Hi!
I am starting my senior year in a week, and I still need to decide between AP Bio and Regular Physics! Most of my friends in the dorm are taking AP Bio, but I know that it will be a lot of work and my 3rd AP class for the year Cry I know and like the teacher of Physics, but I heard that it has more math than AP Bio and I don’t like math that much (even though I will have to take AP Calculus this year) I learned that only three people signed up for Physics until now who I don’t know that well.
I really don’t know which one to take! I don’t want to be overwhelmed by the AP work, but I also want to to be in a fun class with my friends.
Please help me!
Thanks
Have you taken either academic or honors versions of bio, chem and physics? If so, then take AP Bio. If you haven’t taken physics yet you should enroll in physics since most colleges require completion of bio, chem and physics, An alternative, if you can, is to take AP Bio and regular physics senior year, if it can fit into you schedule.
Take physics, if you haven’t taken a course in it already.
I already took regular bio, and chem, but didn’t do anything about physics yet So you think taking physics would be more beneficial than taking AP Bio?
I took AP Bio last year and I absolutely loved it. I am going to be a senior this year as well. I would base your decision off of three things: 1) course load 2) interest 3) graduation requirements.
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AP Bio is going to be more work than your typical physics class. I haven’t taken physics myself yet, but I plan on taking it next year. I have asked around and (at my school at least) the regular, non-AP class is not too demanding. Depending on who your teacher is, AP Bio may take a lot of time. I spent some nights typing up lab reports for hours… Don’t let that scare you away though! While it may be more work, it can be a very interesting and fun class.
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Which one are you naturally more interested in? It sounds like AP Bio. You can study with your friends and help each other out. Also, think about what you want to do in college. I want to major in biology, so AP Biology was the perfect choice for me.
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Does your school require physics to graduate? My school doesn’t, but I know a lot of schools that require a semester or a year of a physics course. Obviously, if you need it to graduate, you are going to have to take physics.
Overall, I loved AP Bio and would totally recommend it. Got a 4 on the exam and I didn’t have to study too hard to understand the basic concepts
@aakoki Except, many colleges recommend or even require one year each of physics, chem, and bio for admissions. It has nothing to do with your high school graduation requirements.
Yes, taking physics would be more beneficial to you than taking AP bio.
@guineagirl96 Well, I don’t think it is up to us to really say which one would be more beneficial. That is up to each student’s individual circumstance. Physics is required by SOME high schools, so yes, it CAN have something to do with high school requirements. That is not to say that some colleges don’t require physics, chem, and bio (e.x Harvard recommends this, but it also recommends taking a higher-level course in one of these topics).
Except for the fact that the original poster asked a question to which, presumably s/he wanted responses. Since none of us is an admissions officer, we can only offer our opinion.
@guineagirl96 has gone through the college application process and is offering the benefit of her experience, much of which is based upon questions she asked of admissions officers throughout the process.
FWIW, also having gone through the process, I agree that physics should be the priority.
OP mentions nothing about Harvard, but one should assume that Harvard’s recommendations, if one chooses to follow them, should be followed in the order listed. So reg physics before an AP science.
Not really the best reason for choosing a class.
Thank you for your opinions! @skieurope @guineagirl96 @aakoki My high school doesn’t require AP Bio or Physics. It’s kind of complicated cause I am going to a boarding school in Germany, and I am trying to do all of the German university requirements in case I can’t go to a college in the States. The German universities want me to take a science class my senior year and AP Bio and Regular Physics are the only two available options cause I already took all the other ones.
I don’t think that the colleges I am applying to require Physics, but I guess taking physics will help me to get accepted? I just don’t want my senior year to be full with 3 AP’s, but I heard that Physics might be as hard as AP Bio!? And just so you know I am really not a science person! I would rather prefer something about literature or history, but I have to take one of those two classes!