What courses should I take in high school?

[Lightmeow]

So I was looking through the course catalog for my school. I am taking Earth/Space Science as of now.

These are the courses:

Biology

Chemistry
Physics I

Physics II

Advanced Biology

Advanced Chem

Human Anatomy and Physiology

 

I don't think I want to do Biology, I feel that I am not going to need it, and the same with Human Anatomy. I would like some people to tell me if I should though, if it offers a good foundation or anything.

 

Also, I am powering through math right now, and might be taking Pre-Cac next year, or possibly AP Calculus if I decide that I don't want to have a summer . Is there a Calculus II, or what higher levels of math are there?

 

Last thing, is there any other courses, like Economics that I should take?

 

Thanks

 

Joshua

[pears]

What are your aspirations and interests? What you ought to take really depends on that.

[Lightmeow]

I would like to be a robotics engineer, an artist, a musician, a rocket scientist, a computer programmer, or a theoretical physicist.

[EdEarl]

Classes

Biology

Chemistry

Physics I

Physics II

Advanced Biology

Advanced Chem

Human Anatomy and Physiology

I would like to be a robotics engineer, an artist, a musician, a rocket scientist, a computer programmer, or a theoretical physicist.

robotics engineer

Biology

Chemistry

Physics I

Physics II

Advanced Biology

Advanced Chem

Human Anatomy and Physiology

artist

Chemistry

Advanced Chem

Human Anatomy and Physiology

musician

Chemistry

Physics I

Physics II

Advanced Chem

rocket scientist

Chemistry

Physics I

Physics II

Advanced Chem

computer programmer

 

theoretical physicist

Biology

Physics I

Physics II

Advanced Biology

Edited January 2, 2014 by EdEarl

[Lightmeow]

Why do you need biology to be a physicist?

[EdEarl]

Why do you need biology to be a physicist?

It depends on what you do with a physics degree. One of the hot fields now is nanotechnology, which is a cross between physics and biology. The physicists work to understand how tiny things work and work together, and biologists study the things that have already been made by nature with nanotechnology.

 

If you intend to do cosmology, astronomy, or quantum mechanics, then biology may not be very important.

[pears]

For computer programming you could obviously take computing related subjects in high school/college but it's one of those careers where the relevent qualifications aren't the be all and end all (although very helpful). Among my peers computer science/software engineering degrees are most common but also common are those in maths and the sciences e.g. physics, biochemistry and astronomy! None of your stated options would rule out programming as a career.

 

As a basic guide you should go with the subjects you enjoy the most. Also I maybe wouldn't worry too much about specialising right now since you can always specialise later as you get a feel for the subjects you like the best. If you're unsure of your direction it would probably be worth going with a good spread i.e. biology, physics and chemistry. However it does sound like you're leaning more towards the physics and engineering side in which case anatomy/biology wouldn't seem so essential.

 

Why don't you want to take biology or anatomy? Biology is definitely foundational for many fields, medicine, environmental science, pharmacology etc. However if you don't enjoy them and prefer other subjects then I'd say go with your personal preferences. I wouldn't think that a lack of biology/anatomy would really hold you back in those fields you've listed.

 

The only subjects I can see as absolutely essential for you are physics and maths.

 

How many courses are you allowed to take? How many science courses do you want to take? (I'm from the UK so I'm not familiar with the US education system, assuming that's where you're from )

[Lightmeow]

I can take basically anything I want, because I have www.vlacs.org , so if I wanted, I could graduate with two diplomas. I know I need to take science up to physics and beyond, and also maths up to how high I can get. I was just wondering if I should take any economics classes, or any thing like that, if it would help me in the long run.

[MarkkkHennnry]

Its depend on your interest but i would like to tell you, phsics, chemistry and maths are universalsubjects. you can do whatever you want after taking these subject.

Edited February 20, 2014 by MarkkkHennnry

[Sensei]

I would like to be a robotics engineer, an artist, a musician, a rocket scientist, a computer programmer, or a theoretical physicist.

 

Robotic engineer might need anatomy & biology if he would like to reach state of the art level and create f.e. cyber arm connected to body of human/animal, and controlled by thought.