I’m going into my junior year and I’m not taking a science class, which is really stressing me out as I don’t want that to hurt me in the future. The reason for this is because it didn’t work out with my schedule. There are my classes (I’m going for the IB diploma):
pre-IB French 4
IB Business HL (I’m in DECA so I thought this’d make sense for me)
AP Calc AB
Newspaper (I’m on staff and an editor, and this is a class at my school)
Theory of Knowledge
IB History of the Americas
IB English HL
I feel like it’s a little late to change my schedule now, and I’m happy with my classes except for the fact I don’t have a science. It’s not that I don’t like science. I actually find it really interesting, although I didn’t see how it would work out. I will be taking IB Physics SL my senior year, so that’d be 3 years of science. I was considering self-studying the AP Bio curriculum throughout the year with the help of a bio teacher, since I think that’d be very interesting, although I don’t want to overwhelm myself. I am looking at some top schools (I basically want to put myself in the position to have a chance at most places so I have my options open). Currently, in college, I’d like to double major in journalism and either a science or business (although I’m young and this is subject to change).
Would this hurt me in the future? Should I self-study for bio (or perhaps another science but bio is the most interesting to me), and if so, would it be possible with such a busy schedule?
Have you thought about self studying AP Environmental Science? That is a low-stress course that will give you a fourth science credit without jeopardizing the grades in your other classes. I’d suggest having a fourth credit, no matter what class you end up taking.
What other sciences have you taken? I’m not familiar with your classes but, because they are predominantly IB, I’m going to assume that they are rigorous. The only way I could see this hurting you is if you wanted to pursue a degree in the sciences. My D didn’t take a science class her junior year, either, and doubled up on an English/Humanities class, which was better for her schedule and more in tune with her interests. She took an honors Enviro class her senior year (3 sciences in all, only 1 honors). She was accepted to the liberal arts colleges of Michigan, Northwestern, USC, among others. She did ask her GC to explain in the college reco her rationale for making this choice (who knows if it happened or not). My older daughter had a similar situation and focused on sciences, taking 5 courses, but not pursuing an AP English class. She was a science major at UChicago. I believe that adcoms look at your overall level of rigor, your academic interests, and what you would like to study at their colleges, rather than specific number of classes.
many colleges only look for 3 lab sciences so depending on your aspirations you may be fine. If needed can you take a summer course between your junior and senior year? Colleges would much prefer a class over AP self study.
momtogirls2 would it be possible to take a science course over the summer and how would I go about that?
momzhood well, I’m not entirely sure what I’d like to study in college. I do have certain interests, although I feel as if I can’t make a for sure decision at this point, nor do I want to be pressured to. Would it hurt me if I do later go on to pursue the sciences if I don’t declare anything for now? I think I’d really just like to take the first year of college to take lots of classes that interest me and then decide.
You would need to talk to your school (probably guidance counselor) to see what you could do to get credit for a summer class. I don’t know what your school offers or what is local but some options are - high school summer school (or other local high school) summer science class for credit. Your high school possibly participates in a virtual school that offers summer science credits. You can also see if the high school will give you credit for a science class taken at a local community college or university either online or in person.
For my kids summer credits at the local community college are not usually free whereas during the school year they are free including books. Our virtual high school is free during the school year but not in the summer. We don’t have summer school classes other than math for academic advancement. If your allowed to do a class for credit find out if the price works for your family.