<p>Alright, so I'm just going to go off on a tangent to sports61kh. Which is better for pre-med, AP Bio or AP Chem? At my school you're basically guarenteed to get an A if you do all the work unlike AP Bio which is extremely hard and you won't get a grade better than a C due to the bad teachers. Alright so for next year I'm taking the following AP's:
-AP Government
-AP Language
-AP Calculus AB
-AP Chem or AP Bio</p>
<p>Should I take both of the sciences and maybe drop AP Lang or AP Gov? Also how important is physics? I haven't taken it yet and I don't know if I should just skip it and save it till college.
So feedback anyone? Please and thank you.</p>
<p>Don't necessarily blame it on the teachers. I understand they may be sub par, but they do issue you books to study out of. I might drop AP Gov. personally, unless you're really interested in that. I took both AP Bio and AP Chem myself. AP Bio in Junior Year, and AP Chem this year. Anyway, I don't know how much it really matters for pre-med. Obviously, they can give you good backgrounds in the subjects, but I've heard you shouldn't use AP Chem credit even if you get it. You'll just have to take higher levels of chemistry, and introductory chemistry can solidify understanding and provide a little GPA boost. In regards to Physics, I didn't take it either. I believe I understand the concepts, and I know I'll be taking it in college anyway. From what I hear, it shouldn't affect the applications too much.</p>
<p>Umm.... I have a couple in mind, not really sure if I want to go there though. Lehigh, Syracuse, Ithaca, Virginia tech, William and Mary, and the list goes on. Which would be better for a field in medicine though, I know AP Bio would be, but is it worth getting a bad grade in it?</p>
<p>AP Bio is NOT clearly superior. (Notice that this is different from "AP Bio is clearly NOT superior.") At a core level, chemistry is the foundation of biology, and many students find college chemistry harder than college biology. AP Biology is generally taught more poorly than AP Chemistry -- well, at least, less consistently.</p>
<p>Again, it depends on what the AP policy is at your eventual university, but there's plenty of time to deal with it later.</p>
<p>I took AP Chemistry and AP Physics B junior year and AP Biology and AP Physics C this year</p>
<p>and can i say, AP chemistry has been the most challenging course that I've ever faced. I currently am getting a 99.8 in AP Biology EASILY, while last year, i struggled so hard to maintain my 97 in Chemistry.</p>
<p>Long story short, there is no "superior" science AP between Biology and Chemistry</p>
<p>And also, I highly suggest you take Physics. People think they know the concepts entering the course, but it is Much MUCH more intense than you'd think it is. Prepare yourself by giving yourself a good foundation in the subject - physics is extremley useful for chemistry and especially mathematics</p>
<p>Neither is "better" for pre-med. The essential point is that chemistry and biology (and a lot of them) are both prerequisites for medical school. The question that you should be asking yourself is whether you will be comfortable substituting high school AP credit for chemistry and/or biology for the actual introductory college courses in those subjects. Remember that you'll be taking a sequence of courses in both subjects when you get to college, so you'll want to have a strong foundation in both. Many students who do well in AP Bio and AP Chem nonethless take the introductory sequences in those courses in college for the simple reason that they don't want to be underprepared when they reach upper division courses like O-Chem. I'm not saying that AP courses in biology and chemistry aren't challenging and can't be an adequate substitute for introductory college courses -- merely that one is no better than the other in terms of preparing for a premedical curriculum and that even if you successfully complete both, you may want to take the introductory courses in college anyway.</p>
<p>I'm in the same boat, a junior who wants to go into med school and has way too many AP classes. Here's what I'm doing, I'm taking AP biology because biology is more relavent to my future area of studying and I'm more confident in biology, so I don't feel like I'll be wasting my money. The other big thing I'm doing is trying to pace myself. On paper, it looks easy to do all those AP classes and pass the test, in reality, it's not, don't kill yourself, and play to your strengths, it looks better, it's easier, and you won't waste your time on a test you can't pass. Good luck!!!!</p>
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This would be true if you were talking about an advanced physiology class, but when the classes are high-school level, all the sciences are pretty distant from anything you'll ever need.</p>
<p>I would suggest taking both AP Bio and AP Chem but also repeating the introductory classes in college; of course, it's important to keep AP credit policies in mind. Ideally, the college will let you take the introductory college counterpart even if you scored high enough to place out of it.</p>
<p>By taking both AP Bio/Chem, you'll cut down on some of the studying needed for general bio and general chem. At least, that's how it felt.</p>
<p>You have to take an equal amount of chemistry in college usually for the pre-med track, so neither biology nor chemistry is much better to take. I would go for AP Chem if the teacher is better and you are going to get a better grade in it.</p>