Hello, I’m entering my senior year of high school and currently enrolled into five A.P. courses.
There are:
AP BIO
AP CHEM
AP LIT
AP STATS
AP CALC AB
I’m debating if I should switch out of Chem for AP Macro and Miro Economics. I torn between both subjects, since they both appeal to my interest. Thus, I was wondering from another perspective which may be better to take in terms of the college admission process, or/and in terms of how well the course is structured (even though quality of the class is dependent on the teacher). I’m hoping to become a Pre-med student in my undergrad, but I also want to be a well rounded student as well.
Also, are A.P. credits worth it for intro courses that are a part of my major (say if my major is to be in biology)?
In terms of using AP credit for your major, maybe, depending on the college and department. But note that, for premed purposes, if you skip a course with AP credit, many medical schools want to see a more advanced course in the subject instead.
No, medical schools do not care what you do in HS.
If you want to go to medical school you have to see if the medical schools would even take
AP credits…you would most likely have to take Chem 101 again or take an honors version in college.
So I would ask myself, do I want to take AP sciences to prepare myself for the college version of those classes?
Do I really want to take two lab sciences senior year? (Probably not)
With pre-med you can major in anythign you want. Bio, Chem, Psychology, Math…anything as long as you take the pre-req classes (Bio, Chem, Org Chem, Math, etc etc).
Imagine yourself this fall:
You are doing the applications for college, heavily involved in your ECs and also have two lab sciences.
or it is next May and you have senioritis and you have to do two lab reports?
I would recommend swapping out one of the sciences for AP Econ (high probability of doing well on AP test and colleges giving you credit).
If you have thought of a major, e.g., Biology, then keep AP Bio. If Chemistry, keep AP Chem. If something else, pick which one you would like extra background in.
I would look at the policies of the colleges you have applied to. They vary a lot. Some require ‘5’'s for credit in your major if required, a lesser score may get you less credit, or none at all. Some only accept certain AP tests. Some require you to take them at the college even with a ‘5’. I have seen just about every permutation.