AP Science's.....

<p>Hi everyone! It's been a long time since I have been active but its good to be back. Anyhow, since I am from Canada, the AP programs here are not as popular as the ones in the states but they have caught on. It appears that my school i been offering all AP science courses for gr.11 students and I signed up for both AP physics and chemistry, having acheived a 97% last year in the advanced science course (this is a good score for the course). </p>

<p>So my question is:</p>

<p>How do you think I can maintain this average in the AP course for example, how much extra time does one have to study for an AP course rather than an advanced? As well, what is the key to great success in the AP courses?</p>

<p>Well if you take AP Chem and AP Bio simultaneously at my school, that alone will amount to around 4-5 hours of homework per night. The trick really to AP courses is READ THE TEXT BOOK! My first AP course I took as a sophomore I didn't read the book and barely pulled an A. After taking other AP classes and actually reading the book/knowing what it's like, I pulled off a pretty easy A. It shouldn't be too much extra work, just reading the text books takes forever since a chapter is 45 pages more or less with tiny print whereas in non-AP classes, you can easily ace them without ever looking at the text book (and their text books look like elementary school ones compared to AP books).</p>

<p>4-5 hours a night!!!
Are you sure honor? And if so how do you possibly manage between other courses and extra curriculers? </p>

<p>P.S. How would all of you rate the difficulty level of AP physics?</p>

<p>Very little sleep is key, craze200. We just get slammed in Chem. And I don't know about AP Physics, sorry. We don't have that at my school.</p>

<p>AP Physics is ridiculous. It isn't a lot of work, but it's a TON of brain power and studying. It's all conceptual.</p>

<p>I loved AP Chem.</p>

<p>lol i used to live in canada.. AP isnt all that hard, i know your school is like, it's the toughest class but it's the first time they're giving an AP and they don't know how easy they can be if the student pays attention. AP Chem is my subject, i had a great teacher and i didnt take AP Physics yet.</p>

<p>what part of canada are you from?</p>

<p>From Ontario, Ivy.
So are you saying that AP is different in the two countries?</p>

<p>nice i used to live in toronto. It's not different, the fear that your high school is giving you is not true. AP courses for me are average. all you have to do is pay attention, i don't set a seprate time frame and still manage to make an A or B, i do my homework between classes not when i'm at home so you see AP classes are not that hard</p>

<p>AP classes are hard, and they take more time thanothers. But you should be able to survive them pretty easily as long as you pay attention in your class.</p>

<p>Then Ivy, do you agree that a 4-5 hours a night devoted to studying in these AP classes are necessary. Assuming that I am taking both at the same time.</p>

<p>P.S. Sorry honor, I don't mean any offence :)</p>

<p>4-5 that's a lot; i said i study between classes and manage to an A. 1hr - 30mins tops dont stress on it too much. Did i tell you that the studies in Canada were a lot harder than US.</p>

<p>No Ivy you did not :)
Interesting, for I had always assumed that the average US curriculum would be a lot harder, well in terms of HS anyway.</p>

<p>^ nope.. i could barely manage a B in canada and in US i'm in AP and honors making A's. my dad was telling to me to go to Kitchner, waterloo, i declined. i would rather stay in US and take it the easy way.</p>

<p>Lol, I think everyone misinterpreted what I said! I do not study for 4-5 hours a night as in reading over notes/reading the book! It's just that we get so much tedious homework in those two classes that it amounts to that. It must just be a science thing because my other AP classes never took up that much time. But part of it may also be due to the fact that I'm a huge overachiever and do way more than what is required. For instance, when I took AP Government, I turned a half page assignment into a 5-page paper, not double spaced. ;) And that, combined with breaks/iming people online while doing homework is what turns homework for bio and chem into 4 hour sessions. The other AP classes on the other hand, are a breeze and have minimal homework to them, which would amount to about an hour a night for the other 4 AP classes combined. </p>

<p>So sorry if I scared you. Schools and teachers also vary, as do students' habits.</p>

<p>No problem honor!</p>

<p>I am glad that you posted your extended explanation for it seems that I may have to put in as much work as you because admittedly, I do also tend to overachieve sometimes. For example, for a certain power point presentation a maximum of 10 slides was required although I ended up with close to 30. And with my frequent online pursuits, I think that my homework habits will closely resemble yours over the course of this semester. Thanks for the input :)</p>

<p>AP Bio is all memorization and reading.</p>

<p>AP Chem is more math and harder.</p>

<p>AP Physics is IMPOSSIBLE. It is SO hard. Just ridiculous really. If you can get a B+ in this class, I will forever respect you. You just have to be a natural talent and have a strong brain for this class.</p>

<p>craze200, ah yes! Doesn't it suck! You'll be working on homework/talking to people and next thing you know it's 10 p.m. and you have no clue where the time went and you're mentally kicking yourself for taking too many breaks and having too many conversations [and of course, being on CC!]. And I love overachieving, it makes me feel good about myself. I would totally doubt my work and constantly question if it was good enough for an A if I did minimal amount of it.</p>

<p>To Honor: It seems that we are more alike than I typically thought :) I also inhereited this nagging habit from my mother about aiming for beyond the maximum for each assignmnet. I remember once I did exactly the minimal on my english macbeth assignment and when handing it in I felt a guilty knot in my stomach for doing so. Call me crazy but finally, I know now it happens to someone else also :D</p>

<p>To Chris: Yes, I have heard AP physics is very hard. But a B+ at the most ??? I was going in to it expecting at least an A. It seems I have been mistaken. So are you saying that the course requires more brains and logic than effective studying? If so, is it also necessary for one to be good at math?</p>

<p>Well if you are absolutely horrible at math, then you want to skip Physics.</p>

<p>Regular Physics class was harder than AP Bio I thought.</p>

<p>Both AP Chem and AP physics may be a little draining and the exams are pretty difficult. I think that if you take both it will require 4 periods since AP sciences have labs. Chem is math and idk about physics because i never took it.</p>