<p>I'm a senior and I'm taking AP Bio because it was the only other AP able to fit into my schedule, & I wanted at least 5 APs this year (Lit, Euro, Spanish, and Latin are my others). That being said, you could probably infer that science is not my strong suit.</p>
<p>I never formally took chem and only got credit for it over an online class, which I seriously slacked on. I didn't realize how much chem was in bio until now, after having received our first quiz back which covered the first 2 chapters of the book. I got a C- and I'm not happy about it. I think I did fine on the multiple choice section, but anything practical dealing with even basic chem (ie, drawing electron configurations, figuring out # of subparticles, determining which were cations/anions, etc.) I bombed. I thought I would be ok if we were allowed to use a periodic table, but our teacher said it wasn't needed (??). </p>
<p>Do you guys think I should drop?? Is chemistry going to be necessary to get through the rest of the year, or only these beginning chapters?</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard from my teacher, chemistry is mostly necessary for the beginning of the year when organic chemistry and metabolism is covered. That said, you probably should try and catch up on the chemistry knowledge needed and maybe read ahead a little bit because organic chemistry might be confusing if you don’t have a solid grasp of chemistry.</p>
<p>Read through the textbook a bit and see how challenging it is before deciding to drop.</p>
<p>Thanks Orchidbloom. I think I’m going to wait and see how I do on the test coming up before I consider dropping.</p>
<p>I really don’t want to give up on this. Not only do I believe it will look back to colleges if I drop it, but I also do have an interest in the subject, being a potential psych major. Science just does not come naturally to me.</p>
<p>Honestly, from my experience, you don’t really need any Chemistry knowledge for AP Bio. I don’t remember using anything I learned in Chem in that class. You should be fine.</p>
<p>Chemistry is only necessary in the biochem section, which is the very start of the year (if you go by Campbell anyways). If you need chem for something, you’ll know, because you’ll read the book and you won’t understand it. So study those things until you can do them. It’s not very much chemistry, don’t give up yet.</p>
<p>I really recommend looking up Youtube videos that pertain to the subjects you’re struggling with. Sometimes Chem can be a little harder to find, but I know that Khanacademy has a few that explain the basic concepts you need for AP Bio pretty well.</p>
<p>I’m also taking AP Bio as a senior (using Campbell) and my Bio teacher is horrible at Chem so it’s really annoying. Even more so because our Chem teachers aren’t so hot either. </p>
<p>Anyways, another thing you can try is printing out the notes from each chapter. Notes for up to the 8th edition of Campbell can be found online by Googling “Campbell AP Biology notes.”</p>
<p>Took AP Bio last year not knowing a lick of chemistry and got a 4. The first couple of sections will be confusing, but after that there isn’t really anything chemistry-related. Even when I took the exam I don’t recall there being any questions where I was hindered by my minimal knowledge of chemistry… I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine.</p>