Okay so I am a rising senior and basically my schedule is going to look like this:
AP Calc AB
AP US Govt/AP Comp. Govt
AP Literature & Comp
Chorus
Econ (1st sem), Chorus (2nd sem)
Music Theory
And then for my last slot, I have to choose between AP Bio and AP Physics C: Mech or AP Physics C: E&M.
I took AP Physics 1 this year and I really liked it, but if I take AP Physics C I will have to do so online at my house. AP Bio is offered at my school.
I know a lot of people do E&M and Mech together but since I have to do it online I was thinking about just doing Mechanics considering that’s what is mostly covered in AP Physics 1, however I don’t want colleges to look down on me for it. A girl from my school did E&M online and said it was super hard so I don’t think I would want to combine that with mechanics, or even do it by itself- but if colleges would prefer E&M over Mech after taking AP Physics 1 then I am willing to take the challenge.
I’m primarily a math minded person so that’s why I wanted to do AP physics C over AP physics 2- AP bio also requires a lot of memorization which I didn’t really like with honors bio. This will also be the first year the teacher will be teaching AP bio at our school, however the pro for AP bio is that I at least won’t have to deal with leaving school early and worrying about my class rank.
I also have the option of doing an 8th period for the online physics, however I’ll have to take another AP (psych? APES?) or another elective and I feel like that would just be unnecessary.
My school uses Georgia Virtual in case any of you have experience with that in which you would like to share.
I would appreciate any adivice or experiences thank you!
It really depends on you. Presumably, you’ve taken chemistry, but if not then you’ll need to take one unit/year of it. If you’ve already met the three basic science requirements, then it’s just your choice. I’d say that AP Physics C would be more impressive, but you should try to pertain to your prospective major by taking courses that someone would normally take in that line of study. Futures engineers, for example, should take AP Physics. In the same sense, future biologists should probably take AP Biology to get a taste of what is to come.
@IrrationalPepsi AP Physics C would probably be better for me because I’m going into engineering- however do you have any experience with online courses? That’s what I’m mostly worried about.
I’m going into 9th grade, so I’ve not had any experience with AP courses. I did take World History and Earth Science online this past year, and they were pretty easy. I used NCVPS, but it’s only for people who live in North Carolina. I don’t know anything about Georgia Virtual. Good luck!
1- Since you are taking Physics C concurrently with calculus, some mathematical concepts may come up in the science class before you’ve covered it in Calc. This may be challenging in an online class where the teacher can’t teach you how the math works.
2- If you’re the kind of student who can go outside of the virtual class and find additional study materials online, you may fare better, This helped my kids.
3- Look at the graduation requirements (major AND general education) of some of the colleges you are interested in. AP Bio may help you just as much to reach your goals.
