<p>I'm a junior, and I'm extremely conflicted about whether I should take AP Bio Double Period, or one half semester of Philosophy and half a semester of Law with Ceramics.
Would colleges (Johns Hopkins, UPenn) prefer AP Bio over Philosophy and Law for a pre-med major?
I'm scared that my gpa will potentially drop to a 3.90 or possibly a 3.8, but if the benefits of taking AP Bio outweigh the gpa debasement, I am willing to switch into the class again. But I will be a week behind. And the class is impossibly hard at my school :( </p>
<p>Current schedule:<br>
Philosophy-Ceramics<br>
Law1-Law2<br>
AP Lang<br>
AP World<br>
AP Calc AB<br>
Hon. Env. Physics<br>
Spanish 5 </p>
<p>VS.</p>
<p>Schedule change:
AP Bio DP
AP Bio DP
AP Lang<br>
AP World
AP Calc AB
Hon Env. Physics
Spanish 5</p>
<p>I would highly recommend taking AP Bio, if for no other reason than it would give you a better background for when you have to take biology courses in college. If switching to it would put you too far behind, though, then could you take it next year instead?</p>
<p>Yes, I could, but I’m concerned that colleges place much more emphasis on Junior year, and also I will be extremely busy with college apps next year.
Do colleges prefer if I take it Junior year or Senior year?
Which is better (do you think) and why?</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a preference one way or the other. Colleges will still be able to see the courses that you are taking your senior year, even if they can’t see your grades. You’re taking three AP classes without AP Bio, which is still a rigorous schedule, and I’m assuming you would be taking a similar number your senior year as well. I only suggested taking the course your senior year because you mentioned that you would be adding this class late, which may put you unnecessarily behind.</p>
<p>I think colleges would weight an AP class more than Philosophy/Law/Ceramics, since it’s a college course. But even if they didn’t I would still recommend that you take AP Bio just because it’ll likely help you when you’re taking biology courses in high school. Whether you take it junior or senior year doesn’t really matter, in my opinion. If you think it’d look better to take it junior year, just do that and put in the extra work to catch up.</p>
<p>Im just confused because I don’t know whether studying for the SATs junior year is more important than taking AP Bio since I want an internship at the NIH next summer before senior year. If I dont take AP Bio, I might have time to keep a higher GPA and study for SATs. But if I do take AP Bio, I will have a higher chance of getting a biomedical internship (I think).
What should I do? Please help! I’m so conflicted I feel like crying :’(</p>
<p>I mean, I’d still say take AP Bio, but only you can decide how much work you can handle. It’s certainly possible to do well in both AP Bio and your SATs (I did both my junior year and did well in each). To be honest, it’s all important. You have to decide what you’re willing to sacrifice.</p>
<p>Could you study for the SATs and take them during the summer between your junior and senior year? Perhaps, study more intensely for the SATs after your AP tests in May, and then take the SAT during the summer before you senior year? You in advanced math and English courses, so you shouldn’t need too much intensive study for the SATs, just some review and practice to get familiar with them.</p>
<p>If you could get an internship, that would be great experience, and if AP Bio would help you do that, then I’d recommend that path.</p>