Assuming you want a competitive, academic transcript...

[Heather in VA]

how awful would it be to not do Physics? My daughter will be applying to Christian schools but should she change her mind our state schools are very competitive. She plans to study nursing. She will have Biology, Chemistry, and Advanced Biology (which is basically AP bio but I can't call it that along with either AP or CLEP exam). For her 4th science I have been planning Physics but she is already begging me not to. If we did some kind of Earth Science instead would that weaken her transcript?

 

Heather

[FaithManor]

If she is going into nursing, it is highly recommended that she have advanced chemistry.

 

DD is in pharmacology and pathophysiology classes right now and is ever so grateful that she had it because many of her counterparts did not and had to take college chem to make up for it. If they struggle with college chem, they have to delay admission to pharmacology and patho which puts them behind getting into clinicals. Some schools are very competitive and murses must have an 85% in all of their classes so the math based sciences can be tough. Additionally, there is the semester of organic chem before advanced pharmacology and it's a bear. She needs to have as much exposure to chemistry now as possible so that she is confident going into these classes.

 

If she takes advanced chem at home and doesn't want to take the AP chemistry exam, that's fine because she can still get into the second semester or college chem and not be behind. But, if the school is competitive and she has to take that first semester, she may find scheduling everything a bit difficult.

 

This is based on the four year B.S.N. program and not the two year A.D.N. The two year program is less rigorous and does not require organic chemistry and doesn't delve quite as deep into pharmacology.

 

Faith

[Kareni]

If she has specific colleges in mind, I would check their requirements for the nursing program.

 

While a number of colleges do specify Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, many are more open ended and simply state two, three or four years of science. My daughter took Physical Science, Chemistry, Geology, and Environmental Science. She currently attends a selective college. (Admittedly, she is not a prospective nurse. She is majoring in Classics with an intended minor in Geology.)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[StephanieZ]

IMHO, you've gotta have one year each of Bio, Chem & Physics (all with lab) if you want a competitive, academic transcript.

 

Pick an easier text with a light lab schedule & just get it done.

[creekland]

When in doubt, ask the schools she's likely to apply to. My oldest was originally just headed toward a business major and adcoms at schools he asked (secular and Christian) told him he didn't need Physics to be competitive, but they wanted him to be able to explain why he took what he took instead.

 

In the end, I had him do Apologia's Physics I as it is rather light and "I" wanted him to have a basic knowledge of Physics even if he didn't "need" it (being a Physics MAJOR myself). ;)

 

I would think other options she could have would include Advanced Chem (as mentioned before) or Microbio if you have a place she could take it (my junior is taking it at our local cc). Either of those would look rigorous and beneficial for her future major IMO. She should be able to explain that she thought those would be more beneficial to her than a year of Physics.

 

Or, if you end up with Physics, Apologia is a nice one.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Well, I don't think it's horrid not to do physics, but I wouldn't even dream of replacing it with earth science (considered an 8th grade class everywhere I've lived other than here). Adv Biology or Adv Chemistry or Anatomy and Physiology would all be appropriate sciences for a nursing major.

[J-rap]

***

Edited March 1, 2023 by J-rap

[TravelingChris]

Future nursing students really should take physics. Knowledge of mechanics is useful for understanding how the body works. She doesn't have to take a very rigorous physics. But I think that a competitive transcript should include it, particularly for those going into a science related field.

[emubird]

I imagine she'll have to take physics in college for a nursing degree. She might really appreciate having had an exposure to physics before having to take it in college. She could do a "light" conceptual or algebra based physics just to get the ideas down.

 

However, the idea of getting college chem out of the way with an AP test is appealing as well. But you need to check to be sure if that's even an option. At colleges around here, you need to get a 5 on the test to get out of the full year of chem. If you only get a 4, you get out of the first semester, and then get thrown into the 2nd semester rusty on chem skills. A 3 gets you nothing. And lots of kids I know who took the chem test got a 3. It's not the easiest AP test. A 5 is certainly possible, but will require a lot of work.

 

If she's interested in nursing, I wouldn't do earth science just because it won't prepare her as much for the science she'll need later. I'd either do physics or advanced chem, but I wouldn't necessarily plan to skip college chem. (Maybe just take the AP test to see what happens, but don't stress about what she gets.) If she has to do chem a 3rd time, she'll really have it down and it shouldn't be too hard. (If it is hard the 3rd time around, just think how much harder it would have been if she hadn't had chem twice already.)

 

FWIW, I went into college as a physics major without any physics in high school at all. Nobody much cared. (I even got into MIT, although I couldn't go there because of finances.) I just took physics when I got to college. I think most science professors feel that a good basis in math is more important than exactly which sciences you took in high school. So it probably doesn't make a huge difference what your daughter does as long as the classes she's doing are rigorous and she has her math down.

[Julie in MN]

I think most science professors feel that a good basis in math is more important than exactly which sciences you took in high school.

