How important is physics?
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Anonymous
It's a core course. Even my SN kid took it. |
Anonymous
+1. This is the usual or customary set, along with US History, World History, and English every year. At many college admissions offices, but not all, if any of these are missing then it raises a yellow flag or red flag about why DC did not take one or more of that set. It is difficult for anyone here to know precisely how any particular school would view a missing course, but admissions chances pretty clearly would be better if one had all of the above. Quoted poster above is correct that regular physics would look much better to Admissions folks than no physics at all. The ONLY exception I can think of to the science expectation would be someone applying narrowly to a college of fine arts, and not applying to any broader arts & sciences college or arts & letters college, with a clear stated interest in being an Art or Music or Theatre major. |
Anonymous
| Need to take two years of sciences. |
Anonymous
This is incorrect. Most high schools require at least three years of science to graduate. Most highly selective colleges want to see four years of science. |
Anonymous
PP. Two people seem to be misunderstanding me, so I'll respond. "Check the box" to me means you have to do it, even though you may or may not want to. That it's an accepted, known default. That doesn't make any value judgment about whether people like the class or want to take it. Or if they are nerds. I actually said "quantitatively adept" and "straight A students". In a US high school, 4 years of "English" or "ELA" is pretty default. I also think that the 3-4 year foreign language requirement to get into good colleges is a "check-box". Some love foreign language, some hate it. Doesn't matter...it's socially enforced. Even though I personally like foreign language study, I feel college-bound students could benefit from having more true freedom to pursue other subjects. If students are on a college track, it used to be pretty default to take physics...therefore check the box. At my high school, everyone on the college track took it. I do think some were hoping that their peers would get A minuses and so fall out of the running for valedictorian. In the DMV now, you have more sophisticated ways to disguise this competition...like weighted grades coupled with extremely rich AP class offerings...that breadth is not so common in other places with less regional affluence. There are tons of threads on this site that demonstrate parents are concerned about course selection for purposes of college admission vs. love of the subject. Do you really think a lot of students are concerned about abstract scientific well-roundedness vs. getting in and surviving at their future college majors? If, as some people are saying, or fearing, physics must be on the transcript to get into a certain school, to get into or graduate from a specific major, then it's a weed out course. That's a decision that colleges have made. At one of the colleges I'm familiar with, physics was a weed out course for pre-meds. So...back to OP's question...does her child need to take physics in high school to get into the desired colleges and business major. The answer appears to be no in qualified circumstances. That is not a statement about whether the class is fun, makes a person more well-rounded, is definitely essential, etc. I personally did not like my senior year physics class so I'm an advocate for more curriculum freedom. If I ever need more physics understanding, I can look it up the same way I research anything else not taught in high school. That's not a dismissive attitude, just practical. OK, now if anyone is still mad about my opinion, and wants to make physics cooler to young girls, there's a recent kids' book called "Queen of Physics" that's quite interesting. Link below mentions this. I bought a copy of it because I have a feeling my grandpa probably worked with or adjacent to that person. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-education/2023/08/02/sharing-the-inspirational-stories-of-innovative-women-on-your-school-bookshelf/ |
Anonymous
PP again from physics family who doesn't like it herself. I actually understand this use of a physics requirement. And I have an in-law who got this degree from a different university in another state. The Golf Management degree is basically a business management degree with a sports focus and an ag school type focus on crop science (grass). Once you have a four year degree, you have to have science distribution requirements. Physics is logical here because of the nature of golf. Terrain design plus the golf ball as a struck object. Chemistry might ne theoretically useful for understanding the chemicals you work with but assuming they all come preformulated, the terrain and biomechanics are way more central. Biology usually covers things that a course manager doesn't control...like photosynthesis. |
Anonymous
| My DD who struggles in math took regular physics and AP bio junior year, and anatomy and physiology senior year. DS who was good at math took AP Physics 1 junior year and oceanography senior year. They were not banished from college for these choices. (DD was admitted to Indiana and Minnesota, DS to UMD, Rutgers, Indiana). AP Physics got DS out of taking a lab science gen ed in college. |
Anonymous
Physics at the introductory level does not have to be just like an applied math class. It can be conceptual in nature. That is the whole point of AP Physics 1. The focus is on conceptual physics more than on mathematical calculations. Kids who do well in it have strong critical thinking and abstract reasoning skills |
Anonymous
Despite having all these physicists in your family, you do not seem to understand why it’s important to get a feel of how physics combines reasoning, math, and real life observations/problems for all educated citizens - not just those who have shown aptitude before high school. Get rid of all requirements so that you can just follow your passion is a sure fire way to have a fractured society that doesn’t understand the need for different types of people and different types of skills. And also, the chance the discover that despite never having been a “science kid”, you might just fall in love with the critical and structure thinking needed to understand physics. Let’s say we are talking about onshoring manufacturing of semiconductor components (CHIPs and Science Act). If every American had some exposure to physics, they might have some understanding of the complexity in training a workforce to be able to do this. They might have a better informed opinion on the Taiwan/China issue. They might be resistant to being scared by (either side of) the nuclear fission arguments. They might be willing to invest in and have the patience to wait for fusion reactors. They might be able to formulate an opinion on whether we should have more particle accelerators and advanced lasers in this country rather than teaming with allies. Having people in our society who can manipulate physics is critical to maintaining and growing our quality of life. But if you don’t understand anything about how physicists process information, how they analyze and develop their ideas and how they are trained, you have no way of evaluating what they are saying. All STEM kids should take 4 years of English (at some level), and 4 years of history or a social science even if they don’t love it. They should take foreign language. They should take bio, chem and physics. They should have an art requirement. And colleges should give extra points to the kids who take the time to make themselves into knowledgeable citizens rather than trying to get out of the basics. I just disagree with your approach to education at the k-12 level. |
Anonymous
| Wow, I had no idea. I thought every kid aiming for even a moderately selective college would take Physics and the main question is whether you would take it as an AP/IB course or not. At our FCPS high school it still seems to be the norm to take physics if you are shooting for a competitive college (and by competitive I just mean UVA/WM/VT or OOS equivalent). |
Anonymous
| It is really hard to get physics in if you are doing an IB diploma---how have people gone about this? |
Anonymous
Our kid just took regular Physics outside the IB diploma. |
Anonymous
This is my beef with IB programs. Only option is to do two years of physics by taking it as your IB science. It’s odd. And agree with making students take physics outside of IB. I think it is part of being an educated citizen. But clearly others disagree. |
Anonymous
| I personally think Physics is one of the most important classes to take in High School because it teaches you how to solve problems when all the information isn't neatly handed to you. Also, it can be the class that makes students consider being an engineer. Don't have to take the calculus version - Algebra based will be enough but I wouldn't recommend skipping. |
Anonymous
Why would it be hard? It's one of the IB courses offered. |