Three years of lab science? Bad idea?

[hopskipjump]

Transitioning from planning for the science-crazed DD#1 to DD#2...

 

DD#2 is considering only taking Biology (9th), Physics (11th), and Chemistry (12th). Instead, she wants to focus on computer science/programming and business classes. She's taking AP Computer Science this year (along with participating/coaching/captain-ing two robotics teams) and will start Economics soon - carrying that on through this summer, most likely. 

Also - unlike DD#1 - this DD intends to accumulate as many dual-enrollment, AP, or CLEP credits as she can (depending on available time and energy, of course). She doesn't want an Associate's Degree before she graduates, but she would like to shave off at least a year's worth of credits. She has a plan for it all... I am just now able to give DD#2's plan a solid look-through.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2016 by hopskipjump

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

FWIW-my oldest completed Earth Science, Chemistry, Biology, and AP Environmental Science.  All but Earth Sci have been lab courses (at home labs not dual enrolled or co-op). So far I don't think it has impacted her admissions or scholarship options (more than half the admissions decision are in).  She is not intending to go into STEM fields though if that makes a difference.

[almondbutterandjelly]

Check some likely colleges that she might attend and see what their requirements are.  

 

FWIW, states seem to vary widely.  In Texas, they want 4 laboratory sciences from high school, even though Texas is not particularly known for its academics.  (Although this is for state schools only.  The community college lets anybody in no matter what classes they have.)

[JanetC]

You absolutely need chemistry and physics for a robotics kid. She'll be applying to engineering schools. My art major DD only has two years of lab science and one year of non-lab science (meteorology), but that's a different story.

 

That being said: I feel your pain. My DD's passion is planetary science. Working in all the regular science and math courses plus her science fair work plus a full slate of English/history/foreign language is hard, hard, hard.

 

And, if you suspect that the obsession with labs in college admissions is overblown, I totally agree. DD's science fair projects have no wet labs at all -- she downloads datasets from NASA and analyzes them. But, she really knows how to draw conclusions from data and she treats science as "learning how the world works" not as "learning how to get the right answer." Despite the relative lack of wet labs in her background, she's a superstar in AP Chem.

[GoodGrief]

My current senior only has three lab sciences (physics-9, chemistry-10, and AP Biology-11). She is doing AP Comp Science this year (which I just recently learned is classified as math and not science, much to my chagrin.) She is going into engineering, and so far it does not seem to have impacted her admissions to engineering programs at all (including a Princeton admit, though we're still waiting on Ga Tech and Harvey Mudd. They may view the situation less favorably.)

 

She did take the subject tests for both physics and chemistry and scored in the 700s, and got a 5 on her AP Bio exam. She also has math through Calc 3, including two university courses, and her SAT is exceptionally high. Saying this just because it's possible other strengths in her app outweighed the lab science bit.

 

In the end, I'm not sure I would change much about this year's schedule. The Comp Sci was new to her; she has enjoyed it, and the experience has been valuable.  When I think about my '13 grad's crazy schedule, and the fact that she ended up in a place perfect for her (though she was rejected from the place she THOUGHT would be perfect), I relax a bit. It does work out usually.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Gr8lander

[GoodGrief]

I just re-read your post and realize I totally misunderstood it the first time...I blame the college kid walking in and out of here! ;-) I thought you were planning for the "science crazed" kid, but see now this is not the case. I totally think she will be fine with three lab sciences, assuming your state law allows grad with that sort of program. She should do bio, chem, and physics, and I think your math program sounds fine too. It would probably be helpful if she took a subject test in one of the sciences and math, though it is definitely not necessary, depending on her goals.

[hopskipjump]

Thank you for the input! It's invaluable! SHE has a great plan worked out and when she explains it to me, it sounds fantastic!! lol So, I have to step back and make sure things really are as solid as they sound. :)

 

We've checked many universities - and several say that you only need 3 years of lab science... I'm mainly wondering how many people were successful being accepted with only 3 lab sciences, kwim?  Just like the grad program DD#1 is interested in... the minimum college GPA (in order to apply) is 2.8... but the average GPA of their accepted students turns out to be 3.7!! So, the "requirement" is very different from the reality.

 

I'm thinking that her intangibles/extracurriculars (and hopefully, test scores... this dd hasn't tested much yet) will go a long way to accommodate the lack of a third or upper-level science class. And she will definitely have SAT II tests to support the sciences and maths that she does take (should have done Biology already... might have her study for that now and maybe take it at the end of this year...). Learned that lesson with DD#1.

[GoodGrief]

Yes, there can definitely be a difference between the stated minimum requirement and what one needs at any given university to be a competitive applicant. But for a non-science major I think she is probably just fine, and maybe for a science major too. Like I said, I had no clue that "Computer Science" wasn't being viewed as a science, and my applicant has yet to be turned down from a school.

[Mom22ns]

Ds was accepted with 3 lab sciences. He is an English major. If she is looking at business, IS or marketing 3 science classes and Pre-Calc shouldn't be an issue. In fact, I would let her do the Environmental Science instead of Chemistry and I'd be more concerned about her math level than the sciences. Dh frequently points out to my children that he has never had a chemistry class in his life and he has a BS in CS and a MS in CIS.

[hopskipjump]

It seems that dd has done her research after all, then, and is on the right track! :)

 

Without forcing the science issue, she will possibly be able to accelerate her math path a little bit (not for transcript-purposes, necessarily, but for preparation purposes... it'd be nice to get at least partially into Calculus before she sees it in college). She's planning to continue the math path through summers, so we'll just see where that lands her at the end of senior year...