 

:iagree:

[Heather in VA]

Thanks everyone. I really didn't want to let her off the hook but I was getting the 'mom you are so mean and I shouldn't have to do this' from her. She found out that our public schools, which are quite rigorous compared to what I see discussed in general, have an advanced earth systems class for only jrs and seniors that she thought might be a sub for Physics. Her dad and I... well we didn't see it that way LOL. I am pleased to hear there are enough other 'mean moms' who consider Physics required.

 

Heather

[8filltheheart]

My ds did not have any problems being accepted into a chemical engineering dept w/o physics. He took bio, chem, anatomy and physiology, and chem 1 and 2 dual enrolled at a local university.

 

I am making the rest of my kids take physics, though. Ds did fine in cal based physics w/o any prior physics exposure. But, it would have been a lot easier if he had had a physics course. My 11th grader will take physics next yr with her younger brother (who will be taking AP physics since he took physics last yr)

[FaithManor]

DD's math and science for going into a medical profession were:

 

Algebra 1

Geometry

Algebra 2

Trigonometry/Pre-Calculus

Biology

Chemistry

Advanced Chemistry

Physics

Astronomy

Advanced Biology

 

She studied astronomy in the same year as Biology because she had already completed algebra 1 which was a pre-rec for the introduction to astronomy - this was a science elective she just simply wanted to do and I was fine with it because it reinforces algebra.

 

So freshman year - Biology and Astronomy

Sophomore - Chemistry

Junior - Advanced Biology

Senior Year - Advanced Chemistry and Advanced Physics

 

She applied and was accepted into 13 nursing/pre-med programs. The top schools in this group required a minimum 28 in mathematics and 26 in science on the ACT and the higher the better. No one was admitted to the nursing program without trigonometry. So, if they didn't have it in high school, they had to take it their first semester of college.

 

DD spent three years of high school thinking she would go to Vet school. So, we began by pursuing those recommendations and then in the middle of her senior year, decided she liked human medicine better. Thankfully, the requirements to get into each department were the same.

 

Faith

[tex-mex]

Well, I don't think it's horrid not to do physics, but I wouldn't even dream of replacing it with earth science (considered an 8th grade class everywhere I've lived other than here). Adv Biology or Adv Chemistry or Anatomy and Physiology would all be appropriate sciences for a nursing major.

:iagree: Anatomy & Physiology would be a great science course and help prep her for college's A&P which will be difficult.

[distancia]

FWIW, I went into college as a physics major without any physics in high school at all. Nobody much cared....I just took physics when I got to college. I think most science professors feel that a good basis in math is more important than exactly which sciences you took in high school. So it probably doesn't make a huge difference what your daughter does as long as the classes she's doing are rigorous and she has her math down.

:iagree:

 

Admittedly some of our state colleges are not the best but we do have some very good ones (UF, FSU, and UCF), and now as I am looking over the course requirements for students wishing to pursue medical school (doctors) the undergrad requirements begin at Biology, Inorganic Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. The course track starts the undergrad at College Algebra, meaning that he/she has only covered Pre-Calc at high school. The assumption is that no AP or DE classes have been taken.

 

One thing you may want to consider: have your D take a NON-Science course to pass a CLEP exam and get that core requirement out of the way. This would free her up so she can put her energies into the on-site science/lab classes when she is finally at nursing school.

 

Word of caution: many schools will not grant CLEP science award credit for science majors. Meaning, if I were a Lit major and I by chance took the CLEP Chem exam and passed, it would count towards my science requirement, but as a Pre-Med it would not count, because the school wants the student to have done the actual lab work on premises and NOT test out.

Edited October 9, 2010 by distancia

[Heather in VA]

:iagree:

 

Admittedly some of our state colleges are not the best but we do have some very good ones (UF, FSU, and UCF), and now as I am looking over the course requirements for students wishing to pursue medical school (doctors) the undergrad requirements begin at Biology, Inorganic Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. The course track starts the undergrad at College Algebra, meaning that he/she has only covered Pre-Calc at high school. The assumption is that no AP or DE classes have been taken.

 

One thing you may want to consider: have your D take a NON-Science course to pass a CLEP exam and get that core requirement out of the way. This would free her up so she can put her energies into the on-site science/lab classes when she is finally at nursing school.

 

Word of caution: many schools will not grant CLEP science award credit for science majors. Meaning, if I were a Lit major and I by chance took the CLEP Chem exam and passed, it would count towards my science requirement, but as a Pre-Med it would not count, because the school wants the student to have done the actual lab work on premises and NOT test out.

 

Yes we are aware of this. She plans to take the CLEP for Biology simply to add to the transcript. Some schools around here recommend some 'verifiable' grades via tests, online etc so we figured at least one in her chosen field would be good. It's actually why we aren't officially doing A&P too. She is using a college A&P text as part of the Advanced Biology she's doing but we aren't going to do a full A&P course because she wants to take it in college.

 

Her current first choice college actually has distance dual enrollment for juniors and seniors so we are considering that for some of the general credits.

 

Heather

[tabmtbc]

Just letting you ladies and gents know that I really appreciate gleaning from the info of those who go before me WHILE my dd is still in middle school.