<p>Interested to know if top colleges look down on not having taken Hs physics? will have taken honors bio, honors chem, AP chem, and AP bio.</p>
<p>Many colleges, and not even necessarily the very top ones, will state that they expect 3/4 years of lab science, and go on to specify that this should include 1 year each of Bio, Chem and Physics. In our HS you are required to take the sequence, even if at the lowest level.</p>
<p>You should check admission requirements at colleges that you are interested in. Obviously you are a rising Senior, so you would do well to find out now and add it to your Senior schedule if necessary.</p>
<p>In checking various school sites only says 3 years not that it has to be bio chem and physics. Rising Junior. If taking 2 would AP chem or AP bio be better to take with say H physics?</p>
<p>If you already have taken H Bio and H Chem, it is definitely recommended you take H Physics junior year over AP Bio or AP Chem. Even if not explicit on the web sites of top colleges a quick call by your HS GC to the admissions office of your colleges of choice will confirm it. Our D ended up taking H Physics and AP Bio junior year and that was definitely manageable. She took AP Chem senior year, which is a lot more work than AP Bio.</p>
<p>no one of my friends didn't even take science his senior year and he got into yale</p>
<p>4giggles: the top tier schools would question why you aren't taking the most rigorous courseload possible. Does your sr. year schedule show that you're just too packed? Or are you looking to slide by? If the latter, then don't shoot yourself in the foot of an already very difficult road to get into one of the ultra selectives. </p>
<p>And even though b4nnd20's single anectdote might make you feel good, there are probably +1000 kids who got rejected at yale because their transcripts were weak. Don't use a anomoly situation to base your decision -- that would be irresponsible and foolish</p>
<p>true, but he's not the only person i know like that...i can think of at least a half dozen. and another girl i know who hadn't even gotten past high school pre-calc who got into uchicago. basically, it all depends on personal circumstances. there are no hard and fast rules. the only real rule is to take the hardest courseload possible...and that's really general.</p>
<p>I say it's better to take it. I would want to take all of the basic sciences.</p>
<p>DD has a friend who was admitted to Harvard via early admissions who did not take physics.</p>
<p>I'm already taking college biology next year and opted to take a beginning course in a second language this year instead of physics. I'm not really a huge science person, I'm more into humanities, will this be OK even though Spanish I is probably an easier course than Physics?</p>
<p>I got into both Yale and Princeton without taking physics, or any science at all senior year, I had just one year of biology and two years of chemistry. But from my schedule (and also ECs) it was clear that I was pursuing my passion for something else (I took 4 language classes senior year, 3 APs, 1H) so I would say the physics isn't absolutely necessary, but you do need to show a good reason not to take it.</p>
<p>wouldn't taking the AP junior year be viewed as more challenging and then taking the H physics senior year, possible with AP bio?</p>
<p>I've taken honors chem and bio (the only courses offered as fresh/soph) and next year im taking IB chem, and senior year im taking double period IB bio. I hope i don't run into a problem with not taking physics.</p>
<p>It can depend on whether you want to major in science or not. My d's friend was rejected from a big ten school's science program because she did not have Physics. She chose to take Chemistry, AP Bio and Environmental Science instead. Check the websites of the schools you are interested in.</p>
<p>It depends on your major, Engineering/Physical Sciences, yes you should take it. I did ask D's HS Counselor about whether to take Physics in Senior year and she said lots of kids did not take Physics and get into to top colleges from her high school. However, my daughter does take 4-year of science.</p>
<p>Not trying to be belligerent here, but what's the point of taking classes just for the sake getting into top colleges? Yes, it's important to take classes across the board to show academic diversity, but following your passions is also important.
What happened to the pure pursuit of knowledge for the sake of it?</p>
<p>I like the idea, I think they should junk GPAs and SATs altogether for the pure pursuit of knowledge. But I don't think they listen to me.</p>
<p>I think everyone should take at least regular physics. It is really very useful practically. </p>
<p>From the top schools perspective it is also advicable to take it than to leave it.</p>
<p>^ I never took physics and I still go into some of the top schools in the country. I think it just depends on the program you are applying for. An engineering program, for example, is more likely to require physics. Honestly, unless you are applying for a particular program, I don't see how taking one class will tilt the scales between being accepted and flat-out rejected. That's a really tiny portion of the application and unless it comes down to two very similar applicants, I don't see how such a small detail can be * the * deciding factor.</p>
<p>I know physics is useful but she does not have any extra period to take it. She will take it in college.</p>