<p>DD is entering her senior year and is signed up to take epidemiology, But from what I am hearing physics may look better for college admissions....Thinks she wants to study pre-med...thank you kindly for any/all advice:)</p>
<p>Her high school has a course in epidemiology? Or is she going to take it at a JC/uni?</p>
<p>My bias would be towards taking Physics. It is a class she will likely have to take at college, and it is sort of unique in that it teaches you to directly apply all the math you’e learned to various physical situations.</p>
<p>I suppose a good epidemiology course would include a lot of statistics, and would be interesting, but I see Physicis as a more foundational course. Epidemiology seems a little specialized for a high school student. If she does take the epi, I would assume the colleges would like to see a strong mathematical/biological component to it.</p>
<p>But I have a degree in Physics, so like I said, I’m biased.</p>
<p>She should take the class that is the most interesting for her. She will learn more, and it is likely that she will get better grades. If indeed she decides on medicine as a career, she has plenty of time to take physics yet!</p>
<p>Wow–never heard of a high school that has an epidemiology course. What are the qualifications required of the instructor? </p>
<p>All things being equal, she should take the course that she would enjoy more.</p>
<p>But you asked about college applications–if I were an adcom, I’d have questions about the rigor and content of an epidemiology course taught at the high school level. </p>
<p>If it is a statistics class that uses focuses on epidemiology studies, then the question becomes whether it is “better” to take a stats class or a physics class for college admissions purposes. I think that physics is seen as more of a college prep class than is statistics.</p>
<p>She should have at least one HS physics class to prepare her for her college science courses. If it is a choice between a second physics course and a fun course she can go for the epidemiology course. I was a college chemistry major who went on to medical school (I hated physics but the calculus based college courses made understanding easier than the memory work without calculus). She can read several popular books involving epidemiology to learn about the subject more easily than she can learn physics on her own. Most college students taking physics will have had some in HS- she would be at a disadvantage without it.</p>
<p>Bovertine, Yes, her high school offers an honors epidemiology course</p>
<p>Unless she has already had a year of physics, I really think that a year of honors or AP physics would be better for college admissions. *And I have a degree in epi - so it is not just the physicists advocating physics. 
*</p>
<p>Since she will need to take physics in college for pre-med, the high school physics will be helpful to her once she is in college, too.</p>
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<p>Wow indeed. There are a lot of colleges that don’t offer epidemiology. For a high school to offer it is remarkable. They must have had a biology teacher on the staff who had a degree in epidemiology and talked to department into letting him/her put somethng together. I doubt there are high school-level epidemiology text books readily available.</p>
<p>I too have never heard of a HS epi course, much less an honors epi course. I agree with other posters that physics is a better foundational course for pre-med majors. And, I have a minor in epi, so no physics bias here either.</p>
<p>Where are the physics majors who will tell your D to take epidemiology?!</p>
<p>My bias is physics. It’s just expected and a foundation class. Is she able to do AP and get college credit? In addition to physics, all my kids have taken forensics course or research, but physics was a must-take/no option.</p>
<p>Having said that, my youngest son would have done anything to take an epi. class, including doubling up.</p>