<p>I'm a member of the class of 2011 and my schedule for senior year of high school is as follows.</p>
<p>AP Calculus BC
AP Statistics
AP English Literature
AP Chemistry
Organic Chemistry (1st semester)
Introduction to PE (2nd semester, required for graduation)
Spanish 4</p>
<p>I'm trying to switch out of Orgo because I figure that doubling up on chemistry isn't going to look too great on my college applications, as I haven't done any ECs related to the field. My fear is that Orgo might, oddly, end up looking like a blow-off. My intention is to drop Orgo and switch into AP Government for the sake of showing curriculum rigor to admissions committees. Should I do this or should I keep my schedule as it currently is? Why?</p>
<p>On the contrary, AP Chemistry focuses on inorganic chemistry more than it does on organic chemistry. If you’re looking into a biochemistry/chemistry/pre-med career path, taking organic chemistry is a great plus, both to admissions and college courses. I’ve heard many freshmen this past year at Johns Hopkins complain about organic chemistry because they haven’t been taught as well in high school due to the lack of orgo classes.</p>
<p>Organic Chem will never look like a “blow off” class. It’s usually one of the classes used to weed out chem majors in college. My concern is whether you’ll be able to handle the class load.</p>
<p>n0vad3m0n: Thanks for the input. I’m aware of the perception of OrgChem as a “weeder” class due to the difficulty many students have with it. I think I’m up to the challenge of learning it at the high school level, but I’m worried that it’s not related to anything I’ve done or planned to do. With the possible exception of neuroscience, my interests (neuroscience, law, economics, and linguistics) probably won’t probably don’t relate to Orgo very well. Additionally, my extracurriculars (see <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/980467-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/980467-chances.html</a> for a list) haven’t been in the sciences. As opposed to AP Government, would Orgo detract from my “focus” of subjects, or would it help by broadening my curriculum?</p>
<p>Well I mean, currently, you do not have a social science course, in which case your senior schedule is focused primarily on what seems to be pre-med or something close. Neuroscience does focus on chemistry, especially organic chemistry if you’re planning to major in that.</p>
<p>I would think that you would need AP Chem to take Organic Chem, amirite?</p>
<p>Rohitht: Neither is a prerequisite for the other. I took Chem 1 in 10th grade, making me eligible to enroll in both of these.</p>
<p>I’m now a bit worried that my curriculum has been too varied in its focuses. Last year, I took AP Econ and the newspaper class. This year, I will be in the club versions of both of these but, as n0vad3m0n points out, the schedule I was given seems more focused on science and math.</p>
<p>Incidentally, does Organic Chemistry have the same weight to admissions officers as an AP course?</p>
<p>Well when you put it that way, it seems that you’re varied focus is actually, varied. One year you explored social sciences, in economics and journalism, and another, you’re looking into the sciences. That seems fine. </p>
<p>Orgo might not give the same weight, but it does say that you’re taking the class not simply because it’s weighted, which could be ea plus.</p>
<p>My sense is that your senior schedule is not well balanced – with two math courses and two science courses. A history/social studies course is a better choice than the Organic Chemistry or AP Statistics. Unless you have a demonstrated passion and talent in math/chemistry it’s best to focus on core courses without “doubling up”.</p>
<p>Organic Chemistry can be easy or hard, depending how demanding your teacher is. Unlike AP chem, it has no math. If your teacher doesn’t test you much beyond the examples in the book (e.g. give you reactions that are extremely similar to textbook examples for the exams), it’s actually fairly easy and I suspect that may be the typical HS version of it.</p>
<p>One of my former classmates got a C in orgo; she took the next sequence at a local college over the summer and got an easy A. The difference was day and night.</p>