<p>Is it necessary for an applicant to have taken Physics in order to be a competitive applicant for admission to the University of Virginia?</p>
<p>I plan on majoring in Government and Russian.</p>
<p>AP physics… Probably not, unless you are applying to engineer or architect school. Remember it is all about making the most of your situation ( high school). I am sure there are many people who are accepted into UVA that did not take physics.</p>
<p>thank you!
that is what I wanted to hear</p>
<p>If you are referring to honors physics then yes you should consider taking it. Your course rigor in HS is taken into consideration during your application review. This is not about your major for college it is an indication to admissions that you are capable of college level work across the disciplines. At UVa you will have area requirements to meet so your ability to do course work in the sciences is of importance.</p>
<p>Connections> course rigor > gpa> sat/ act > etc.</p>
<p>connections?</p>
<p>Like your parent is an admissions dean or your parent donates millions of dollars a year. I am sure that helps sway their decision, at least, at some schools lol.</p>
<p>At some schools if your parent works there or they donate money it may sway a decision in a students favor. However, with that said you are correct it is not all schools, but some, and even then it is a very small percent. </p>
<p>Thank you for clarifying, I thought that is what you meant.</p>
<p>I’d recommend you take a year of high school physics in any case. Science classes build upon each other, and college science classes assume you know basic physics.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I do not have room in my schedule, and I’d rather not replace something I’ll enjoy say AP Human Geography, for Physics…</p>
<p>I think you’ll be fine without Physics as long as you have three other sciences under your belt. Do you? Students from my D’s IS high school were admitted without physics but they also had environmental science courses from a magnet school in lieu of physics.</p>
<p>Edited to add: looking at some of your other activities you’ve detailed in other posts, I don’t think you need to worry about physics.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about physics. But, make sure you take (and do well) 2 SAT II’s. Also, write some killer essays!</p>
<p>AP Human Geography is one of those AP’s that competitive colleges do not give credit for even if you score a 5 on the AP exam. In college admissions and counseling this is a fluff course and does not hold a lot of weight as far as course rigor.</p>
<p>You wouldn’t want to try to skip any Physics in college via AP, if you intend to take any at all. As with so many college courses, the pace is something else.</p>