Very unfortunate schedule dilemma...

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Okay...so here's the deal. I'm a senior. I've been in choir all four years; been in the Chamber Singers since sophomore year [a smaller choir than the varsity choir that you take in addition to the other choir], the earliest you can be in it; been an All-Stater twice; and am the vice president of choir. Obviously I'm pretty involved, to say the least.</p>

<p>However, despite how much I love singing and music...I don't want to go into it as a career. I want to be an engineer.</p>

<p>So as this year rolls around, I'm signed up for AP Physics. The school decided to switch to block scheduling instead of the regular 7 period + lunch period day...In theory, this would allow kids to take more classes that they wanted to. Unfortunately, since Varsity organizations are double blocked, this causes some problems with the way they set up classes.</p>

<p>The only AP Physics period is 3rd period...which happens to be the same period as Chamber. So, at the moment, I'm not in AP Physics, instead placed into a web mastering class 8th period that does me no good seeing as I already know a good deal of HTML, and is a blow off class anyway.</p>

<p>I know that not taking physics is not a good idea. But even though I'm not going into music, quitting Chamber just doesn't seem like a viable idea. I would still be in Symphonic [Varsity], but I know my directors would furiously look down on dropping Chamber...and Chamber is my favorite class.</p>

<p>How far behind will not taking physics put me [I did take pre-AP Physics last year]?</p>

<p>There is a class 8th period that I could take - Principles of Engineering or somesuch. Unfortunately, my best friend is in it right now and he says that the teacher isn't good, it's pretty much a blowoff class, and it's filled with idiots.</p>

<p>Is it worth taking just to have that "Engineering" on my senior schedule?</p>

<p>Can you think of any classes that I could take that would have some relevance? [AP Stats?]</p>

<p>How difficult would self-studying AP Physics [B or C] be?</p>

<p>I'm seriously just considering taking early release 8th period. I mean, I have 4 other AP classes [Eng Lit, Comp Sci, Calc AB, Econ/Gov't], it's not like I'm taking this year off.</p>

<p>Any help/advice/anything is greatly appreciated...this situation has really thrown a wrench into what seemed to be a great senior year in all aspects...I know things will likely be okay no matter what happens, but it's just frustrating right now.</p>

2

<p>I guess it really matters which schools you are interested in. I'm sure very competitive schools expect to see Physics AP on your transcript. I know you don't want to hear this, but you really should take Physics over Chamber Choir. It is much more important to take core classes than EC classes. You can always explain to an adcom why you dropped Chamber to study Physics with which to better prepare yourself for Engineering, but I don't believe it sounds as good the other way around.</p>

3

<p>eww, that doesn't sound good!! are there any other AP sciences that you can take?? Is Physics a graduation requirement??? Maybe you could take physics at a community college. also, if you're interested in engineering, i think that would be a good class to have on your transcript. I def. wouldn't take an early dismissal -- remember, that colleges want to see the HARDEST POSSIBLE courseload!!</p>

<p>Good luck!!!</p>

4

<p>S was considering becoming an engineering major. When he visited colleges just before senior year, he asked if he needed to take physics before college because it wouldn't fit into his sched. Every prof told him that, yes, he needed to take physics before going to college, so S switch high schools for senior year.</p>

<p>Can you take physics in community college or elsewhere over the summer before college?</p>

5

<p>Maybe you could try to take AP physics through a distance learning cource, like EPGY (<a href="http://epgy.stanford.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://epgy.stanford.edu/&lt;/a&gt;) or LearningLinks (<a href="http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/learning/)%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/learning/)&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

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<p>I don't know how much you got out of this "pre-AP physics" course, but I would hope that if it was a year-long course, self-studying AP physics B wouldn't be too bad. If you were doing BC calc, I would say definitely hold on to choir. With AB i'm not so sure. Also, particular shools are <em>very</em> important in making decisions like this (if that's what you care about): GA Tech doesn't even let you write down choir as a course, while Olin college of Engineering likes to see you follow through with your passions.</p>

7

<p>Wow, I'm practically in the exact same predicament, with the only difference being a Chamber Orchestra for me instead of a chorus.</p>

<p>I think sticking AP Physics in the school year is very important. My replaced course to make AP Physics fit into my schedule happens to be Human Anatomy, which I think in some respects is similar to the Engineering class you mentioned (my school has one, too), in that both are not worth pursuing in their related-ness to your prospective major since colleges don't know exactly what you're getting from taking those classes (they are not standardized, unlike APs).</p>

<p>I would never want to replace Chamber with another course. Despite being a prospective science major, science (and every other) class has always taken a back-seat to music.</p>

<p>I think it's unfortunate that your participation in chorus requires you to give up two periods; I am in one orchestra class, and it is just simply the best one out of theree that are organized. No need to have to stick to lower ones..</p>

<p>And the school year is almost beginning, so even if you contact school administrators, there would likely be little for them to do to make AP Physics and Chamber compatible. My school uses a computer program to set classes during certain periods to maximize the number of students who have all the classes they want. But some people are still bound to be disappointed.</p>