algebra senior year. But I will add that she is a studio art major, so she had presented them with a portfolio that accounted for half of her admissions.
There is no blanket answer though. You should call the schools you are interested in and make a decision based on their input and understand the consequences. For us, I would have preferred her not to drop math junior year. But it would have been worse if she failed math and brought down her gpa.
As long as you are not applying for engineering, a lack of Physics should not hurt you in the admissions process. I agree that you should look through the school’s website regarding this issue, but in all honesty, I think that AP Stats will help you a lot more if you plan on majoring in economics, which relies highly on statistics.
^ There is no blanket answer. Many selective colleges prefer 4 years of science as a default, but that’s just a starting point, and is adjustable. A few (such as Wesleyen) like to see all 3 of bio / Chem / physics. It depends on your focus and where you are applying.
I was in the same boat as you. I chose to take AP Stats and doubt not taking physics will matter. I applied as an Econ major so Stats was a class related to my major
Take courses you will benefit the most from. Don’t try to please colleges. It is a losing proposition. Just choose those that you think are most meaningful or important for areas you are interested in.