Is it possible to talk your way into it if you didn’t take AP bio? D will have taken 3 years of HS bio, but not AP.
Probably if you email the right people, ask politely, and have the excuse that your high school offered their own version of the AP instead of the “official” class.
And what if she then struggles? What is gained by it then?
My D is in bio 2 (another university), and the average grade on the last test was a 60%.
Could your D take an honors version of bio 1 if available?
Also isn’t there an option to take the AP bio exam even if the school didn’t offer it?
Anyway she would need a score of 4 or 5 on the exam at most schools for AP credit.
Better to just take the intro science courses in college to start with, especially if you are premed or pre professional and need a high GPA and solid foundation for upper level courses.
Re honors bio. Either there’s no such thing or this is it (i.e. the advanced bio sequence is only for first years, but prerequisite is a (4 or?) 5 on AP Bio and there’s no placement test alternative AFAWCT), What she hopes to gain by it is a research-oriented (vs pre-med) cohort/curriculum and to dig into her major earlier. I assume she would drop it (or decide not to take it) if it looked too difficult or assumed background that she doesn’t already have. Can’t say her HS didn’t offer AP – just that they didn’t recommend it for future bio majors. Too superficial and too rote.
@mommdc Raw scores are meaningless. Honors Chem averages %s are routinely hovering in the 20s. The tests are just very difficult, and grades are based on relative scores.
Advanced Bio is an intro class, it’s just much more difficult (some would say masochistic), assumes some AP-level background knowledge, and focuses a lot more on lab research. You’re right that it’s an awful class for pre-meds to be in, but that’s because the professors go out of their way to give out almost no As to make sure that pre-meds don’t take it. It’s not a class that people will struggle in less if they take the appropriate pre-reqs, this is not about Bio 2 vs Bio 1.
@exacademic Advanced Bio is effectively Honors Bio, the names are not consistent between departments. What Bio classes did she take in high school? Did she cover the same stuff as AP Bio? There should be a Bio information session during o-week during which she can ask the professors about taking it. She can also ask her advisor and upperclassmen bio majors in her house to find out who is best to email to petition to take the class.
It isn’t the end of the world if she doesn’t take Advanced Bio. Advanced Bio is not necessary to gain research experience (you can still do research) and loads and loads of advanced Bio majors don’t take Advanced Bio.
Intro Bio, Research Methods (designed to be a post AP Bio class) and Evolutionary Bio – all three are yearlong courses. IDK whether she’s covered all AP bio topics. She has a strong chem/physics/math background as well, so that won’t hold her back at this level and she probably wouldn’t have to take any of those courses at the same time as Adv Bio.
Personally, in her position, I’d pass on Adv Bio in favor of Biosphere plus a lab gig in Winter or Spring. But she’s already proven that she’s more masochistic than I am, so I’ll give her your advice on how/when to figure out what her options are. Thanks!
@exacademic Yeah, I have no idea if they’ll let her, especially if she had the option of taking AP bio and turned it down. Still, emailing with what she’s taken (plus the grades) and what topics she’s covered will certainly not hurt, and the strong chem, physics, math backgrounds are only positives. Departments vary wildly in terms of strictness, from Physics and CS letting students basically do whatever they want to and Math being really, really stringent about requirements, so there’s really no way to tell - hopefully someone who has personal experience with the dept will chime in.
Has she considered taking Honors Chem instead? It is similarly masochistic and isn’t totally irrelevant to biology. If she’s itching to get her feet wet with advanced research science and can’t take Advanced Bio this will fit the bill.
In case a bio major reads this, I’ll add one more detail (which seems potentially relevant after re-reading the requirements for the major). Odds are strong that she’d focus on evolutionary bio. Does that make the Adv Bio track less attractive?