<p>@ucbalumnus It may depend on how big and where the school is. Physics was not offered at my very small public when I was in high school back in the dark ages. (I had about 35 in my graduating class in a small, rural school) </p>
<p>Granted, magnet schools are likely in a more urban area, though it may depend on their budget and what they can or can’t pay a teacher. If they only have the students for one or two sections of a class and can’t find anyone certified in both chemistry and physics, then they can’t offer a physics teacher a full time job. They may not be able to find anyone qualified.</p>
<p>My dad, an upper level math teacher, taught calc based physics at his private Catholic school for several years because there were just enough students for one section and the chemistry teacher didn’t feel comfortable teaching it. Dad wasn’t a certified science teacher. They got away with it because it was a private school. A public may not be able to do that.</p>
<p>I am surprised be this. My kids went to a small public and the sciences did include physics. Environmental, biology, chemistry, physics was the normal progression.</p>
<p>Biology, chemistry, and physics are normally required as the three sciences in HS. I did the progression that I like best - biology first, then AP Biology and chemistry, then AP Chemistry and physics, then AP Physics.</p>
<p>Honestly, if your child is pursuing a science, having no physics will be an issue and it should be pursued independently if at all possible.</p>
<p>But if your child is not pursuing a science, it should be moot, and whatever three sciences she took should be fine.</p>
<p>What other “typical college prep courses” are commonly missing from high school offerings?</p>
<p>Note: this does not necessarily mean AP or other advanced level courses, just regular high school courses in subjects like English, math, foreign language, science, history and social studies, art and music.</p>
<p>Well, back in the day, I went to a high school that was so small it offered only two years of one foreign language,no math above pre-calc, and only one AP class. It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to explain when applying to the sort of schools that many CCers think are the only ones that matter. </p>
<p>I was surprised as well. My HS was the smallest in the county (115 graduating class) and we had physics. We didn’t have math above trig and no AP classes.</p>
<p>What other “typical college prep courses” are commonly missing from high school offerings?</p>
<p>Won’t this vary widely with well…the quality of the high schools?</p>
<p>Growing up, our honors science curriculum ran backwards: Physics in 10th, Chem in 11th, and Bio in 12th. I can’t recall how the non-honors track ran, but we were in NY state and had to take Regents’ exams, so the non-honors must have run Bio, Chem, and then Physics. The Honors Math curriculum was very unusual, but I don’t think there was any Calc exposure until 11th. (A fair number of students enrolled in BC in 12th so we must have been taking pre-calc in 11th grade honors math.) We didn’t study Algebra in 9th, Geometry in 10th, etc, but still had to take the corresponding Regents’ exams, so our math teachers would put aside our regular instruction, and teach us the Regents’ material for six weeks or so before the Jan Regents’ exam date. Once that was behind us, we returned to whatever it was we were studying the rest of the year in math.</p>
<p>My boys’ HS offers ‘regular’ and ‘honors’ physics, one of which is meant to be taken in 11th grade before enrolling in AP Physics C E&M, and then later, Mechanics. (They do not offer AP Physics 1 & 2, at least not as AP courses.) Some students petition to skip the regular or honors physics and just place directly into AP E&M in 11th, with Mechanics taken in 12th once BC Calc is out of the way. The school does not allow students to skip Intro Bio or Chem before taking the AP level of same.</p>
<p>To @bagamm’s point above: “Dad wasn’t a certified science teacher. They got away with it because it was a private school. A public may not be able to do that.”</p>
<p>Our school has a difficult time attracting a qualified Computer Programming instructor. Person has to be certified as a teacher, but very few teachers know more programming than these hacking boys. </p>
<p>When we went to iowa nursing info session there was palpable panic in the room when they said you couldn’t get into their guaranteed admission program unless you took physics in HS. my daughter was so happy that she had it as a freshman. But for many kids there they didn’t have it offered and they were very upset. </p>
<p>At DD/DS’s high school, all of the students in the AICE (think IB) program take pre-AICE Physics, Chemistry and Bio. However, they usually only take two out of the three at the AICE (think AP) level. For students not in the AICE program, it’s easy to not take Chemistry or Physics, since other “equally” rigorous science options are available (marine biology, etc.). Florida high schools only require 3 science courses for graduation (one of which has to be bio 1), and Chem or Physics can be replaced with an “equally rigorous science courses”… . </p>
Not in my experience, although I have seen many examples of physics not being a graduation requirement, or the requirement being 1 year of biology and 1 year of either chem or physics.
