Hi, I’m planning to take AP Stats or AP Bio my sophomore year. Should I take AP Bio even though I took Honors Bio freshman year and am planning to take SAT Subject Bio?
@jollyjellyjojo What are you interested in pursuing? Will one of them better relate to your goals?
Although my D20 did not take either of them, she said that among her group of friends, Stats was considered more challenging than Bio (overall) as a class. She did not ask them which test was more challenging. At her HS, kids took Bio as sophomore/junior and Stats as junior/senior.
If you are set on taking the SAT bio subject test, then it seems to me that taking AP bio makes the most sense. Stats can be taken later. My kids’ experience has been the opposite of @cstp28 in that AP Stats seemed to be the easier “A” and AP bio had a reputation of being very difficult. It very well may depend upon the school. Good luck!
@jollyjellyjojo, It’s really more about the balance of all your high school classes over time rather than one course vs another course.
Just make sure that you will be able to fit in (bare bones) Algebra 1 and 2, and geometry, and one class each of biology, chemistry and physics. After that, which math/science APs you take are your choice. The most selective colleges (if that happens to be your aim) will give more weight to Pre-Calc/calculus than statistics, especially if you will be on a STEM or economics track. If you are veering towards humanities or social sciences, statistics will be fine as long as you have a rigorous, well-balanced record overall.
Ideally, you should take one course each in all core courses, for all four years, so I don’t quite understand why you are choosing between a math and a science unless you are doubling up at the expense of another core subject (such as foreign language).
@cstp28 I don’t really know yet…I’m wondering whether AP Bio is worth it when I’ve already taken the SAT Bio. My Honors Bio class has covered a lot of information already so…
@inthegarden I’m deciding whether I should double up in math or science - I don’t know if I should take AP Calc and AP Stats or Chem H and AP Bio, as I’m taking Calc and Chem next year.
@Sam-I-Am I’m planning to take another AP class as I think these classes are better than AP Euro. Hmmm…I’m just debating whether AP Bio is worth it when I’m going take the SAT Bio this upcoming August before becoming a sophomore.
Thanks for your replies! 
Don’t base high school course selection on standardized testing.
SAT Subject Tests are recommended by very few schools. It’s theoretically mostly covered by standard HS Biology.
AP results are accepted for college placement by thousands of colleges. They are based on the approved content of an AP Bio HS course
So…what? Surely you don’t think you’ve covered everything/enough that you’ll ever need in first year HS Bio. Don’t be under the impression that a Bio Subject Test score will put you on equal footing to someone who has taken AP Bio.
If you’re looking for which class will be more attractive in a college admissions application, it would be AP Bio The best course for you depends on what you’re looking to pursue. Though the range that would point to Stats is very narrow.
As noted above, I’d recommend a language, history, computer science, or other course not on your schedule rather than doubling up on either as a Sophomore.
@RichInPitt Thanks, that cleared a lot of things up for me. I was really debating between the two and I think you’ve clarified a lot which one is better!
Honors followed by AP is actually the normal route for students at many schools.
I took both courses this year. I found AP Bio more difficult, but you seem to be prepared. I would recommend either. Would you take the other one in junior year? If so, take stats sophomore year, and bio junior year. Good luck with everything!