Is it required to take AP Bio?
No. Many high schools do not offer AP versions of Biology. For top college admissions and early entry to medical school programs you will be expected to take the most rigorous classes in HS. There can be scheduling conflicts for students so you don’t necessarily take as many top courses as offered either.
You will need to check on the colleges that offer automatic admission to medical school for any requirements to be accepted to their program. You can also attend any college and apply early to medical schools. This will require planning early on to get the needed classes and take the MCAT with good preparation.
btw- students can take the AP Biology (or any other AP exam) without taking the course. Some HS’s choose to offer an Honors Biology and cover different material than the AP version.
Note that BS/MD programs commonly require the student to maintain a high GPA and do well on the MCAT to keep the “guaranteed” admission to the MD program. The thresholds are often high enough that the student would have a decent chance of MD school admission the regular way, although retaining the “guaranteed” admission does eliminate the process, hassle, and stress of applying, interviewing, etc…
If your school offers AP Bio, then a BS/MD program would expect that you have taken it unless a legit reason you couldn’t (such as AP Chem was offered at the same time).
You would be competing against top applicants who will have taken the most rigorous curriculum at their schools.
Those who get accepted to BS/MD programs are typically students with stats that strongly suggest to the school that they would likely get accepted to med school if applying thru the traditional way. @ucbalumnus is right that usually a certain GPA is required to keep the guarantee, but often the req’d MCAT is lower than what would typically be needed to get into that med school.
When my son was in high school, one of his closest friends applied to a BS/MD program. My son didn’t. When it came time to apply to med school, that student’s stats met the minimum req’ts so he had the admission. It was kind of strange that my son, who had much stronger stats had to “sweat it out” to find out he was accepted, while his ole high school buddy had an assured acceptance. In the end it all worked out, but it was strange. I don’t really like BS/MD programs for that reason. I think it has the unintended consequence of causing some students to slide a bit as undergrads.
Kids who go directly into BS/MD programs are going to be among the strongest in their cohort. If the school offers AP Bio they will have taken it and done well in it. Of course many, many colleges won’t care if you have taken AP Bio and it certainly isn’t a require for med school admissions the regular way. Biology in college will be fine. OTOH, AP Bio will probably lay a good foundation for a college bio course.
I would take it if it is available at your school. You will have to take some kind of Bio in college so it is best to be prepared with AP Bio if possible.
It’s just that student doesn’t have space for a another double block science and he rather take AP Chem and band since those interests him more.
If you do take AP Bio, remember that you will not be able to count the AP Bio against the 1year of Undergrad Biology requirement for med school entry and will likely need to repeat Intro to Bio once you get to college.
That’s perfectly OK. AP Chem is also valuable background for a future pre-med. And a kid can only be in the high school band when s/he’s in high school. Students shouldn’t be forced to give up band if it isn’t absolutely necessary.
At my daughter’s school, AP Bio will get you into honors bio but will not replace freshman bio for premed students. Her friend in the BS/MD program did not take AP Bio in high school but placed into honors bio anyway. Taking AP chem, on the other hand, can mean placement directly in Orgo. (Don’t know if that’s a plus or a minus. 
) But I’m pretty sure that her friend in the BS/MD program took AP Chem but not AP Bio.