AP Environmental Science?

Applying to College
1

<p>So I'm a Rising Senior and I'm deciding between two pretty different tracks something brain and language related (neurosci, cogsci, linguistics) or something related to politics (international relations, polici, econ)</p>

<p>I doubled up on sciences last year, taking Physics H and AP Chem the same year. I got a 700 on the Physics SAT II self studying a few units and a 760 on Chem. I'm pretty sure I got a 5 on the Chem AP. </p>

<p>As much as I know I should take AP Bio next year since I might be a neuro major, our AP Environmental Science teacher is awesome; the class is fun, easy, and interesting. I'll have a pretty hard course load as is (AP Literature,AP Gov, AP Econ, AP Calc AB) and it would be nice to have a class to relax in. At the same time, I'm not sure alot of my schools would take Environmental seriously, especially considering I probably wont major in it. </p>

<p>I'm applying for an incredibly competitive full-ride neuro scholarship at Colorado College and I'm starting to think taking environmental instead of bio would automatically take me out of the running. I'm not sure how other schools would react to it and I don't know if its going to be a big deal in light of the big picture: my ECs, scores, and GPA. </p>

<p>My List
1. US Naval Academy
1. Colorado College
3. Claremont McKenna
4. Carleton College
4. US Air Force Academy
6. Grinnell College
7. University of Rochester
8. SUNY Geneseo</p>

<p>Ive got a 93 GPA unweighted at a nationally ranked public HS, one of the top in our state. Our school doesn't rank and doesn't weight GPA. I have a 32 ACT score as of right now (hopefully a 34 or 35...l'll find out tomorrow). </p>

<p>770 World History SAT II</p>

<p>SAT 740 Reading 640 Math 610 Writing (will retake, but my ACT score is far and away better)</p>

<p>I have above average ECs (3 sport athlete, VP of Model UN, Editor of Literary Magazine, Internship with Chief of Neurology Dept one summer, Research assistant with Computational Linguistics Professors the next, some volunteering [50 or so hours at a school for mentally disabled kids], attended THIMUN, an international Model UN conference in the Netherlands)</p>

<p>4 APs last year: Chem, Language and Composition, Psychology, and US</p>

<p>1 the year before, Euro 5</p>

<p>So if anyone could give me advice on which class I should take and why I'd really appreciate it!</p>

2

<p>I’d strongly recommend AP Bio over AP Enviro. AP Bio is respected as a solid academic course, whereas Enviro is considered an AP “lite”, fun and easy, as you say. With physics and chem already under your belt, AP Bio would complete the “holy trinity” of the sciences and establish you as a serious and credible science-track applicant. I see bio as a “no-brainer”, and as a prospective neuro student I hope you do too.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

3

<p>I agree w/ the poster above. But I took AP Enviro and AP Bio - liked APES over APBio…so it depends on you</p>

4

<p>Maybe APES is a bit more interesting and easier but AP Bio is much more important course and provides a solid base to any further study in the biological science. </p>

<p>I am currently doing some biology research and even though the class seemed relatively easy and didn’t involve too much information, I am realizing how much AP bio prepared me to at least understand the gist of what my fellow researchers are doing.</p>

<p>Bottom Line: Take AP Bio!</p>