I screwed up because instead of taking bio freshman year, I took physical science, and now my science track is kinda screwed up. Because of my screw-up, I will be in chem in 11th grad while 1/2 of my grade is in it in 10th grade so I’ll be in a chem class with half of the people being 10th graders. Though I am not a strong math student, (geometry in 10th grade), I think I would do fine in AP Environmental Science since it doesn’t involve that much math. Also, at my school, you don’t need physics to graduate. I don’t want to major in anything doing with science, (Journalism/TV Broadcast Major) and I’ll have 8 AP already when I graduate (AP Enviro would be 9). Should I take regular physics senior year, or take AP Enviromental Science? What would I be missing out on in physics, and is it necessary to have a better chance for college admissions?
9th- Physical Science (regular)
10th- Biology (Regular)
11th- Chemistry (Regular)
12th - Physics (Regular) or AP Environmental Science (Honors)
My GPA is 3.75. I’m aiming for Wisconsin, Maryland, Lehigh, Syracuse, UConn, and UIUC. My advisor said that I don’t need to take physics since I’m not planning on majoring in science, but like he said that regular physics is more challenging than AP Enviro, but I’ve never been a good math or science student, and the AP seems like it would be better.
I see another big problem, which is, that all these schools are OOS publics (minus one) - do your parents have 200k for your college? If not, you need to change your list.
Run the NPC on all of these (you may need your parents’ help). Then, discuss the results and establish a possible budget range that they can pay from income+savings. If they don’t have savings, see if they can set something aside every month in the amount they think they can pay for college - it’ll be good habit training and it’ll show you whether it’s possible. You should do the same (set some money aside every month). If you can do it, you’ll have some savings toward college, and if you can’t do it, you’ll know you need to redo the budget.
However based on your list I don’t think it’d make a huge difference. The issue is that your list is likely to change.
Yes, physics is seen as more challenging. You should take it if you’re able to get a B in it. However, if you’re not sure you can get a B or higher, you’re better off taking APES, no college is going to be impressed if you have a C in Physics. It’s an interesting class and one known to cater to string humanities/social science students.
What other classes are you taking this year and what else are you thinking of?
Next year, I’ll have Algebra 2-2, Chemistry, AP Economics, AP US History, AP Spanish Lang., and AP English Lang. I already am taking this year. Senior year, I’ll have AP Computer Science, Pre-Calc-2, Physics-2 or AP Enviro, AP Spanish Lit., AP Gov, and two electives.