Is high school physics necessary for college admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taking Geosystems instead of physics will absolutely knock you off track for a top college. You may not care, but that’s the way it is.

See, OP? Typical DCUM: What top college? Who defines top in whatever field the OP's son wants to study? Should he apply to a prestigious school that doesn't necessarily have programs that are the best for his major and interests, or which is in a location where he will be miserable for four years, or which offers a social and day to day living experience that isn't right for him, but as long as it's "top" in someone's rankings....

OP, this forum ramps up anxieties. Go talk to the counselor or engage help focused just on your son and his potential major interests.

No need to shoot the messenger. As I said, you may not care. I sure don’t. Doesn’t make it less true. Nobody I know who went the geosystems route went to a top college. The top schools are simply too competitive in admissions.

Nobody you know doesn't mean it does not happen. My niece graduated HS with neither calculus nor physics and she wanted to be a ballerina but injury derailed that career. She spent 2 years at GMU studied humanities. She got accepted into the FlexMed program after her sophomore year @GMU. She is now plastic surgeon.

Top college is a cake walk in comparing to FledMed program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not as bad as not talking Calculus but yes, looks bad to top colleges.

I think it's worse. Geosystems is "rocks for jocks." It's a much easier class than physics.

[Anonymous]

This thread encapsulates so much of what's wrong with this forum.

OP never said that her kid was interested in a top whatever college, or even an elite one. She merely asked if it would hurt their admissions chances.

The reality is that for 99% of colleges, not taking physics in high school is not going to prevent a student from being admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for all the thoughtful and informative replies. Lots of food for thought!

OP - the people saying that Physics is required by elite schools are wrong. Top schools expect four years of rigorous science. My DS took Biology, AP Chem, AP Bio and APES and got admitted to Rice last year. Have your DS follow his interests and be able to articulate them.

And even not necessarily the most rigorous science. My son got into UChicago with no APs in science, just regular Bio, Chemistry, Physics. He is not planning to do anything science related, so chose to concentrate his efforts elsewhere.

+1 This is what I tried to say upthread. Colleges want your student to challenge themselves, but as long as they do that somehow, there isn't a script. A lot of the people on here are the ones pushing their child to take 15 APs, which does not impress colleges anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread encapsulates so much of what's wrong with this forum.

OP never said that her kid was interested in a top whatever college, or even an elite one. She merely asked if it would hurt their admissions chances.

The reality is that for 99% of colleges, not taking physics in high school is not going to prevent a student from being admitted.

99.9% (maybe there are some engineering schools where it would, otherwise no where.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread encapsulates so much of what's wrong with this forum.

OP never said that her kid was interested in a top whatever college, or even an elite one. She merely asked if it would hurt their admissions chances.

The reality is that for 99% of colleges, not taking physics in high school is not going to prevent a student from being admitted.

99.9% (maybe there are some engineering schools where it would, otherwise no where.)

OP asked if taking geosystems instead of physics would place the kid at a "disadvantage." The answer is yes. The kid would be disadvantaged over classmates with a serious science sequence. Sorry but true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks for all the thoughtful and informative replies. Lots of food for thought!

OP - the people saying that Physics is required by elite schools are wrong. Top schools expect four years of rigorous science. My DS took Biology, AP Chem, AP Bio and APES and got admitted to Rice last year. Have your DS follow his interests and be able to articulate them.

And even not necessarily the most rigorous science. My son got into UChicago with no APs in science, just regular Bio, Chemistry, Physics. He is not planning to do anything science related, so chose to concentrate his efforts elsewhere.

+1 This is what I tried to say upthread. Colleges want your student to challenge themselves, but as long as they do that somehow, there isn't a script. A lot of the people on here are the ones pushing their child to take 15 APs, which does not impress colleges anymore.

This x 100. Thank you for some much-needed perspective.

[Anonymous]

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread encapsulates so much of what's wrong with this forum.

OP never said that her kid was interested in a top whatever college, or even an elite one. She merely asked if it would hurt their admissions chances.

The reality is that for 99% of colleges, not taking physics in high school is not going to prevent a student from being admitted.

