ap bio or not? please help!

<p>I'm 99% sure that I want to major in engineering. So far I've taken honors bio 9th grade, ap chem + physics 11th grade.</p>

<p>as a senior, i'm taking ap calc and ap physics for sure. should i take ap bio as well? or should i save that for college (as i don't want to overwhelm myself next year). i'm not sure if this will hurt me since ap bio is offered and i'm not taking it.</p>

<p>without ap bio, i want to take ap stat and honors government/civics. however, would sacrificing gov/civics for ap bio be better for engineering? i originally wanted to take four years of each academic subject but now i'm not too sure.</p>

<p>i also have no idea what field of engineering i want to do but biomedical sounds interesting.</p>

<p>I'm not sure you really need ap stats for engineering, but ap bio is a good bet if you're looking into biomedical. Is honors government a required course for graduation?</p>

<p>no
i think the requirement is 3 years of history; i've taken world history, us1 and us2.</p>

<p>ap bio just seems really hard and i really haven't looked into the different fields of engineering seriously yet.</p>

<p>AP Bio and AP Stats do not correspond to required classes for almost all engineering majors, so you should just take whichever AP class fits better with your interests and schedule. AP Physics (C, I hope?) and Calc are definitely helpful.</p>

<p>At my school, if I did BE, I have to take both Bio and Statistics. Given that, they give credit for both AP Bio and AP Stat. If I were you I would do AP Stat, only since it would free up time in college for other things. I think stats is a pretty broadly required class, you can look it up at your potential colleges, but I know interests can change, but requirements won't. In the next year you could maybe change your mind, in which case the AP Bio credit would be of little use. That said, if you haven't taken a bio class then maybe it would allow better exposure before college so you can feel out your interest in BE. Knowing my own fickle nature, I'd do stats.</p>

<p>I think AP bio would be more beneficial because many schools have biological science general education requirements. The AP credit could take care of this. </p>

<p>AP stats will usually only get you credit for the intro stats class. A lot of schools require engineering majors to take a specific class called "engineering statistics" that has engineering applications. AP stats will not get you credit for this class.</p>

<p>
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many schools have biological science general education requirements.

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</p>

<p>It's not actually ABET-required (for most of the non-bio-related engineering fields), so it's likely not going to be prescribed as a required course within an accredited degree program-- you'll probably have a couple of options to select from. (I personally haven't taken biology since sixth grade life science.)</p>

<p>I'd say take whichever one you'd like. They're both challenging course choices, from a college admissions standpoint, and it's possible for you to get degree-related credit from either, so do whichever one you think would be most interesting for you. There'll be enough time to fulfill <em>college</em> requirements when you're already in <em>college</em>!</p>

<p>
[quote]
A lot of schools require engineering majors to take a specific class called "engineering statistics" that has engineering applications. AP stats will not get you credit for this class.

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I just want to point out that this isn't true at my school, so I am sure there are other schools as well. AP Stat gives credit for our Engineering Statistics class. Depending on how well you do on Bio (4 or 5) you get credit for different classes.</p>

<p>As for what will give you better chances for college admission: The admissions offices don't need to see that you have taken every AP available, they can't even be sure Bio is offered at your school, it's doing well in what you're taking that's more important (along with all the other factors of course, but simply looking at class selection they won't know you passed up Bio for Stats, nor would they care I think).</p>

<p>First, look at whether your engineering degree requires a "general science" credit and if freshmen biology will count.</p>

<p>If you are confident you can get a high score on the exam and earn credit or an "A" credit-- do it, either way you'll save yourself time or help your GPA.</p>

<p>On a last note--take AS MANY applicable AP exams that you can--they will save you time, money and give you advanced standing.</p>