<p>I'm a little worried that I haven't taken physics in HS. I've taken the hardest classes possible, and my major won't be in the sciences. Our school requires a regular, non-honors physics course before AP, and honestly, the class never really interested me. So I have two questions. Will not taking physics screw me over in admissions? And two, do you know anyone who got into an ivy league school who did not take physics in high school?</p>
<p>The fact that you haven’t taken physics won’t affect your chances at admission in the least. Many schools - like my own - offer choices from the other science AP courses that students can take in junior and senior year (and possibly sophomore as well).</p>
<p>My school gets 5+ Ivy admits every year and I know of two this year who took AP Chem in 11th grade and AP Bio in 12th grade. I also know of two more Ivy admits who took AP Physics in 11th and AP Chem in 12th…</p>
<p>In other words, as long as you’re taking the most rigorous courses possible, not having taken physics doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>i think you should ask an admissions officer. </p>
<p>i personally doubt it will affect your application much.</p>
<p>It’s not an Ivy League school, but I got into MIT without having taken physics in high school.</p>
<p>Me .</p>
<p>yes
one of my friends got into Yale w/o having taken ap physics</p>
<p>Okay cool. So for those who responded - the person took NO high school physics? I took honors biology, honors chemistry, AP Chemistry in 9,10,11. This year I’m taking AP Biology and AP Environmental. </p>
<p>PS- Thanks for the replies! Just what has been said alone has allowed for me to breath easier.</p>
<p>“The fact that you haven’t taken physics won’t affect your chances at admission in the least.”</p>
<p>That’s untrue.</p>
<p>^Not if your school DIDN’T offer physics in the first place.</p>
<p>“Not if your school DIDN’T offer physics in the first place.”</p>
<p>His statement was unqualified and the OP’s school DOES offer physics.</p>
<p>He says he’s taken the hardest classes possible… if that means, however, that he’s taken the hardest classes besides physics, then yes, that would be more of an issue. But not taking AP Physics to take another equally difficult AP science course is no biggie.</p>
<p>Like I said, at my school, juniors and seniors can take AP Chem, Bio, and Physics B or C in any order they please…</p>
<p>EDIT: kiterunner, as for your question… yes, some Ivy League admits at my school got in this year (and get in every year) without taking any physics classes at all. For kids in advanced science classes, the track goes: cell biology (honors) => chem honors => AP Physics or Bio or Chem => AP Physics or Bio or Chem</p>
<p>bro don’t worry
lets say you are an english major, why would IVYs care whether you took ap physics or not ?</p>
<p>School has Physics and AP Physics, this one girl took neither, but regular Physics in 12th grade. Got accepted to HYP, chose Yale. Linguistics major, however.</p>
<p>^Cool, I plan to major in Linguistics. </p>
<p>My sister got into Northwetern without any Physics. She only applied to one Ivy (Cornell) and was rejected, but she messed up her application, and I bet a mistake with the application is a lot bigger deal than not taking physics.</p>
<p>A lot of the people at my school who have gotten into Ivies and Ivy-caliber schools haven’t taken physics. Probably about half.</p>
<p>I didn’t take physics at any point in HS and got into Cornell.</p>
<p>So AP Chem would be considered “equally difficult?”</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, btw :)</p>
<p>I have this same problem… I don’t want to take the pre-ap class. It’s just too much of a pain for senior year. I’m taking 2 other APs instead of AP physics in the 2 class periods that it would’ve taken up</p>
<p>A girl at my high school got into Princeton and Brown without taking physics. Another girl got into Northwestern and Univeristy of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which aren’t Ivies, but are still decent schools, I think.</p>
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<p>Given that your school requires you to take a “regular” physics class before AP, you should be okay. Would they prefer that you take the physics course instead of AP Environmental? Hard to say. Probably they would prefer AP Physics to AP Environmental, but you don’t have that option. </p>
<p>Ivies generally <em>prefer</em> that a student take physics, but you certainly have plenty of lab science on your transcript. I wouldn’t worry about it.</p>
<p>But to answer your initial question: yes, all of the kids I know who got into Ivies took physics.</p>
<p>I got into Dartmouth without taking physics. I should have taken it this year but I took AP Bio instead. I hate physics. I’m going to be a science major.</p>