<p>I'm going to be a senior next year. I plan on going to med school. I have two open slots in my schedule for either AP Bio, AP Physics or AP Chem. I'm going to take AP Bio which leaves me with either AP Chem or AP Physics. I took Pre-AP chem as a sophmore and had a difficult time getting a low A. Junior year I took Pre-AP physics and thought it was pretty easy and got a high A. I feel I'm stronger at physics. However at my school, the physics teacher doesn't really teach, and the chem teacher is a decent teacher. At my school AP chem is more difficult and more strenous than physics. However, would AP Chem be more beneficial for college? Which class should I take? </p>
<p>I would choose the better teacher.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that many med schools will not accept AP science credits for their prerequisites.</p>
<p>AP CHEM! Seriously, I took AP Chem as a junior and I’m taking AP Physics this next year; however, AP Chem has been the most beneficial class I’ve ever taken. You learn valuable skills in that class that are bigger than chemistry itself. I think it will be helpful to have that foundation too considering your goal is medical school. And like you said, it has the better teacher, which is huge when it comes to an AP class. The AP test I scored lowest on is the one with the worst teacher. </p>
<p>As far as getting credit for the AP class, if you get a 4/5 on the test for chem, depending on the school you go to, you will either get credit or you will just get to skip the first chem class. Some might be neither, but I think that’s still fine. Chemistry won’t be near as overwhelming in college if you have taken AP Chem in high school. </p>
<p>Another thing, if Chemistry is hard for you but you want to go to med school, taking Chemistry is inevitable. It will probably be good to learn as much chemistry as you can before college. High school teachers are typically more caring and will be able to help you through it much more than a college professor would. </p>
<p>Maybe the fact that your Physics teacher “did not really teach” was why you got that A? Maybe I’m assuming the wrong thing, but I’ve had teachers that “did not really teach” as well, meaning that they don’t care for the student and just teach nonchalantly. They do not put effort into grading papers, so they grade for completeness. That is my definition of a teacher that “does not really teach.”
This whole thing may be biased, but I loved Chemistry, and I found it to be very fun.
Like what the others have said, if you do plan on going pre-med for college, I advise you to take AP Chemistry. I feel as though Chemistry can be applied to… human anatomy (for a lack of a better word) better than Physics.</p>
<p>I took both AP Chemistry and AP Physics this last year and I honestly absolutely loved them both. I say they are both crucial to know, tbh. But in your circumstance, I’d say AP Chem. It sounds about right that it’s extremely hard so it looks definitely worth it. At my school AP Physics is the toughest. Challenge yourself.</p>
<p>@theshins</p>
<p>Did you take AP Physics B last year? I was wondering how hard it was compared to AP Chem, I did terrible in the beginning with forces and kinematics but surprisingly I did amazing with the rest of the class. How big of a jump is it from Honors Chemistry (if you took it)? </p>