<p>I'm an upcoming sophomore for the 2012-2013 school year and I just finished a year of Honors Chemistry.</p>
<p>I'm in a situation where I don't know what to pick: AP Bio or AP Chem. Both sound very rigorous and interesting, but I find that AP Bio is more memorizing facts. I'm terrible at memorizing facts. AP Chem is more problem solving and calculations and I'm pretty good at that. </p>
<p>Should I take AP Chem or AP Bio as sophomore?</p>
<p>here's what i'm thinking:
9th grade: H Chemistry
10th grade: AP chemistry
11th grade: H physics
12th grade: AP Bio?</p>
<p>Have you ever taken honors bio or any other bio class. If not then ap bio may be a little tough because you haven’t had an introductory class but it’s definitely manageable with a goo work ethic.</p>
<p>Take bio, if you wait until senior year to take bio you will struggle if you choose to take the ACT (which has bio as a major component of the science section). Also from my understanding schools want to see bio, chem and physics before you take an upper level science course.</p>
<p>It’s possible to take AP bio, but since you’ve already got the basics down for AP chem, I’d recommend you go that way. I’m taking AP bio next year, and judging from advice from teachers, counselers, and past students of the grueling course, it’s improbable that you’ll be able to get an A without rudimentary knowledge. </p>
<p>Unless of course, you are a genius. </p>
<p>Which you might be. CC is known to attract those people.</p>
<p>I haven’t taken AP Chem but I have taken AP Bio. If I had a choice I would’ve taken AP Chem. Like you, I’m terrible at memorization and AP Bio is pretty much all memorization. I also found topics such as plants and ecosystems extremely boring. I think what you take depends on what you find interesting. If problem solving is really your strong suit, then AP Chem is probably a better fit.</p>
<p>I took AP Bio junior year and AP Chem my senior year (note that these weren’t the only science courses I was taking at the time). I took Honors Bio freshman year and Honors Chem sophomore year (see above not in parentheses). With that said, the stereotypes are true for the subjects; bio is much more pure memorization while chem is more problem solving. To me, bio was extremely broad and covered so many minute details in microscopic and macroscopic scales that studying for it felt intimidating throughout the year. You have to know systems of all types at all scales like the back of your hand if you want a solid grasp of the course. For AP chem, much like math, you need to know what process is necessary for each calculation. I can go on for a while bu to keep it short, give them both a shot sooner than later. The AP chemistry curriculum changes your senior year so I’d suggest you take it now while you know how it’s set up. I think AP biology already changed, but if not then it will by the time you get to it either way.</p>
<p>I just took both last year, why not take AP Chem sophomore year and AP Bio junior? AP Bio is a breeze if you have a good teacher. AP Chem does still require a lot of memorization along with the application and analysis of material.</p>
<p>Both require memorization. Since you already took Chemistry, take AP Chemistry so you won’t forget the topics you’ve learned. I’m taking both next year and the AP Biology and AP Chemistry teachers said that both require some form of memorization and heavy problem solving skills.</p>
<p>You will do fine on the ACT without AP Biology knowledge by the way. I’ve never had to use prior science knowledge on the ACT. Everything is in the passage they give you.</p>