I agree with others. At this point in the semester it probably makes sense to stay where you are. Finish the year and do well. Next year, switch to the regular public school. Take physics (does not need to be at the AP level), either AP bio or chem, AP Calc (either one is fine), a history and English. That way you will still have 4 years of science. Switching now could cause more problems.
I too hope the OP gives the current school a chance and ends up completing the semester (or year). Before making any decision about transferring to your local public, I suggest reaching out to their guidance counselor to understand the course offerings available to you through graduation. It would be horrible to switch to the other public and then find out about scheduling limitations after the fact. Good luck!
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I think thereās a mismatch between OPās skills and the schoolās focus: itās a STEM school where many students prepare for USAMO and OP is in Precalculus in the 11th grade.
- You said the school offers more opportunities than your home school: meet with your GC and ask what opportunities it offers you based on your interests and abilities.
- You DO NOT need to take an all-AP curriculum and you need to take an intro to physics class before you take Physics C (which is only needed if you want to apply for majors in Engineering OR Physics - it is NOT applicable to biology, chemistry, or premed, for instance, for which honors physics or AP Physics 1&2 would be a better preparation).
Why didnāt you switch into āPhysics&the Artsā class, for instance, which would have probably been a good introduction to Physics before you take AP Physics 1 or 2 or C?
BTW, generally speaking, while taking Calculus alongside Physics C is possible, students who have taken Calculus before they take Physics C do much, much better.
3Ā° you should look into what transferring entails, most especially deadlines for your home school - if transferring in the middle of the year would mean you get placed into random classes where thereās still space, that would be even worse than your current situation!
4Ā° the way to handle the lack of science this year is to take a ālightā science or physics class this summer, one meant for NON STEM majors. A non stem major physics course will provide an introduction that will then help you take an AP physics (1?) class if you wish. Or another gen ed science will fulfill the unit requirement and you just take non AP Physics senior year.
5Ā° What would you want to major in?
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If you have friends at your public boarding school I would probably stay there. If you hate it then talk to your parents about dropping and going back to your base school, but that will not be an easy transition either.
Iām not sure what state you are in, but Iām in NC and the NC School of Science and Math is a very very highly regarded public residential school. College admissions folks definitely know it. I would imagine it is the same for the other similar schools. Graduating from one of those schools with good grades and good SAT scores will definitely help you in your college admissions quest.
I donāt think dropping Physics is a death knell for your college ambitions as long as you get it next year. Continuing with NC, UNC requires:
- 3 units in science
- one in a life or biological science
- one in a physical science
- one laboratory course
Other colleges may want more lab sciences, so if you have a college in mind now, check what they require.
I agree that the self-studying for the AP exams is not necessary unless you want to go to university overseas. Most of those schools (at least in the UK) require APs in lieu of GSCEs and A-levels. But if your intent, like most US high school students, is to stay stateside what colleges look at more is the rigor of your high school schedule, not necessarily your AP scores. Sometimes students donāt even take the AP tests. Itās the course that counts more here, not the test score.
Get your third science in next year. Do your best this year to keep your grades up. Maybe do some brushing up for Physics via Khan Academy over the summer. Donāt sweat it too much. You will go to college! It will be okay!
AP Calc BC and Pre-Calculus Honors are worlds apart. Not saying you couldnāt, but itās gonna be pretty tough. Most teachers will speed through the first quarter because it was all knowledge from Calc AB, so if you arenāt familiar with those topics first then Calc BC will be a struggle.
Not sure about the jump from Physics 1 to Physics C, but Physics 1 is algebra based and Physics C is calculus based. Expect a tough time there as well.
Good luck with your schedule!
This really depends on the high school. In my sons high school they donāt let you take AP calc AB and AP Calc BC. So typically you either take precalc->AP Cal-AB or Precal-honors-> AP Cal BC. So they donāt assume you have done CAL AB.
Yeah, my school (and most others from what Iāve heard) has it as a prereq. We go Pre-calc hon ā Calc AB ā Calc BC ā Stats (optional) Collegeboard also lists a single variable calculus course(calc ab) as a prerequisite.
Iād still recommend OP to review/take a calculus inbetween pre-calc and BC, just for cohesiveness.
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Does OP state anywhere that she targeting T20ās? I may have missed it. If not (and even if she did) I think everyone is causing this student a lot of stress. If she has 3 years of a science there are tons of colleges she can get into. And the rest of her schedule is very rigorous. Switching schools over one class mid-year seems like a really bad idea.
yes, they did.
But thatās why I posted UNCās requirement, which is only 3 years of science. I think not taking science junior year is that not bad as long as you get it in senior year.
And I agree that sticking it out at the current school is the way to go for a good-looking academic record. There might be some other reasons to leave the school (donāt know), but for academics Iād stay put and just pick up the science next year.
I donāt know which school youāre in, but just the fact that you got in there and were accepted says tons about you as a student! Those schools are hard to get into! And I think you are getting something out of it without science this year. Itās a scheduling conflict is all it is. Those are not uncommon. Probably you had to have a higher level math before you were supposed to be allowed to take the Physics course you were signed up for and then other science courses werenāt available. Itās not that big of a deal.
Your home high school could be okay, but if you transferred out now you would be behind in whatever they are learning and there is no guarantee that you could get into the classes you want there either.
Talk to your counselor at your current school and tell them you want to be sure to be prepared for college and are concerned about not taking a science this semester. Ask what the best course of action is.
One other possibility could be to take a course online. I donāt know if your state has this, but in North Carolina we have NCVPS (Virtual Public School) and I have known a few kids who picked up a course this way when they had a scheduling conflict. My D22ās friend took Chemistry online. He hated doing it online, but he did it. It has to be scheduled through the school counselor, though, so talk to them. NCVPS do offer some block scheduling so you could conceivably take a class as soon as next semester if the course is offered as a block.
You can do this! You sound very stressed out. CollegeConfidential is full of stressed out teens and parents. I told my daughter to stay away from here because of that. I just parse the info for her. Itās such an anxiety-provoking place. There are plenty of very good colleges that would be thrilled to have a student like you! This is just one little snag and it absolutely will not keep you from going to a good college. Keep your grades up and get involved at school and try to stay off the internet (itās just toxic all around). Best of luck!!