I don’t want to take chemistry at all and my parents are highly against it as well. If I take a class like AP Enviromental Science or AP Bio will that make up for this in college admissions? I already took Honors Biology im 8th grade (I’m im 10th grade rn and will be graduating a year earlier).
You said in another thread that you hoped to attend MIT. Most students admitted to top STEM schools will have taken AP Chem, if it was offered.
You don’t need to take AP chem but most schools want to see some level of bio, chem, and physics.
Will it “make up?” No. Will your application be strong enough without it? Maybe. But as indicated above, your competition will have had chem.
Why?
Not the best strategy for top schools, but that’s a discussion for another thread.
You should definitely take chemistry if possible
Colleges typically like to see a sequence of bio, chem, and physics taken in HS.
I second what everyone else said: you should take bio, chem, and physics. You do not have to take them at the AP level, however. Typically sciences taken in 8th grade wouldn’t count, unless the class is on your high school transcript.
Chemistry isn’t all that bad. I developed a deep interest in cooking over the past couple years, and now I kind of wish I had a stronger chemistry background. You never really know when it is going to be useful.
To be perfectly honest, you have no business in an AP-level biological science class without getting through at least the on-level high school chemistry class first.
If the problem is that your high school’s chemistry teacher is a total disaster, then find a way to take chemistry with laboratory during the summer. What does your community college have on offer?
MIT specifically “recommends” chemistry. They say it’s not a requirement, but you would clearly be at a disadvantage without it.
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/highschool/
Why would your parents be “against” chemistry?
8th grade classes are not high school, even if they show on the transcript. And no, you can’t skip chem and maybe bio and expect to be taken seriously by a tippy top stem university. Think.
Setting your goals so high but trying to short the needed classes is a recipe for disaster. There are no excuses. You’re in 10th, think you can avoid AP chem and AP bio by taking AP ES?? Not how it works. Read up.
For a lot of schools, Chemistry is a prerequisite for AP Biology, so that needs to be taken. It doesn’t have to be AP Chemistry though.
Even if you somehow get into MIT without high school chemistry, you will then have to take college chemistry as a general education requirement there. Taking college chemistry without having had high school chemistry will be more difficult.
I’m not planning on attending MIT anymore. It’s not the right school for either of my potential majors (economics or political science)
My school had a program with the local high school so the Biology honors is a high school course and valid.
Parents are highly against high school chemistry? What an odd thing to be highly against.
My parents are against chemistry for multiple reasons. It was the only class one of my parents ever struggled in having to retake it in summer after being a straight “10” student her whole life (basically a+ in other countries) and I had talked to my physics honors teacher about it (who has a phD in chemistry and was the former chemistry teacher) and she said it was a terrible idea to take the course and to “stay away from it if you can.” The problem isn’t chemistry is awful but I’m worried about the course. I’m an online student so I really only have the one choice to take the course. I didn’t consider seeing if I could take it at a local community college though, I’ll look into that. Thank you.
MIT does have economics and political science.
General knowledge of science is good for political science, since some political issues are science related.
It takes very little imagination to understand why someone with a PhD in chemistry would describe an online intro. chemistry class as something you should stay away from. Follow that teacher’s advice. Skip the online class. Take chemistry in a live class with a real laboratory. Surely you can get that at your local community college, or even in a summer program at a high school near you.
That’s called burying the lede.
Not all courses work out well online, IMO. Any science with a lab component should not be taken online unless you happen to have a fully equipped lab in your house. A CC option is a much better plan.
As a new member trying to help some people while I research my own topics, this practice of asking for help but leaving out key details seems really common. Doing a full reference interview seems too much like work.