I have to decide ASAP between taking AP Bio or Chem for my senior year. I want to major in either chemical, electrical, or mechanical engineering in the future and I’m not sure which one is better for me. AP Chemistry has a reputation at my school for being extremely difficult and conceptually hard while AP Biology is known for being the easiest AP science besides APES. The teacher for chemistry is OK but the teacher for AP Biology is good but I’m not sure if Biology would be better for me in the future. The only benefit of taking chemistry is for it potentially helping me in my engineering classes in college. BTW I took AP Physics 1 last year and did extremely well. Any suggestions?
If your school offers it, I would take AP Physics C before either AP Bio or AP Chem. If you are looking for an option to take in addition to AP Physics C, then it’s really flip a coin, although AP Chem would probably be more useful.
I would also caution you about avoiding courses that are “conceptually hard” as you may find many colleges courses to be difficult.
I was going to take AP Physics C but it had a schedule conflict with French so I can’t take it. The only reason I am avoiding chem is because most of my friends end Chem with B’s and C’s due to the extremely difficult tests (not sure if that is a good enough reason?)
You’re considering Chemical Engineering as a major, and wondering whether Chemistry or Biology will be more helpful? Really? I think you’re looking for someone else to give you an excuse not to take Chemistry. It’s going to be difficult whether you take it in high school or college. If you take it, and do well on the AP exam, you might be able to move on the upper level classes sooner - or you could take Chem 1 in college and have a step up over others in the class, You’re worried about a B or a C tarnishing your HS transcript, but not thinking about how the same B or C will impact your college transcript.
Take Chemistry - it will be more useful in your proposed majors, and it will better prepare you for the rigor you will face in college, particularly if you plan to major in any form of Engineering.
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As an ME or EE, you will need to complete college chem because it is part of the toolbox. As a Chem Eng, it it is part of the core, so now is a good time to find out if you like chemistry. AP Biology would be useful if you want to concentrate in pharma as a chem eng or in the medical industry as a mechanical engineer. A deep understanding of chemistry is necessary for the molecular biology sections.
Learning to master coursework without an excellent teacher is also a great skill to learn in HS.
AP Chem (or AP Physics) because you have to take those as freshman engineering student.
Make sure you have taken Bio, Chem and Physics in HS.