<p>Alright, so I have a dilemma. I am currently taking AP Chemistry, but we are going at a very slow pace and we are not really being taught the material in full for the AP exam. I want to drop the class and then I would probably self study AP Chemistry myself with the open block. However, I am not sure how MIT would look upon this, as it is one of my top choices. Chemistry is my least favorite of the sciences, and coupled with the environment of the class, I will probably end up with a low score on the exam if I do not self study and pick up the pace. That being said, will they highly disapprove of me dropping from an AP science course to self study?</p>
<p>do it side by side, but do not drop it.</p>
<p>If you were to drop it, what would you do with your free time? Would you pick up another course, or just use the time to self-study for the exam? If you are planning on taking another class more suited to your interests, and study to get a good grade on the chemistry exam, I think that would be phenomenal (and look good to I guess). But I don’t think it is a good idea just to drop it so you could self-study it out of class. Why not just master the material taught in class (even though its covered at a slow pace), self-study, and rock out the exam. I know I have been bored to tears in some classes that I ended up self-studying additional material, but I knew if I would have dropped them, I probably wouldn’t do anything better/productive with my time. Plus, classes can be a neat way to connect with your teachers and learn from other peoples comments. But that is all biased by my school / how I learn best.</p>
<p>Don’t drop it. A very important part of chemistry is the ability to do labs. To be very clear, do not under any circumstance drop that class.</p>
<p>I must admit that high school chemistry and biology for me were terrible. The labs were very poor due to limited resources, and teachers had little experience. The only reason I got 5’s on AP bio and chem were because of self-study; yes it’s possible if you have the motivation. But I would suggest staying in the class if it’s already late in the year (which it is).</p>
<p>trust me, your life will be easier. its really about working with the system; it’ll probably show up on your record if you drop. and if you’re school is too slow, it’s really no problem. just self-study for the exam and ace the school work. my old teacher called it “getting the A and getting out.” this probably goes against your ideals about learning (and it does go against mine). but nowadays school/college isn’t just about learning, it’s also about getting proof that you learned.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses so far, and I do have some follow ups.</p>
<p>We do not do AP Chemistry labs in our class; the labs that we have done so far are observing materials and using a scale (barely labs that would help out for AP Chemistry in my book). The class is also chaotic to do a self-study during class (everyone is constantly talking and walking around), and the teacher does not teach, but she only talks to two or three of the students in the class about the simplest of problems. Because of the lack of any teaching, the slow pace, and just the overall environment of the class, I have been doing progressively worse this term, and, at the rate we are going, we will only get through the material already covered in honors. Also note, but doing worse in the class, I mean that I went from getting A’s at the beginning of last terms, to getting B+/B’s at the end of last term, then a B on my second to last test, and a D+ on my last test.</p>
<p>I can understand that it is our teacher’s first year teaching, but the class is just out of control and there is no actually teaching or structure. Also, on the homework problems that we were given to study for the test, about 1/3 of the questions could not be answered since the questions either did not give enough information, were incomplete (ie the sentences were cut in half), or the information was given without the actual question (these were multiple choice questions primarily). If this keeps up for the rest of the year, which it will, I will probably come out of that class with a lower grade (right now my GPA is 4.0 UW) and a bad score on the AP exam.</p>
<p>Does a withdrawal look that bad even if I explain all of that information of why I would withdraw (I am still trying to figure out to do, so feedback on this would be much appreciated)?</p>
