I know I made a thread a couple days ago on my next year’s scheduling, which turned into a topic on mostly AP Biology.
So I decided to make a separate thread on AP Biology.
I am deeply interested in science, and this year I am taking Biology. The class has been really easy so far, I get pretty good grades, and I like the class.
Next year, Sophomores are allowed to take AP Biology as one of their classes.
In my last post, most of the posters told me to refrain from taking the class; as the class is very difficult. I completely understand that me taking this class could potentially set me up for disaster, but I do think that I could handle the class and it’s notorious amount of work and difficulty.
My grades in Bio this year is an 86 first quarter and a 91 second.
Midterms didn’t go as well as I hoped; I got a 72 with almost a week of studying prior for the exam.
The midterm was curved tremendously because most people failed (not using this as an excuse)
I just want some insight from people on whether or not I should take this class.
I am open for everyone’s opinions!
Well it does not sound like things are going as well for you in Biology as they could be. Have you taken all your other sciences-chem, physics? How can you say Biology has been really easy when you got a 72 on the midterm?
Honestly teachers vary from school to school. In my school there were 2 AP Biology teachers, the one that was super hard (the one most juniors had) and one was much easier (the one I had :D). My AP Bio grade was much higher than the average for the students who had the harder teacher. At the end of the day, the average AP Score for both classes was 4 so it didn’t really matter.
The point here is that it is the teacher that determines how hard the course is, not the course itself.
This year there were 2 AP Chem teachers, one is ridiculously easy. The average is like a 94, but the other one is insanely hard. 30-40% of people who have him drop out within the first few weeks. If the teacher is known for being cut throat and the grades are known for being low and you aren’t sure you can do well, don’t put yourself in a bad situation.
Doing “bad” in biology doesn’t mean you can’t take physics, once again it depends on the teacher. My regular Bio teacher from freshman year (the hard AP Bio teacher) told me I shouldn’t take AP Bio since my test grades sucked. I took it anyways and got an 95 for the year. Your drive to succeed also determines how well you do because by junior year my studying skills were MUCH BETTER.
I don’t think you should go to AP Biology if you’re getting Bs in regular Biology, even if you’re interested in it. Maybe wait until junior or senior year.
@nyuhopeful44
Yeah, I heard that it is a challenging course, but if you put lots of time into it you’ll do fine.
If I do end up taking it, it would be my only AP class of the year, so I think I’d be fine to keep up with studying and the amount of work.
@tspmf12
My currently Biology class is regular, but Honors work and test/quizzes. Honors and Regular receives the same work and exams, while a level lower than reg and hon is easier and entirely different.
I’m not disagreeing with you about taking it Junior year.
personally i am taking ap bio right now and i hate it but thats due to the fact that i learned i hated the topic halfway throught the class. But its a very interesting class and if you like you should really consider it i am a sophomore and didnt have a hard time dealing with it so i would say take it its a fun class! The test in the class have proved to be difficult but not overly hard just putting things into context