Hey all,
S25 is looking towards next year and dreading taking AP Bio. He attends a small school and there’s only one teacher for the class and she and he do not get along. His school offers only two AP science classes, Physics 1 and Bio. He has taken honors bio, honors chem, and AP Physics 1 for science classes to date and the normal progression would be to take AP bio next year.
He wants to study business and is looking at some competitive colleges, Notre Dame, William and Mary, Wake Forest, U of Richmond, to name some of the tougher ones.
So here are his options for Senior year, would love your thoughts.
Religion (required)
AP Calc AB
AP English Lit
AP Spanish
AP Bio/AP Stats
AP Comp Gov
PE (needs the credit)
If he hates the teacher, he shouldn’t take the AP Bio class, so I guess it’s gonna have to be AP Stats. It’s too bad that he doesn’t get along with the AP Bio teacher, because taking AP Bio helps with being able to understand the basis of healthcare. He’ll never take Bio in college. The way that I looked at AP classes was that my kids should take all the good ones taught by good teachers, as a jump start on a broad liberal arts college education. I especially encouraged them to take the ones that they’d never take in college.
As a potential business/econ major, he absolutely should take AP Stats. It is literally the one class that years later, both my kids say is still useful. I see no need for him to take AP Bio as long as he has his three main science courses covered. Especially as he already knows he doesn’t like the teacher.
He’s more of a Chemistry and Physics kid anyway. He did very well in Honors Bio in 9th grade but the teacher really didn’t like him and the feeling was (likely obviously knowing my son) mutual.
I guess I’m just concerned when I see all of these suggested curriculums that recommend 4 years of science. Unfortunately, his school doesn’t offer AP Environmental Science or any of the other alternative classes that big schools often have.
Just AP Physics 1, regular Physics, or AP Computer Science. He’s taking AP Physics now. I don’t really think of Computer Science as a science? He took Intro to CS in freshman year and thought it was ok so I guess that’s an option? But would it be better than Stats?
If your S and the AP Bio teacher don’t get along then AP Stats is a good alternative, especially since he wants to study business.
Your S can check section C of the the common data set for each college he is considering (google “common data set XYZ College”) and he can see each school’s recommended/required HS courses. I expect he is fine since he has already completed a sequence of bio, chem, and physics.
@Izzy74 absolutely take AP Stats! My recent A&M Business HNR grad breezed thru Stats at A&M-as did everyone else who took AP Stats; those that didn’t had a very difficult time.
This is not clear cut given the school does not have a lot of science options, but I think AP Bio is better, to get a 4th science and a science senior year, considering the schools on your list.
I agree with stats but assuming he’s had three years of lab science and given his overall rigor and the school list - another option is neither. He can take an elective of interest. My kid took nutrition.
The point AP stats is great. But I don’t think taking it vs something else of interest will impact admissions at those schools. The rigor is great regardless.
Thanks! He is actually interested in taking Stats, he likes math and logical things in general. It’s a small school so there really aren’t a lot of interesting electives. He has considered taking World Issues instead of AP Comp Gov because he’s not particularly interested in Comp Gov but we’ll see.
I was told by my dd’s AP stats teacher (DD is now a 2nd year at GT) that the best SAT scores she sees from her students is after they’ve had the first few months of AP Stats. So, for seniors, it’s the October SAT test. I vote AP Stats.
I have a new take on AP classes… find out if the schools he is interested in will even accept them. My DD took 15 AP classes in high school, and she basically cant earn any credits at her top 10 university from them. (She had 7 sciences for that 4 science requirement: AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Environmental Science, and Honors Anatomy & Physiology on top of PreAP Bio, PreAP Chem). She received 4s and 5s on the AP science exams. It helped her GPA, it helped her rank, but it isn’t helping her in college at all. She can only use a max of 2 credits (either through AP or transfer credits) from outside the university. However, basically nothing counts. The tests she got a 5 on wont work for Pre-med (AP Physics 1) or they just don’t accept (like AP Human Geo, AP Capstone Research and AP Capstone Seminar) or she doesn’t need (AP Eng Lang, AP Eng Lit) and the tests she got a 4 on she needed a 5 on (AP Calc, AP Bio). The 3’s are right out. So there is nothing for her to use her 2 credits on. So, if you are worried about him choosing a class - ask, is he the type who can handle two AP math classes? If you are worried about him being able to use any of those AP credits in college, check the schools he is applying too. Does he even need any more AP classes if the colleges he is applying to won’t accept them, or will only accept a handful and he has surpassed that number already? Will it affect his rank if he takes a non AP science class?
AP statistics is likely more useful than AP biology for both business and general knowledge (since the student has already had high school biology). It can also be useful for the student to determine interest in statistics based subjects (which could include some areas of business as well as economics, data science, operations research, actuarial science, etc.). If the student does go into those areas, more advanced calculus-based statistics is likely to be needed.
Regarding AP computer science, the principles version is probably more useful than the A version for general knowledge of computing for students not intending to major in computer science or anything similar.
Many colleges have biological science as a general education requirement, although they commonly offer non-majors’ courses so that students do not have to take “general biology for biology majors and pre-meds”. A high AP biology score may or may not fulfill such a requirement.
Even if the college won’t take the AP credit the OP’s son will have to take statistics in college as part of any business school curriculum so the background would be helpful and he is interested in the topic.
Yeah, that is true, the classes were part of the application and part of the GPA and rank and to be honest I don’t even necessarily disagree with them not accepting more credits. But when she wants to double major and is Pre-med which is not a major, but is a major, so it’s basically a triple major, it would be nice if they accepted something.
For the intended major, I think Stats makes sense too - if he can handle two AP math classes. That isn’t the easiest task either.