<p>My school requires you to take Biology or Bio Honors, Chemistry or Chemistry Honors and Earth Science, Earth Science Honors or AP Environmental Science. I took Bio Honors this past year (freshman year) and am taking Chemistry Honors this year. Since my school requires earth or environmental science, I'm going to take APES in junior year (if I don't flunk Chemistry lol). My question is, I made a planned schedule for the years ahead. It's flexible as obviously sometimes the school doesn't grant you the courses you ask for and you change your mind, etc, but in my planned transcript, I don't have room to take Physics (AP if I keep excelling in my science classes) in senior year without getting rid of classes I would like to take. Most students don't take Physics at my school and some get into decent colleges. But I continue to read about how having the three basic sciences (bio, chem and physics) is essential when applying to colleges.</p>
<p>I'm not planning on majoring in anything science or math-related, so is this really important for when I apply to colleges?</p>
<p>(I know this is completely far away and basically a hypothetical question, but I'd like thoughts on it).</p>
<p>No. It also comes down to what college you would like to apply to, but for the most part, some people at my highly competitive high school avoid physics completely and focus on classes they are passionate and good at. If you want to go to MIT or an engineering school, it’s good to take Physics C; but if you don’t have proper physics background and you still want to get into a decent school, it’s best to avoid physics and challenge yourself with classes you know you can excel at. </p>
<p>What kind of colleges are you applying to? Do they have lists of recommended and/or required high school courses on their admissions websites?</p>
<p>It does if you plan to be a Physics major</p>
<p>It’s generally recommended to have taken each of the major sciences</p>
<p>There are some schools that require all three, and many recommend all three, but unless you’re applying to the first category, it won’t be the be all end all.</p>
<p>LOL, not at all a physics major.</p>
<p>My reality schools include UNC Wilmington, Appalachian and then East Carolina University (my safety). Although, I don’t think it’s impossible (though it’s way too early to tell yet) for me to be accepted into New York University, Emerson and then possibly UCLA or USC.</p>
<p>I honestly would be happy to attend one of my state schools, but I’m also interested in higher (and farther away) universities. I’m planning some visits so I can hopefully decide what type of college climate is attainable and beneficial for me.</p>
<p>I’ve looked it up, and while none of the universities (to my knowledge) explicitly state that they require physics (instead they require Bio, physical science [such as chemistry or physics) and a laboratory class—by the way, sorry if this is a dumb question, but what does that exactly mean?), is it possible there’s an unwritten rule that you should take it?</p>
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Biology, chemistry, and physics are the most obvious lab science classes.</p>
<p>I don’t think not taking physics would make or break your application anywhere, but everyone needs all the help they can get when they’re applying to colleges that reject a lot of people. At safety schools it won’t matter so much, because they accept more than just their best applicants anyway. I’d also recommend taking it because of how fundamental it is—I think knowing a little about physics is important to being culturally literate, even though I don’t really like it either. Of course, you can always take a physics class in college if you want. </p>