<p>If the class is moving so ridiculously slowly, you should be getting a stellar grade in it. If it’s THAT hard to concentrate during the class, then try just taking a nap during it and study the material outside of class. By no means should you just drop the class, unless you’re planning on taking another class you’re interested in and self-studying the material in addition. However, if I were you, I would just try to work with it. The fact of the matter is, bad teachers are a fact of life. Even at MIT, you could get stuck with a terrible recitation instructor or, in some cases, a sucky professor. I’m in 8.01 (Physics) TEAL (the new system in which they’re teaching physics… it doesn’t work. And I have a terrible professor, too), and believe me, I can’t STAND the system. Unfortunately, it’s really my only choice, so I work with it and have a friend of mine who is good at physics help me with things that the class didn’t cover or wasn’t clear about. Similarly, my chemistry professor is a Nobel Laureate, but half the time I just can’t follow his lectures, since they go wayyy over my head. Again, though, one just has to learn to deal with these kind of things and learn it however you find best. I just suggest strongly that you not drop the class. Learning to cope with a bad teacher is a lifelong skill.</p>
<p>If you’re taking the class just cause it’s AP, then obviously there’s something wrong. You’re not going to have as much fun in it and you’re taking someone else’s spot. It really irks me when people do things for the sole purpose of getting into college. Ever heard of learning for learning’s sake?</p>
<p>what do you mean taking someone else’s spot? we don’t have “spots” in our AP classes. But drop it, I made the mistake of staying in a bad AP Chem class and thusly failed the exam :(</p>
<p>Yeah I am not taking someone else’s spot…I took the class because there was no challenge last year and I wanted a challenge even though I don’t really like Chemistry that much. Anyways, I do worse in classes where we go extremely slow, just because I become disinterested and do less work, especially if it is an AP class. Also, the environment is really not helping me learn anything. I remembered minimal material from last year, and its bad enough that I got a bad teacher, but it is worse that the class is so disruptive and chaotic that you can barely do work in there, and it is even worse that the problem sets cannot be solved 33.3333333% of the time.</p>
<p>I am very uneasy about significantly lowering my GPA from such a class that should be easy enough, but I am more worried about doing poorly on the AP Exam. Self-study in class is nearly impossible since the teacher, when she talks, doesn’t talk about chemistry, and the students are just wild, and I have nearly no time to devote to self study outside of school since I am already doing AP Calculus BC self study, along with some ECs that I am very committed to.</p>
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<p>Ummm… look what forum you’re on.</p>
<p>I totally understand… </p>
<p>For my school, I have to drop it before a certain date in order for the mark to not show on my transcript. If I do drop a course before that date, the transcript appears as if I have never taken the course. </p>
<p>If I were you, to be honest, I’d drop it. If I’m wasting 5 hours every week on a course that I’m not enjoying that I could better spend it on studying for AP’s. Also, the thing is that high school courses are still free. MIT would be different. Cost would play a role in deciding whether to drop a course or not, so take advantage of being able to drop and re-take courses without losing much money. </p>
<p>However, I wouldn’t know how MIT would take a dropped course. How does MIT find out if you dropped that course after submitting the application anyways? </p>
<p>And also, I thought that schools don’t like students take on another course at this time of the year. Isn’t it too late to take on another course? In my school, I’m allowed to drop a course anytime (preferable with the teacher’s consent, though), but I can’t take a course after the first week of school or so.</p>
<p>Don’t drop. Just get a Barron’s AP Book and Supplement you class work with self-studying on your own time.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think our date for dropping was/is around this time before it ends up on your transcript. I mean, I can try to see what my guidance counciler and head of the science department can do, and if it does not show up as a withdrawal I will drop it in a heartbeat. Otherwise, I would have to think about it. I really do not want to hurt my chances at any of the top schools, since I am interested mostly in MIT, Princeton, and Yale, which I think would be great for research opportunities and a solid undergraduate education.</p>
<p>High school for me, at this point, is just about getting into college and getting it over with. I do enjoy the extracurriculars I do, and I have tried to make them impressive but also fun for me to partake in, but the actual schoolwork is just about getting the A, getting the good SAT and AP scores, and that is it. Well, also finding good recs and such, but that is all that high school is good for anymore.</p>
