Hi, I am going to be an upcoming senior at my high school this year but I am worried that only having 2 years of science under my belt will hinder my chance of acceptance at UCLA. I tried to sign up for AP Biology this year, but my counselor did not enroll me in the class. I am planning to put myself down as “Undeclared - Social Science” but I heard that college admissions officers don’t take into consideration our intended majors. If so, that means I’ll be competing against students who might have interests in sciences and have taken various ap science courses. Should I request to get regular physics or possibly ap environmental science?
I was interested in majoring in areas such as the humanities/economics/sociology and do not plan on getting involved with sciences.
This is my schedule for senior year so far:
AP Lit
AP Calculus BC
AP Civics/Econ
AP Psychology
AP Art History (instead of AP Bio)
Yearbook/Journalism
you’re fine; yes having more years of science would be ideal (so try to get another science class if possible) but then again your academic rigor seems to be adequate for UCLA, so if you’re not able to get it then it’s not that big of a deal.
That’s true. My counselor finally gave me the class, but it’s so last minute and the summer assignment is actually very long and tedious. I’ve also heard from students that the teacher isn’t very comprehensive and great at teaching the class, so I’m having second thoughts. Thank you though!
If true, life is handing you an opportunity. A lot of kids put the responsibility for their learning on the teacher. And we can debate whether this is “right” or not. But step back and look at the bigger picture. A lot of people essentially outsource responsibility for their life, doing what they’re told but that’s it. They expect teachers and profs to own whether they learn or not, in college they expect by following the degree requirements they’re lined up for a good job or grad school, in the workforce they expect raises and promotions for doing what they’re asked by the boss. And then they’re surprised that others get good grades with lousy teachers, pull ahead of them in the job hunt because they had college internships or get into top grad schools because they have great recs, end up on the fast-track at work by figuring out what others who get ahead have done.
So what can you do? Start by owning your grade in Bio. Your teacher is a resource but you own the learning. Lousy resource? Well, there’s Khan Academy, free iTunesU videos, Coursera, to name a few. There are workbooks where you can practice such as “Biology Problem Solver.” There are websites with forums devoted to AP classes. You can set up a study group with friends from your classes. And more ideas you can think of, I’m sure.
You are applying to UCs, which are large publics. Truth be told, it is going to be up to you at a UC to get to know some profs for good recs, to visit the career center to find out about internships, to visit TAs with questions about the material, and so on. Starting this year to take ownership of your future is the best thing you can do; you may end up thankful this teacher prodded you into doing it!
@mikemac Thank you for your input. I know I can manage AP Bio if I put in the effort. It’s just sort of a question of whether I would enjoy/be interested in the class.