<p>So, I'm applying to (in order of preference,) Hampshire, Oberlin, Bard, Swarthmore, and Vassar. I'm taking 4 APs this (senior) year (English, Gov, Euro, and Stat), and have a full course load at the private college prep school that I attend. I have a 1540 (M+V) SAT, and my GPA is somewhere around 3.7. I've taken 3 years of laboratory sciences so far (including AP chem) and began this school year taking Environmental Science. So far, the class has not been quite what I expected it to be--a lot of bookwork, and I'm not a huge fan of the teacher. There's a history elective that I'd quite like to take happening during the same period, and I'm wondering how terrible it would look to these colleges if I were to drop Environmental. According to collegeboard.com, Hampshire, Vassar, and Bard "recommend" 4 years of sciences, while Swarthmore and Oberlin only recommend 2 or 3. How serious are these recommendations? Have I entirely blown my chances at Hampshire, Vassar, and Bard (which, oddly, I thought were the least competitive of my list,) by dropping science, or does "recommend" really just mean "recommend?"</p>
<p>Other people's opinions: my counselor says it's risky with Swarthmore & Oberlin, while my mother says dropping a science in favor of a history "personalizes" my schedule. I'm not sure who to believe!</p>
<p>AP Environment Science is an elective, and it is unlikely to be viewed as a core (lab) science course by selective colleges, so dropping it for some other core course is likely to help you rather than hurt. The ideal is to replace it with a core lab science course. Without knowing which lab science courses you’ve taken to date, and what lab science options are available to you it’s not possible to make a recommendation. What I think is the ideal sequence for science (if it were available in your school) for selective colleges is: biology (1 year), chemistry (1 year), physics (1 year) and AP physics for the fourth course. Also in this ideal sequence it is best to sequence math so that you take AP Calculus (BC) concurrent with AP Physics.</p>
<p>AP Chem is a more rigorous science course than APES, so you’ve already shown you can handle scientific rigor. Even with their stated “recommendations,” I highly doubt APES vs History is going to make any difference in your acceptance at any of these schools. Colleges want to see what your passions are, so follow your interests in coursework just as you would in EC’s.</p>
<p>Recommend generally means required (or something very close to required–rules are likely bent for athletic recruits and other desirable applicants). Have you taken only one science course every three years? Or have you taken multiple courses in one of those years? If you’ve taken 4+ classes, you’ll be fine (years generally means courses). But if not, I’d drop APES for another lab science.</p>
<p>I think for Hampshire, Bard & Vassar who use a holistic review of the students for admission that your choice to replace AP Environmental Science with a history elective will not hurt your chances in the least.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input! I’m leaning towards dropping the course.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I’m not taking APES, which is only offered on an independent study basis, but regular old environmental science (which does, however, count as a lab science). The history elective is just a one-trimester course. I have only taken 3 science courses: an odd, but pretty rigorous, combination of physics and earth science, AP Chem (only pulled a B in the class, but a 4 on the test), and Honors Biology.</p>