I would still do physics over orchestra. I get the whole point about committing over 3-4 years to show passion, but there are other EC’s she can do over 4 years to show passion right?
Sorry, 4 years orchestra vs. 3 Years orchestra, no difference to admissions. Going into college physics without a HS physics base will be difficult. Upper class man told her this and you are going by the word of a HS student?
AP Physics need 2 years. So giving up other elective which is 1 semester or at most 1 year does not help. That’s why the only trade is with orchestra. It is not just one upper class man. Those are the one who got admitted to MIT or Ivies or very good schools. Thanks for replying.
Can she take a one year regular high school physics course instead (in a non-conflicting time slot)? That is a lot better than no physics at all in high school.
AP physics B is best thought of as an honors high school physics course; AP physics 1 and 2 over two years is best thought of as a slower paced version of AP physics B.
Maybe your daughter can do an online physics course. If she wants to do pre med and goes into a college physics class with no previous prep, it could be very difficult as most if not all other students will have a physics background and she could get weeded out. My daughter is in med school now, had AP physics and still had a tough time in college.
@ucbalumnus That’s a really good idea if it works for her schedule.
I will also venture to say that we don’t know that much about the poster’s student. If she is a 4.0 student with 2200 SATs and all 5’s on AP courses, then there might be some method in sticking with orchestra if she loves it. All she would have to do is convince the admissions committee that lack of Physics or taking the non-AP Physics doesn’t represent a problem for her.
HOWEVER, there is a reason so many people have talked about Physics being strongly recommended because it applies to lots more students.
Note that taking high school physics is not just for admission to college. High school physics is often a recommended prerequisite for college physics that a pre-med will have to take. Seems that many people forget that high school course work is not just for admission to college; it is also for preparation to do college work.
That’s oversimplifying it a bit. Yes, it’s spread out over 2 years, but the exams have changed and are focused much more on the conceptual aspects rather than mathematical plug-and-chug.
Thanks for the replies. It helps. I pretty much have the same view but I was not a HS student in this country and so I was not so certain of my view point. I have a much better picture now. If anyone has anymore thoughts, I still welcome more input as other parents will benefit from this discussion.
Senior here whose high school didn’t have any sort of orchestra whatsoever until this year…it IS possible to keep up with music if your school doesn’t have an orchestra/you’re not in school orchestra, though it requires a lot of sacrifice and you’ll have to do everything on your own. Is there a local youth orchestra your daughter could join? Can she still compete for regional/state orchestra or do solo competitions?
I’d say go for physics and do orch-related stuff outside of school.
^ I agree. Take physics and then try to maintain some level of commitment to music, even if not the Orchestra class.
Any way she could take an online course, or a summer course, to take care of Physics? I’d hate to see a kid who would personally prefer orchestra give up two years of it in order to take two years of physics.
Yes. Of course. But I just think physics is better learned with lab work and face to face teaching with Q&A. I think music is a lifelong pursuit as interest so giving up 2 years at school is ok. I posted this question because I want to hear others’ opinion and also the fact that I am also puzzled by the requirement of medical school that Physics is really not important. At the same time though I was wondering if it is important to get into very competitive undergraduate school in the first place before the consideration of medical school. That’s why I had to ask for help here.
“At the same time though I was wondering if it is important to get into very competitive undergraduate school in the first place before the consideration of medical school.”
I don’t personally think it is important to get into an uber-competitive undergrad school for med school. It may seem nice but it’s just important to get a good GPA in the necessary pre-req courses and get a good score on the MCAT. Would colleges rather have a Harvard grad with a 3.0 or a Juniata grad with a 3.6? If both students were equal in all other aspects, the colleges would rather have the Juniata grad. GPA is very important and they want to see that you can handle yourself.
An alternative, OP, is to have your daughter apply for accelerated programs at places that have articulation agreements with med schools, if that’s available.
Again, why can’t she take regular high school physics in a time slot that does not conflict with orchestra? It is not like she needs to take AP or nothing for physics.
Note that, because many of the weaker high school students stop taking science after biology or chemistry (whatever the minimum to graduate high school or get into a less selective college is), and some others try to dodge physics by taking advanced or AP biology and/or chemistry as their third and/or fourth year of science, even regular high school physics courses should have a reasonably strong group of students taking them.
If she’s not going to school for music, I think she should drop Orchestra. I had to make a similar choice, between choir and AP Spanish Lit, this year. There are lots of opportunities involving music outside of school. Outside of going to a community college, there aren’t nearly so many opportunities for taking classes outside of school. Besides, if she’s committed to pre med, it really doesn’t make sense not to take physics before college.
As a current high schooler, I’d just like to say that band has been the best part of my high school experience and that I wouldn’t trade it for anything, even if it has made my application slightly less competitive (which I’m not saying it has)
If there is no way that she would be able to take orchestra as a class, is it possible that she would still be able to participate in ensembles that take place after school? Music teachers tend to be flexible with that when it’s a result of scheduling conflicts.
What science course would she be taking instead of Physics? My daughter took human anatomy her senior year. She was accepted by every school to which she applied as an undergrad Physician Assistant student.
She took Biology, Chemistry and plan to take AP chemistry. The problem of Physics is that it is not like AP Physics go deeper into certain topic. It is like some topic are not cover at all by normal Physics class. I do think the science curriculum of US has a problem in that you learn one subject one year and another subject in another year. Elsewhere, like UK, you learn all three, Bio, Chem, Phy, at the same time and the level go up together as it gets harder. It is like if I am learning Kreb’s cycle in Biology, how can the student understand it he/she has not learnt Chemistry at that level?