<p>For my 4th year of high school I'd rather omit science altogether, but my guidance counselor said the types of schools i wanna apply to (georgetown, princeton, brown, stanford) will look down on me for it. I'm not gonna major in anything even remotely related to physics or anything in the STEM field, so would it reflect badly if I just didnt take physics?</p>
<p>It really doesn’t matter what you intend to major in, preparation for a top college consists of bio, chem and physics, and usually 4 years of science. People do give up space in their schedules to commit to getting these core classes done. The top colleges usually say on their website what classes they want to see, so check the admissions section of each website. Sure you will find some that got in without it, but that is not the norm. If you have something else in mind to take, and it is something you show commitment and excellence in in your EC’s, say, then it may be more understandable.</p>
<p>Well I know when I looked at a website for one of the schools I mentioned, it just said 3 years of lab science is recommended…does that mean if the school site doesn’t say they want physics, it probably won’t hurt me?</p>
<p>You’re shooting for some elite schools where all students are following the recommendations of more science-based classes. You need the science curriculum and it will definitely stand out in your app that you omitted taking a science course.</p>
<p>So in response to your question: yes/probably</p>
<p>I find it kindof disappointing that I’ll be punished for trying to take classes I’m genuinely interested in than ones I don’t care about 
thanks so much for the responses though</p>
<p>^ Welcome to the college admissions game.</p>
<p>I don’t know…the fact that you’re viewed any lower just for having a different interest just doesn’t make sense to me</p>
<p>Try changing your schools to more LAC’s that would look at your liberal arts coursework.</p>
<p>There are two different standards. One is the expectations to college or university lists on its web site. The other is what your competition will have done.</p>
<p>At colleges like the ones you have named, a lot of applicants will have taken four years of science, including physics. That doesn’t mean you must do it too, but it does kind of suggest that if you’re not taking physics or some other science, you should have something with academic heft in its place in your senior schedule.</p>
<p>Even then, of course, there are no guarantees. You might be able to take what you like instead of taking physics, and get into your first choice college. On the other hand, you might decide to suck it up and take physics, and get shut out. There is, sadly, really no way to know.</p>
<p>As for being punished for taking what interests you, I think the problem is that you are shutting off avenues of study too early. When I teach high school, I don’t think it’s my job to turn every student in my English class into another TS Eliot, or every student in my math class into another Gauss. (Yes, I have taught both.) I view it as my job to prepare my students to study whatever they find interesting when they get to college. If a student of mine gets to college and says, " Wow, I never knew astronomy was so interesting!" I don’t want her to follow that up by saying, “It’s too bad I could never learn all that math.” Elite colleges also want you to be able to study anything you discover an interest in. That’s why they want high school students to be generalists, and not too specialize too early.</p>
<p>Sikorsky summarized it rather well. They want you to be well-rounded and there are certain classes that they think everybody should take. There are four (arguably five) classes that super selective colleges tell you to take senior year, there is still plenty of room to take other classes that interest you, you just might not be able to take every elective that you want. Depending on what the class you are interested in is, you could potentially even take it outside of school for fun.</p>
<p>Crying for no reason. I suffered through AP Bio senior year as a prospective IR major just because it was AP.</p>