As an Earth Science prof, and advisor to 130 of our undergrads:
Calculus before college opens doors.
The rest is gravy.
Calc is the prereq for just about everything. Here, you need calc before chemistry, and chemistry before bio, so if you come into college as a bio chem major without calculus, you need 3 terms to get to the first intro course.
Often times AP Chemistry and Physics don't transfer, not because of what Bostonian suggests as the need for butts in chairs, but because the AP classes are poorly aligned with the content in the first year courses.
I was in a similar situation in high school. I took my mom's and HS councilor's advice: I was already intending to go to a STEM school for college, so why not take things I wouldn't have time for then? I took psychology, art history, AP European history, and an extra writing course instead of AP physics and chemistry. I have a significantly better education as a result.
Last edited by geofizz; 01/24/12 08:33 AM.
