An Analysis of AP Courses

<p>For those who have taken the AP courses and exams themselves, which of the AP's are the hardest and easiest? Which classes/exams were a breeze, and which one's were you just begging to end (it's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea)? And which were moderate/neutral/medium on the difficulty scale? Even if you haven't taken these courses/exams but know the reputation of the courses, please answer. Thanks again.</p>

<p>This is so I know what AP courses to take in the future (and it might also help others on planning what AP courses to take ;)).</p>

<p>Hardest: Physics C - requires and applies concepts from calculus. Concepts as well as math are hard.
Computer Science AB - requires a lot of programming experience and figuring out algorithms to solve problems.
Chemistry - requires a lot of conceptual knowledge but math is easy.
Physics B - not as hard as C but still covers a lot of concepts, some of which are tricky to follow.
Calculus BC - not too bad for most but could be hard for non-math people.</p>

<p>Medium: History - requires a lot of reading as well as good writing skills.
English - there's not really any syllabus to follow, difficulty depends a lot on your background and writing skills.
Foreign Language - again depends on your background, but Spanish is especially hard because a lot of native speakers take it.
Government and Politics - similar to History but most schools only cover the U.S. part which is one semester.
Biology - lots of reading and memorization.
Calculus AB - easier than Calculus BC.</p>

<p>Easiest: Statistics - joke of a class, many people report playing calculator games all year or self-studying for a few days/weeks.
Psychology - very easy to self-study, just read a review book and memorize all the vocabulary words.
Human Geography, Environmental Science - same thing, just memorize
Microeconomics, Macroeconomics - memorize the vocab words and learn how graphs work and a few very simple equations. Multiple choice counts for 2/3, so you could bomb the word problems and still get a decent score if you know your vocab.</p>

<p>Not true about statistics--In my school, most kids played Halo!</p>

<p>Hooray for im_blues list! I've taken AP Comp Sci AB, Physics B, and Calculus BC last year and got 5's(sophomore year). I took Stats in freshmen year, and got a 4 :(</p>

<p>Calculus BC exam is a joke. Honestly, I self studied it as well as Calculus AB while taking precalc at school. If you are good at math, this thing is easy to score 95 percent or higher.</p>

<p>AP Computer Science exam is wierd. You have to have very good programming and computer science knowledge. IF YOU TAKE THIS EXAM, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DONE TONS OF PRACTICAL PROGRAMMING. Most of the free response were 90% thinking, and 10% writing down the solution.</p>

<p>AP Physics B ... Make sure you have thoroughly reviewed everything, and good math and critical thinking skills always help. I barely finished in time and got a 5.</p>

<p>AP Stats - vague memories :) um, the exam is very easy, but don't be like me and start the problem after 1 sentence. And then you realize you did it wrong, and go and read one more sentence, and get it wrong again. It was a good experience though. Taught me how to study and prepare for AP exams.</p>

<p>This year taking:(AP's)</p>

<p>AP Physics C Mech and E&M
AP Chemistry
AP US History
AP English Lang(possibly)
AP Econ(possibly)</p>

<p>Next year:
AP Bio(Molecular)
other stuff.</p>

<p>I do think that Calc BC is one of the harder AP exams out there.</p>

<p>I would think chemistry is a bit easier... I did take that test and easily score a 5, but I wasn't particularly exception at chemistry.</p>

<p>Isn't AP Bio harder than AP Chem? I'm having a hell of a time in AP Bio compared to when I was in AP Chem.</p>

<p>At my school, kids argue about whether AP Chem or AP Physics is harder. One of them is, by far and wide,the hardest class we offer. I'd say chem, but that's because I think physics is easier.</p>

<p>There are many classes that would be tremendously hard for people who don't belong in them, but are easy for those who do. (Music theory, art studio).</p>

<p>AP english lit is easier than honors english XI at my school. that's only because honors english XI is an impossible class, though. it's fairly notorious as a suicide class, im taking it this year though. already in one week 5 students or so have dropped out. </p>

<p>AP art history is pretty easy as long as you skim the reading and turn in your homework. it's like an effort class: if you try, you WILL get an A.</p>

<p>As a junior currently taking my second year of Analytical Algebra(and Pre Calc) how difficult should it be to self-study AP Stats and get a 5 or a 6</p>

<p>well u can't get a six lol. five is the highest. But the prereq for stats is like algebra two so i think u can pull it off. I"m self-studying it next semester.</p>

<p>oops xD messed up there.</p>

<p>While i'm asking... I have 2 years of programming experience(from classes) and 1 year of experience in Java, can i attempt Comp Sci AB? I'm assuming its quite difficult and I should take a course, but if i can self-study it it would allow me to take Chem and Physics next year, otherwise i'd only have room for one, since compsci is my #1 priority.</p>

<p>I self-studied CS AB. It isn't too bad, but there are parts of the exam where you need to be a creative genius to solve some problems. If you don't eat programming for breakfast, be weary of the more abstract algorithms and data structures questions.</p>

<p>ehh... i guess i can wait for comp sci.. since there is a class for it next year
about statistics.. I asked around at school today, and we offer AP statistics class too, but only after completion of AP calc... students assume its more difficult than calc(although few people actually take the course)</p>

<p>Your easy list makes me want to self study a couple APs, but since I'm a senior, taking more APs won't help me in the admissions process.</p>

<p>I havent taken that many AP classes but heres a few:</p>

<p>AP statistics- heard it was a blowoff but had to switch out of it because of conflict with ap bio
AP Bio- VERY hard class i thought it would b easy b/c of how easy biology was
AP Calc AB- im not really a math person but its only moderately difficult even though im struggling b/c im a senior and wont put in the effort
AP US history- if u can read and write then this class is pretty easy but u better learn the write format for essay writing</p>

<p>Hardest: AP Calc. Plain and simple, it's hard. And you will have a ton of homework, and at my school there's no honors math classes, so it's a huge shock when you finally get to this level</p>

<p>Easiest: AP Gov.</p>

<p>AP cs BC is easier than AB, IMO.
The reason is that the BC exam invovle much less syntax and much more algorthim design.</p>

<p>easiest: calc BC, microeconomics, chemistry</p>

<p>hardest: biology</p>

<p>hard but fun: AP language</p>

<p>In terms of preparing for the exam, Biology can kick ass!</p>

<p>My boarding school offers a pretty good amount of AP's but you can only take them junior and senior years. I'm only a freshman, so I'm not taking any this year, but I know that I'm going to want to pack at least one AP on my transcript before I hit junior year. I was thinking of just doing a self-study since I wouldn't be able to take it here. AP psychology, I figured, I'd do sophmore year and I was also thinking about AP Art History I know AP Psych is said to be pretty easy but anyone know about AP Art History???</p>

<p>hardest: ap bio, ap chemistry, ap calc
medium: ap us history</p>

<p>ap calc is hard only because it's a pain in the ass and the teacher gives random tests on random information throughout the chapter at any time.</p>