<p>Background: D is a jr, finishing up the year away at a ballet pre-pro school, has realized her dream is not a reality and wants to go to college and do some "good" in the world. Thinking of psych. Strong in languages, humanities, writing. Hates math. Hates it, altho doing well. "Mom, what is the point of..."
Currently: AP Bio, APUSH, Pre-calc, college level English, college level French. Next year will be home: AP Stats, Econ (required), college level English (cyber), and (hopefully) in special HS program at nearby university (Ivy) to take French and Psych. Great grades, very disciplined and motivated to cyberschool.
There will be no room for Physics, and she has no interest. No desire to go into sciences. Should she forgo Stats for Physics?</p>
<p>No. You're replacing one math class with another--no difference. Also, stat is much easier (imo) than physics, so it should be easier for her to get a good grade. Also the AP stat exam is a joke.</p>
<p>What are some of the schools she's likely to apply to?</p>
<p>Chances are, her HS transcript and experience will be looked at by admin officers differently (probably, in a good way) because of pre-pro schooling. </p>
<p>There's a whole thread somewhere here on the parents forum about either ivy or elite school admissions without a senior year science. You might find it helpful.</p>
<p>It is not possible to take high school physics in college.</p>
<p>If your daughter finds herself in a situation where she might need to take college physics, she will be at a disadvantage if she did not take high school physics. </p>
<p>How could she get into this situation? Well, if she's a psychology major, it depends on her interests within psychology. If she is drawn toward the biological, neuroscience aspects of the field, she might end up majoring in something biological rather than straight psychology, and she might find that taking college physics is necessary. On the other hand, if she is more interested in social psychology, she will never have to open up a physics book.</p>
<p>It all depends on what she wants.</p>
<p>Marian,</p>
<p>thats not true at all. you can definately take "high school physics" in college. I am currently taking a physics class that is easier then my junior year of high school regular physics class.</p>
<p>It's hard to answer this question without knowing the schools she's targeting.</p>
<p>Has she taken Chemistry? Many selective schools like to see the triad of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics on an applicant's transcript. If your D has not taken Chemistry, I think that skipping Physics could put her at a distinct disadvantage at selective schools, especially because she does not intend to follow up Precalc with Calculus. Again, though, it depends on her target schools.</p>
<p>She has taken Chemistry. Rather than follow up with physics, she chose AP Bio. She is unlikely to go the neuroscience route of psychology- more interested in clinical psych. Thinking of Barnard, Penn (legacy), McGill, Pitt. A city girl.</p>
<p>I'm thinking that with neither Physics nor Calculus, schools of the caliber of Penn and Barnard could be a tough sell. Perhaps your daughter's experience at the pre-pro school might offset the deficit. Others may know better. But since you say she's a good (if reluctant) math student, would she be willing to take Calculus instead of Stats?</p>
<p>She can only take five classes? We take seven, but I guess the special program you mention would have time constraints. That's tough to work around...I'm not sure what she could/should sacrafice for a science. </p>
<p>I don't think she should get rid of math. Is doing AP calc rather than AP stat a consideration at all? I know AP physics does some calc, is she handling pre-calc well now? Just wondering. Isn't there an AP environmental science class? Maybe she could think about studying for that? You mentioned she wants to "do good" so that might interest her given her background and could relate to her passions. I don't know how hard the material is because I don't know much about AP, the IB environmental systems doesn't require a lot of math and is popular with humanities focused kids.</p>
<p>We just had a talk from a college admissions officer at our high school. At high end colleges avoiding physics or math in senior year is a red flag. My older son hates sciences but took AP Physics and AP Calculus senior year. The additional benefit is that his college (Johns Hopkins) gave him enough AP credits in the sciences that he has no "hard" science requirements at all which makes him very happy.</p>
<p>Personally, as a science major, I've used my AP stats class a whole lot more than my high school physics class. There have been a number of times where a professor or TA has had to teach us "just enough statistics to get by" in order to write up our lab reports or understand a concept in class. I would think that especially as a possible psych major, stats would probably be more useful (though I defer to others as to what looks better on an application).</p>
<p>Stats is not considered math? So much more useful than calculus (I'm an MD, never used calculus but use stats every single day). What if she were to take a course in genetics (very interested in this- but on a counseling level).</p>
<p>Stats is indeed considered math, but for college admissions purposes, a more lightweight math course than Calculus. Many kids who want to avoid Calculus opt for Stats.</p>
<p>I took one semester of physics (came out with a D) and zero semesters of calculus, and a year of AP Stat, and got into Barnard. Especially with her heavy dance training, which Barnard loves, I don't think she'd have a problem at all here--my lack of more intense math is not unusual among the students.</p>
<p>hm, if she has no interest in physics, don't advise her to take it. Take genetics, coz she likes it, and Stats, coz so many people said it's useful. If she really wants college credit in physics, she may want to sign up for the AP physics exam. But, after all, there're always introductory physics classes in colleges designed for students with little background, so don't worry.</p>
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thats not true at all. you can definately take "high school physics" in college.
