Hello I am currently a junior and have already chosen my classes for my senior year. I will be taking:
AP Literature
AP Gov/Econ
AP Calculus BC
Just a little bit of background, I have taken 1 year of biology (honors) and 2 years of chemistry (honors and AP), and precalculus (honors)
I’m having trouble picking a science at the moment. I’m stuck between these 2 AP’s because 1) I’m leaning towards taking either biochemistry or business/economics as a major in college and 2) I want experience in biology, chemistry, and physics since they all are important sciences; so having at least one year of physics would be good for me.
I’m also conflicted because I’ve never taken physics so I’m afraid I might be overwhelmed by the content, although people have also told me that if I’m taking it with Calculus then I should be ok.
Biology on the other hand also interests me but there is a lot to memorize for that class. Looking at my own strengths, I’d say I fall in the middle of memorizing information as well as applying information through math and thinking.
I’d say you can’t really go wrong, but I would recommend AP Physics. You should be fine in either AP physics 1, or AP physics C, you are in BC so the content shouldn’t be too troubling overall. Seeing as you also have no prior physics, it would be a good way to round out the science end of your curriculum. Biology wouldn’t be a bad choice, especially since you do want to do biochemistry, and if you are up for it and your schedule allows, you could attempt both. Best of luck
** A little mistake on what Calculus I’m taking, I meant Calculus AB; the only Physics offered at my school is Physics C by the way**
Physics. Can just be regular physics if you don’t want to do C.
I think it definitely depends on your own personal priorities. If you want to really get a strong foundation in the life sciences, AP Biology is an excellent choice. However, if you want to have a broad foundation of skills in the sciences and want to explore, AP Physics C might be better. But it may be better in this situation to take physics since you’ve already taken biology and chemistry and exposure to a new subject is a good thing. However, you might have to put in a lot of time to understand physics; it is difficult and very different from other science courses (I took both AP Physics 1 and AP Physics C in high school).
Hi, so I took AP Physics C in my sophomore year when I was just taking precalculus. For context, I had never taken a physics course in my entire life prior to walking into that class… so yes, at first it did seem very overwhelming. This class was by far the most difficult class I had ever taken, however with a lot of motivation and practice I was able to handle it. I would say this class involves a lot of formula memorization and understand how/when to apply them. You’ll have to do ALOT of practice problems and really understand connections across units to be successful.
On the other hand, I am currently taking AP Biology as a junior and I’d say its much more fact-based and reading-intensive. I would say this class is in many ways similar to a AP history course since it involves a lot of memorization and analyzing. The first few chapters which deal with more molecular topics (i.e. photosynthesis/cell respiration, transcription/translation…) are kinda difficult to understand at first, but after that, the rest of course is relatively easy.
Both these classes are important if you plan on going into biochemisty and with the AP exams, you may be able to get out of some colleges classes and save money. Tin addition, both classes will serve as a very strong foundation for future studies in college, but it just depends on your interests and what type of learner you are. You’ll likely take many classes related to these subjects in college, so these classes should just serve to explore your interests before you pursue them in your higher education. Also since you are going into your senior year with a course load that is already challenging, I’d say to not overkill it… senioritis is real!! Best of luck!!
AP physics C is supposed to use calculus, so of course it was hard if you were taking precalculus then.