<p>Hi CC,</p>
<p>I am currently a Junior and my school offers 3 different levels of Chemistry.</p>
<p>Chemistry (Intro - Equilibrium)
Advanced Chemistry (Intro - Electrochem)
AP Chemistry (Intro - Everything for Exam)</p>
<p>I am currently taking Advanced Chemistry and I'm contemplating on taking AP Chemistry my Senior year. However, I won't receive a credit for it if I do because I would have already taken Advanced Chemistry. </p>
<p>I think Chemistry is fun and I'm averaging a B right now. I'm not sure if I should take it because my transcript will show 2 Chemistry courses but only 1 credit. And it seems like it would be a waste of a course slot because I could learn more about chemistry on my own. </p>
<p>I am also taking the AP Chem exam in May. (Self studying some material)
I know some people will say that I should take it if I enjoy the subject but I also need to think about other courses that may benefit me more.</p>
<p>Also...</p>
<p>If I were to do an independent study in AP Comp Sci A, what would I be doing exactly? I know it may vary from school to school but I'd like a basic idea. I've done some work in Java before so the only new material would be GridWorld. If you took the exam and did well, did your school reward you with a credit?</p>
<p>Thanks, I apologize for asking a lot without providing much information.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, new to the site. I don’t know why, but I have trouble when I’m taking practice tests. I can’t seem to get the “skip the question if you don’t know it” concept and will spend a lot of time on one question.</p>
<p>I also get nervous, even on the practice tests. The anxiety of wasting $89 is apparently too much for me. I score in the low 4’s most of the time and the thought of me getting a 3 is also too much of a worry.</p>
<p>What can I do to calm down? =(</p>
<p>godzilla - If you’re taking the AP Chem test this year, I would think taking the course would be a waste of time, even if you enjoy the subject. I don’t know what other courses are available to you, but I would presume that any other AP course would be a better option.
As for AP Comp Sci, my school doesn’t give any credit for self-studied AP exams, regardless of your score. As far as I know, most don’t in my area, but you should ask your counselor specifically. As for preparing for the actual exam, the main thing (other than GridWorld) would be learning the technical names of various techniques/parts of Java that you’ve probably used unknowingly. You may also have to learn the different kinds of sorting if you don’t know them already.</p>
<p>Thank you for the reply randomness3451.</p>
<p>Here are the courses I’m sure I’m going to take:
AP Calculus AB
Advanced Physics (School does not offer AP Physics)
Regular English IV</p>
<p>Here are the other courses available to me:
Genetics, Oncology, & Forensics (Basically Biology focused on Genetics)
AP Statistics
AP Biology (i’m not much of a bio person)
AP Environmental Science</p>
<p>Other classes which I can take but doubt I can handle:
AP Latin (IV/V)
AP Lit. & Comp.
AP Art History</p>
<p>Courses I want to take but school does not offer:
AP Comp Sci A
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics</p>
<p>Based on that, I would take AP Stats. Normally, I would recommend AP Bio, but if you really don’t like it, then it would be a bad idea to take it. APES is kind of a joke at my school, so I wouldn’t really recommend it, but it may be different at yours. On the other hand, you may want to consider either AP Latin or AP English Lit. Obviously, if it will detrimentally affect your grades and extracurriculars, don’t take it, but colleges like it when you challenge yourself. By the way, how many courses do you plan on taking in total next year?</p>
<p>Is AP Bio really all memorization? I received a B- in Biology Sophomore year but I think it’s because I always crammed before tests and quizzes. Obviously that won’t work if I take AP Bio.</p>
<p>AP Bio is not all about memorization (at least, not for me). My teacher always recommends me not to memorize because you would really forget it the concepts easily. This piece of advice really helped me (i.e. bumped my grade from a B+ to an A+), and I find it a lot easier to get all the details straight the first time. My family always does a comparison between the sciences of the ratio between analysis/logic and pure memorization: AP Bio is 30%/70%, AP Chem is 50%/50%, and AP Physics is ~85%-90%/~10%~15%. Of course you really do need to remember a lot of concepts in AP Bio, but the tweak is, if you understand them completely, then you really don’t have to memorize them. For me, memorization is a painful job, so I’d rather hit the concept head-on the first time instead of coming back for the second time trying to see if I can memorize it. AP Bio isn’t something that you can really cram for. It really does require a lot of time to sit down and think why the heck living systems work that way. If you apply logic and chemistry down to AP Bio, you would understand the concepts a lot better. Huge topics, such as biochemistry, molecular biology (this one needs a lot of logical thinking), photosynthesis, cellular respiration, will be a lot easier to study for if you know chemistry. Other ones, such as animal physiology, plant physiology, animal behavior, ecology, and evolution, are mainly pure memorization. Still, there are a few miscellaneous topics, such as Mendelian genetics, that are mainly based on simple algebra and logic. Diagrams always helped, at least for the units that need a lot of memorization. As for the AP Bio exam, at least start in January/February. Cramming isn’t what CollegeBoard wants those who really want to do well on the exam to do (i.e. being an Advanced Procrastinator). Hope I helped a bit, and good luck!</p>
<p>I really don’t know what to fill up my course slots with. I’m interested in MechE. AP Stats and ES is a joke at my school. They’re mostly filled with underachievers and people who need an excuse for an AP. </p>
<p>AP Bio, Latin, and Lit. are an absolute no no. Classes without math (excl. history) = big grade dip for me.</p>
<p>I can self-study for AP Comp Sci for the AP score but I won’t get a Science credit in HS which is OK for me as long as I can qualify for credit in college. My school still wants me to fill up the empty slot with an actual course, however. </p>
<p>How much do colleges look at high school credits? I’ll have more than enough to graduate by the end of senior year. </p>
<p>updated schedule:
AP Calculus
Physics
History (WWII, Cold War, Modern day)
English IV</p>