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<p>I took Physics 1 in college which was the lab course for pre-meds. It would have been easier if it hadn't been full of pre-meds, but the material wasn't too bad. I'd only had chem and bio in high school - no AP science at all though I did have AP Calc. At anyrate I don't remember using calculus in the course at all though I think it was a prerequisite. It wasn't too hard until the very end when they assumed you had taken some chem course that I hadn't taken. That was nasty! However there was also an easier "Physics for Poets" course.</p>
<p>At S's univ. there is Physics for science and engineering majors (calculus based, what S takes and he only took honors physics in h.s., although he did have AP Calc. as a Jr.)) and then they have College Physics (non calculus based for business and humanities majors).</p>
<p>As long as your daughter does not want a major requiring physics or calculus, doing without them is fine. College admissions committees match the course selection to the academic aspirations of the applicant. Rigor is important, but that can be demonstrated in various ways, depending upon a student's interests. AP and college courses will do that for her. Showing the discipline to take on subjects towards which one's interests are not inclined is also important. A senior year without math or physics is a real mistake. However, AP statistics is a valid choice. Some top-notch liberal arts colleges may want both, so she may narrow her choice a bit. </p>
<p>As for Barnard, my daughter was accepted there and she took an honors quantitative analysis (no AP math) and honors physics her senior year ... but she also had a 740 math. She also hated math but did well in it. So, another factor which might offset your daughter's lack of interest in math/science would be an SAT math score which indicates she does not have a weakness for math, just an inclination towards other subjects.</p>
<p>We are in the same boat with S, also a hs jr. He wants to double major in music and psychology, although he's not 100% sure how he'll use it. He may even want to do music technology, which I know requires college physics, at least at the schools he's looked at, but still he doesn't want to take it next year in hs. He has signed up for AP Calculus, tho, and will have 3 years of science, Honors Chem, Honors Bio, and AP Bio. For some reason his school won't let you take physics until senior year. They force you to do 2 of something else.</p>
<p>We have capitulated and let him out of the physics, even tho the local state u requires it of all entering freshmen (it's his safety; he doesn't want to go there). The gc tells me if your gpa and act score are high enuf, the state u lets you out of the rqt; his is)</p>
<p>He signed up for a music theory elective instead of the physics, plus a third year of honor choir (schola cantorum). He's made all state choir twice already. I got tired of fighting him on the physics, so I caved. Hopefully it's not the wrong decision.</p>
<p>I hear you mercymom. I have let my jr. S out of doing math for senior year. He dislikes math and has already completed the 4 units of math required for graduation. He is not a good math student, not a candidate for any AP math, so has gone about as far as he can go with h.s offerings. I discussed this with the head of the math department and she agreed that in his situation we were making the best decision. He may try to get in a college algebra class at our CC if it works out with his schedule but wuld rather take Engines 101!</p>