<p>AP calculus BC studying? If you’ve already taken AB then there’s no real “studying” to be done considering the fact that BC tests you on only 2 more chapters than the AB does, it’s not that bad.</p>
<p>In addition, there are a myriad of ap chem supplements that can help you out both in the class and on the AP. Watch the MIT OCW videos on chemistry, watch chemguy on youtube, get barrons AP CHEM, etc. I would suggest that you toughen it out and get the 5 at the end with the help of additional materials. The most important thing, i think, to do well on the AP chem test is to really love the subject. So i guess what i’m trying to say-rather awkwardly- is to search for a love in the subject.</p>
<p>In my school, everyone’s dying to get into the AP classes. So to take sign up for and to get into an AP class means that you took someone else’s spot. It’s great if you’re not doing that in your school and even better if your intent was to challenge yourself. But it still doesn’t explain why you would take AP chem if you hate chem to begin w/. </p>
<p>I know what forum I’m posting on and I don’t feel that it automatically labels me as a “dying to get into HYPSM” type. I can honestly say that I enjoy and feel very strongly about everything that I have done in high school. I love my hs and the experiences that I’ve had in it. So I don’t feel like it’s only good for getting into college. I’m trying to say that the cut-throat, getting-into-college-is-my-mission-in-life type don’t know what they’re missing on. There’s more to life than the world that you can find in a textbook.</p>
<p>I’m sorry cicero_oratore if I sound like I’m attacking you. Best of luck with AP chem. It rly is a GREAT subject.</p>
<p>My advice is to drop the class. A few years ago I was in essentially the position that you are in, except with nearly all of my classes; my decision was to drop out of school and start homeschooling. So I’ve been self-studying for all of high school (along with lots of college classes), and I think it was the best decision. You will learn far more than you will in a bad classroom and enjoy it more. Colleges are not going to penalize you. In fact, they will be impressed that you took the initiative and sought out ways to learn. They’re not going to nitpick and try to accuse you of not learning (besides, if you get a 5 on the AP exam, wouldn’t that mean that you learned the material pretty well?).</p>
<p>I completely understand about the whole learning for the sake of learning. I love to learn and everything, and I love most of the things that I do, otherwise I would not elect to do them. However, high school in a normal school setting really doesn’t do it for me; it is just very pointless in my mind. Actually, I had considered dropping out and homeschooling myself twice, once in 7th grade and another time in 10th grade, but my parents were not partial to that idea.</p>
<p>So if I do stay in the class and self study for the exam and go ahead, which I am willing to do, since I can motivate and put myself in the right mindset, I think that I am more than capable of getting a 5 on the exam. The only problem is, I think that my grade in the class will still not be extremely high, but still, would you say that a 5 on the AP exam outweighs lets say a B in the AP class (I have a 4.0 right now, but I don’t feel like structuring my studying towards the class; I’d rather study just for the AP exam)?</p>
<p>Also, I am not in AP Calculus AB, but I am studying both AB and BC. I learned some basic Calculus in a weekend when I was bored back in 9th grade, but I never really learned everything for the AP test, so now I am just learning everything that I need to know for it.</p>
<p>Back to subject: I completely agree that it would be best to just go and self-study and jump ahead of everyone else, but will admissions care that I have lets say a B (worst case) in the AP class even though I get a 5 on the exam? It would bring down my GPA from a 4.0 to a 3.97 in that worst case scenario.</p>
<p>Sorry to double post…</p>
<p>@ eisensteinprime: How did you go about dropping out and homeschooling? Did you just decide to self-study, or did you sign up for a program? I would love to teach myself a lot more material than I am learning right now. I could be so far ahead and done with my senior year by this year, giving me next year to do some more advanced classes and more of what I enjoy. Frankly, I have been really losing the willpower to keep doing good work in school of the late. It is very frustrating to be sitting in a math class with material you learned in 7th grade, and you can’t believe how annoying it is to do creative English projects when I could be analyzing books (I love to analyze things, it is so much fun).</p>