Again, I would not use the word “typical,” but the areas I’ve seen that most often get shortchanged:
• Arts (or very limited offerings)
• 4th year and beyond in less-commonly-taught foreign languages</p>
<p>There was a poster on here who is from a very rural part of my state and his daughter’s high school did not offer physics if I recall correctly. And there was something else, like maybe biology and chemistry were taught alternate years or something of that nature. He was able to send his daughter to a state magnet school that focused on STEM.</p>
<p>The lack of awareness on CC as to situations like this is what gets frustrating when you hear other people talk about how you have to have Calc BC, or you have to have a zillion APs, etc. No, dear, not everyone lives in a well-to-do suburban area with a high school that offers those things. And colleges know that, even though you may not.</p>
<p>My daughters go/went to a small public high school in a rural area. D2s graduating class will be 99 students. D1s was 130. The school offers Earth Science, Bio, Bio II, AP Bio, Chem, AP Chem, AP Environmental, Physics, and AP Physics. There are Honors versions of all the sciences but Earth Science-it is a general course. The highest Math offered is AP Calc AB. Some of my D2s AP classes this semester have only 7 or 10 students in them. D2 was enrolled in AP Computer Science/Programming this fall but the class was cancelled because only 2 students registered for it. </p>
<p>What matters in the end is that the student take the most rigorous course load their school offers. If the school does not offer Physics, they cannot be expected to take it. Plain and simple. Even if offered, the student may not have to take it. My D, did not take Physics senior year. She hated science and took Evolutionary Biology instead. However, since she is going to be a literature major, even her GC said that Physics was not necessary for her transcript. Each student and each situation is different. Everyone is always looking for a cookie cutter answer to getting accepted to college, there is none - at least for the schools with a holistic admissions philosophy.</p>
<p>However, if the high school is missing some courses, the student may not be prepared for the college courses, or may need remedial course work in college, possibly delaying graduation. While a literature major at a school other than MIT will not likely need high school physics to prepare for college, someone whose major requires physics in college may struggle if s/he is unable to take high school physics while in high school.</p>
<p>I totally understand that. I know for a fact that schools like Yale will take that into consideration. MIT is not what I was talking about when I said “holistic”. Since you don’t have to declare your major before you get into Yale or most of the Ivy League, that really is not an issue. Again, it is the most rigorous courseload your school offers. I know for a fact in my D’s freshman class there are kids who came from schools that had very little going for them academically. However, there must have been something in the student to make Yale want to take a chance on them. There are plenty of supports for kids like this that will allow them to make up for whatever was lacking in their high school.</p>
<p>And, all high schools are not created equal. So if you believe that someone taking Physics at a particular high school is automatically on par with someone taking it at a rigorous college prep high school, you are mistaken. They too are going to be at a disadvantage going in.</p>
<p>My high school had Physics (both non-AP and AP - neither was a graduation requirement) but didn’t have computer science, economics, or any math beyond Calc BC. In cases where there’s a nearby college it may be expected that students take these classes at the college (as was the case at my high school). In other cases, the school may just be too small to offer it.</p>
<p>Depending on your definition of “high school” my high school was either the biggest or 2nd biggest in Michigan when I went there. </p>
<p>My children attended an urban high school where the majority of students received free or reduced lunch.</p>
<p>When students signed for classes each year, physics was an option. However, whether school actually had a physics class depended on the number of students who registered for it. I think they needed a minimum of 24 students. And teacher would sometimes have to cajole a few more students into taking class when number was close, but not quite 24. </p>
<p>School board wanted to maximize class sizes so teachers weren’t being paid to teach only small numbers of students. Families who live in well funded school districts with lots of professional level parents have no idea of educational and economic challenges that go on in many urban high schools.</p>
<p>Of course, savy parents usually had a plan B of sending student to local junior college when class was not offered at high school. What I found sad though, was the number of students who intended to study sciences in college who didn’t take physics in high school. I think our school needed to do a better job of saying “Yes physics can be a demanding subject to study, but it provides a foundation for your college courses.” And “you should definitely take physics if you plan to study engineering or science in university.”</p>