AP Biology vs. AP Spanish Literature?

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

Registration for my school is this week, so I need to sign up for all my senior classes this week. I could possibly get it changed later if need be, but it’ll be difficult as space in classes fills up and summer homework is assigned for AP Bio.

My senior course load so far is:

AP English Literature and Composition
AP Microeconomics/AP US Government and Politics
AP Physics C
Internship (fall)/Directed Studies (spring)
Calculus III (I’m applying for a distance calculus program over the summer)
either AP Bio or AP Spanish Lit

I’m currently taking six AP classes, including AP Spanish Lang, so I don’t think the course load will cause me too much trouble. But I can only take six classes and I can’t decide between either AP Bio or AP Spanish Lit. I’m actually not sure if I like biology or not, but some seniors I’ve talked to have said that it’s a great way to find out whether or not I should pursue something medical/science-related in the future. My school doesn’t officially offer AP Spanish Literature, and only has one AP Spanish Lang class. There are two Spanish Lit students that sit in my class that mostly just read by themselves or don’t really do anything, so I don’t know if it would actually be beneficial for me to take AP Spanish Lit (since there is zero teacher instruction and you’d have to deal with concentrating through the craziness of the Spanish Lang class). Next year I’d be the only person taking AP Spanish Lit. I was considering self-studying Spanish Lit for the AP exam, and maybe using my Directed Studies time to study for it second semester.

I really love Spanish but I don’t like the teachers/classes that much, and if I’m not enrolled in Spanish through my school next year I’ll have to leave la Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (I’d probably by president next year). A lot of my friends are taking AP Bio and it sounds pretty interesting, but I don’t know if I actually like the subject material that much. Which class should I take? Is it even possible to self-study Spanish Lit and get a 5 on the exam? Are there any good books for self-studying Spanish Lit?

Thanks for the feedback. ^^ I apologize for the super long post.

2

No.

Personally, I’d go with Option C: a fun elective in a subject that interests me. Failing that, I’d probably do AP Bio for the following reasons:

• Your school has no AP Spanish Lit Class. If you got a free period out of it, I might feel differently, but I think that it is pointless to have to sit through a class (AP Spanish Lang) that you are not taking.
• Many top colleges will not give credit for both Spanish Language and Spanish Literature, and I’m not a big fan of taking AP classes where I’ll not receive credit.
• The AP Spanish Literature reading list is extensive.
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse/ap-spanish-literature-and-culture/required-reading-list
Unlike the AP English Literature exam where you can choose the books with which to answer the FRQ, the Spanish exam tells you which work(s) to include in your essay, so there is no shortcut.