Hello! I am a rising senior and I am recently realizing that I did not take a science class at all junior year. I had switched it to take another class instead, but my junior year schedule was VERY packed. I plan on taking AP Bio this upcoming year, and have taken Honors bio, Honors Chem, and Physical Science (took it in middle school). Am I fine or did I make a mistake not taking a science junior year?
I do not plan on majoring in science if that changes anything.
Nothing you can do about last year’s schedule at this point. But I would consider taking physics next year as many colleges like to see applicants complete a sequence of biology, chemistry, and physics in HS.
Hello @happy1! Sadly, my school does not offer physics. There’s AP Chem, but I do not see that as the best idea to take along with AP Bio.
Depending on where you are applying, not having physics could be a problem. Any possibility of doubling up in science?
Hello @momofsenior1! I am on a block schedule, so I am taking AP Bio second semester. I can possibly take another science, but it would be alongside AP Bio second semester, so I don’t know if that may make things a bit too difficult, being that Bio is pretty difficult as a full-year class, let alone a semester class. But if it is something that I should do, then I can try to add it to my schedule.
Your high school doesn’t offer physics???
Hello @bobo44! Unfortunately, no. I go to a pretty small school, and I believe my principal’s philosophy is to have kids who want to take the class to take it through dual enrollment, and it has a pre-req I cannot fit into my schedule (Trig), so I have not made it an option.
I guess you will be able to explain that (or guidance counselor will). But no trig? What will senior level math be? That might be of more concern
@bobo44 I took pre-calc junior year, and plan on taking DE Stats senior year. Surprisingly (complete sarcasm), my school does not offer calculus, so DE would be the only way to take it, but pre-reqs prohibit me from doing so, so Stats is my best bet, especially since it would correlate to a social science major like myself more than calculus potentially would.
Did your high school precalculus course not include trigonometry (sine, cosine, tangent, etc.; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometry for a brief overview of topics) that would satisfy the prerequisite for physics or calculus?
Statistics is more directly useful for social sciences, but some social sciences (particularly economics) may require calculus, and social scientists may find a stronger knowledge of statistics based on calculus to be helpful.
Hello @ucbalumnus! Yes, my pre-calc class include trigonometry. But, it does not fulfill the requirement for those classes. For physics specifically, they do allow high school trigonometry to count as a pre-req instead of College Trig, but not pre-calc.
But that is interesting to know! I always found calculus to be so far away from the social sciences, but it is cool to see that it even indirectly applies to non-STEM majors!
You probably need to take a math placement test at the college to prove to them that you know your trigonometry. Many college students take precalculus (including trigonometry) in high school and then go directly calculus and other courses that require knowledge of it. Trigonometry in college would be needed for students who only completed algebra 2 in high school, or whose high school math courses were poor quality.
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/rur/rurci3.cgi is a free online quiz of math topics that you need to know in order to be ready for calculus.
I would take an AP science class like APES or AP BIO (you said you were taking that sry) to show that you are willing to challenge yourself in science courses. I took APES this year and the content is not hard to understand at all and it is a good pair with AP Bio. The AP Exam for APES is also not too bad. Hope this helps!
Nothing you can do about Junior year. To AP Bio senior year. Precalculus=> AP Stats is acceptable for a social science major.
However it’s very important you chek the sxhool profile (if it’s not there, add it to your bragsheet so your GC thinks of including it in your records) that your HS does not offer physics nor calculus. That offers ‘context’, which is crucial foe adcoms to understand your curriculum and application.
@ucbalumnus I actually just realized that I cannot test out of Trigonometry, being that a CLEP does not exist for that subject, so I would have to dual enroll the class, which I would have to find space for. So, I am not sure if I would be able to pursue physics, let alone calculus. I could perhaps take Trig online through virtual school, though.
Hello @peyre1! My school does not offer APES, but I am sure it ties in well with Bio, being that some of the content overlaps! But yes, I feel like AP Bio would show that I am willing to take a challenging science course rather than trying to avoid them. Thank you for your help!
Hello @MYOS1634 In my case, it would be Statistics at CC, but same thing. I do not know if my school profile is added to my transcript/records, because I have received my transcript before and it did not show anything about classes offered, but I will ask my GC to make sure it is there. I just wanted to make sure that not taking these classes (Physics and/or Calculus) at a CC, being that they are not offered at HS, would not penalize me. Thank you!