Given that elite or competitive colleges are a subset of colleges then it’s perfectly reasonable to say “at some colleges, yes”. On the other hand if they are looking at non-competitive colleges then the OP question is inherently pointless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread encapsulates so much of what's wrong with this forum.

OP never said that her kid was interested in a top whatever college, or even an elite one. She merely asked if it would hurt their admissions chances.

The reality is that for 99% of colleges, not taking physics in high school is not going to prevent a student from being admitted.

99.9% (maybe there are some engineering schools where it would, otherwise no where.)

OP asked if taking geosystems instead of physics would place the kid at a "disadvantage." The answer is yes. The kid would be disadvantaged over classmates with a serious science sequence. Sorry but true.

This is so stupid. It’s only even theoretically true if the students are otherwise absolutely identical.

But in the real world, where op’s kid might be taking the most challenging humanities course load and wants to major in the humanities, it’s unlikely that he’s competing against the kid with the most challenging science transcript. And that’s before you factor in test scores, extracurriculars, etc.

Stop acting like this is black and white.

[Anonymous]

I went to community college and definitely never took physics or chemistry in high school or college. So no, it's not necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to community college and definitely never took physics or chemistry in high school or college. So no, it's not necessary.

Thanks for adding to the discussion, dummy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread encapsulates so much of what's wrong with this forum.

OP never said that her kid was interested in a top whatever college, or even an elite one. She merely asked if it would hurt their admissions chances.

The reality is that for 99% of colleges, not taking physics in high school is not going to prevent a student from being admitted.

99.9% (maybe there are some engineering schools where it would, otherwise no where.)

OP asked if taking geosystems instead of physics would place the kid at a "disadvantage." The answer is yes. The kid would be disadvantaged over classmates with a serious science sequence. Sorry but true.

This is so stupid. It’s only even theoretically true if the students are otherwise absolutely identical.

But in the real world, where op’s kid might be taking the most challenging humanities course load and wants to major in the humanities, it’s unlikely that he’s competing against the kid with the most challenging science transcript. And that’s before you factor in test scores, extracurriculars, etc.

Stop acting like this is black and white.

Never said it had to be the "most challenging." But Geosystems? Really? You might as well take no science at all. And no college is going to count extracurriculars nearly as much as they're care about your transcript. You're deluding yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, it really depends on the type of college your dc is interested in. My dc took a foreign language in middle school and then freshman and sophomore year. Sophomore year was a real struggle and dc didn't want to take another year in high school. DC went to high school counselor and he said there were plenty of schools that would accept dc with only 2 years of foreign language. We (and counselor) also said that if a school wouldn't accept dc with only 2 years, it wasn't the right school anyway so dc shouldn't worry about college when making the course decisions. FF to senior year. DC was accepted ED to a slac in the midwest. A safety on most lists per DCUM but the perfect fit for dc.

A “safety on most lists” is not a top college. You’ve proven my point.

Op never said s/he wanted a top college. And the list of “safeties” posted by many dcum posters are really good schools. I have friends with superstar kids who are getting deferred from the “top” schools so I’m happy my kid was more realistic and is settled in the slac that will hopefully be a good fit. There are too many superstars and too few slots at the top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, it really depends on the type of college your dc is interested in. My dc took a foreign language in middle school and then freshman and sophomore year. Sophomore year was a real struggle and dc didn't want to take another year in high school. DC went to high school counselor and he said there were plenty of schools that would accept dc with only 2 years of foreign language. We (and counselor) also said that if a school wouldn't accept dc with only 2 years, it wasn't the right school anyway so dc shouldn't worry about college when making the course decisions. FF to senior year. DC was accepted ED to a slac in the midwest. A safety on most lists per DCUM but the perfect fit for dc.

A “safety on most lists” is not a top college. You’ve proven my point.

Op never said s/he wanted a top college. And the list of “safeties” posted by many dcum posters are really good schools. I have friends with superstar kids who are getting deferred from the “top” schools so I’m happy my kid was more realistic and is settled in the slac that will hopefully be a good fit. There are too many superstars and too few slots at the top schools.

Nor did OP say s/he didn’t, so they are part of the conversation.