I took a test to get out of regular advanced biology so I could take chemistry in my freshman year 
thank you for the information, I really appreciate it!
@ucbalumnus @happy1 @parentologist @citivas @tsbna44
Thank you guys so much for your replies and they are truly helping me in deciding but I guess I should have been better at phrasing the question. From a medical and academic standpoint, should I take AP Bio or AP Chemistry next year? Note whatever I do not take next year I’ll be taking it junior year so now it’s a matter of when. Thanks for reading!
However you arrange your four year high school schedule, it is best if you complete all of biology, chemistry, and physics in high school (they do not necessarily all have to be at an advanced or AP level).
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I would do whatever fits into your schedule better.
If I understand the question, it is a few weeks into the first semester of your freshman year. I don’t think that you should be worrying about your sophomore year schedule at all. I don’t understand why this is an issue that needs to be decided right now unless your school does registration and scheduling extraordinarily early. You may very well continue along the path that you are imagining. Or heck, you may fall further love with Spanish or humanities or music or robotics or whatever. Leave yourself some emotional space to grow and change. Actually, you don’t have to leave space deliberately. You have have the space. There is no need to spend your first semester of high school obsessing over something that you can easily decide in three or six or maybe even nine months.
Yeah I understand, it’s just that my school opens course selection two times each year and if you do it earlier you’re more guaranteed to get a spot in the class with no schedule conflicts, thank you!
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Based on the above, I don’t think it matters much. Taking both is more important than the order. So if one is better for your schedule or you’re looking forward to it more, go for it. One other factor to consider is whether you would want to take a second science elective your Junior or Senior year that requires one or the other of AP Chem or Bio as a prerequisite, and if so then getting the prereq out of the way could be helpful or at least keep your options open. For example, our HS offered Organic Chemistry post-AP. They did not have a post-AP Bio-related course.
Thank you! I think what I’ll do at this point is take AP Chem sophomore year and take AP Bio junior! Appreciate it! I’ll check for prerequisites and let you know if I find anything!
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I recommend taking AP Chem first, since AP Bio requires some understanding of Chemistry. I would not take more than one science at the same time, unless your school insists that you take Physics 1 before Physics C, in which case I’d do AP Chem as soph, AP Bio and Physics 1 as junior, and Physics C as senior.
For students who are ahead of the curve, who are not challenged by high school levels, AP classes are a way to meet them where they are academically, without taking them out of the socially appropriate high school setting. There’s no such thing as an “AP robot”, and schools most definitely do NOT fault kids for having taken AP level classes in high school, as many as they want to and are able to handle.
Thank you, I understand why one of the previous posters would think of me as a robot but I do indeed have extracurriculars outside 
. Don’t know if they really count as EC’s but Science UIL Team, An internship which I’m hoping to get lined up in the summer, and freelance user interface in my free time are among some.
I like your plan a lot and it makes the most sense to me to do but I called a friend who’s taken AP Bio and they said it’s not that hard at my school so I think I’m also looking into taking it alongside AP Chem. Thanks for the reply!
Are you planning to apply to medical school?
And will you be planning to request college credit for your AP courses assuming you get a 5?
Yes I most likely am.
@WayOutWestMom could you please put the info here about Ap test usage for medical school applicants
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I think that I will focus on this part.
First, Relax. Life is not a race. We are not all rushing to get to the end. You do not need to jump ahead in course work. It is more important to learn things thoroughly, rather than to jump ahead. You want to do very well in each course when you take it, whenever that is.
As one example: We have seen a few posts here on CC from students who are taking organic chemistry as a freshman in university and who are suffering badly. Doing badly in organic chemistry as a freshman in university is not a good way to get accepted to medical school. Doing well in organic chemistry as a junior in university is a much better way to get into medical school. You really will be a stronger student as you get older.
Also, you do not want to always try to keep up with other students. When you get to university, you are likely to find a greater concentration of very smart people. This is good. You can learn from very smart people. Trying to keep up with them can be frustrating and stressful (but fortunately is not necessary).
Exactly. Each student should be taking classes at a pace that makes sense for them. Do what is right for you, and have faith that it will work out.
You have plenty of time to figure this out.
However, neither medicine nor engineering are “prestige” centric majors.
For medicine, getting accepted to a good medical school depends upon your undergraduate GPA, your MCAT score, your references, and your experience in a medical environment. However, there are lots and lots (probably hundreds) of universities that are very good for premed students. You do not need to attend Harvard or Princeton to get accepted to a very good medical school. Your in-state public university will be good for premed students. If you are from a large state such as California or New York then your #5 or #6 or #8 in-state public university will be very good for premed students.
For engineering it is valuable to attend an ABET accredited university. However, there are a lot of them also. Engineering is a career where “prestige” does not matter. What you can do and what you have done does matter. MIT graduates work alongside UNH and U.Mass and Rutgers graduates (or in some cases MIT graduates work for a boss who is a U.Mass or Rutgers graduate) and no one cares where you got your degree.
This is good! Spanish is quite useful for doctors or for others in a medical environment. One daughter is currently studying to be a veterinarian (DVM program) and is taking Spanish because when caring for large animals you often get to interact with people for whom Spanish is their first language. Someone else I know well who works in medicine has said that Spanish has helped her when applying for jobs, and she uses Spanish requently in dealing with patients.
I think that this is a much better plan. You might want to take physics at some point also, perhaps as a senior in high school (which is by the way when I took physics).
It sounds to me that you are doing well. Just take the classes that are right for you, do not try to keep up with what someone else is doing, keep ahead in your class work, keep an open mind, and you should be fine.
If you want to be a premed (where chemistry is weedout), take chemistry senior year, just before you go to college, so it’s as fresh as possible -therefore: take Ap bio as a sophomore, Ap physics 1 as a junior, and Ap chem as a senior.
Before you overdose on AP classes, please read this FAQ about AP/IB/DE classes and medical schools.
tl;dr not all med schools will accept AP/IB credits for pre-reqs, but at the same time retaking classes you’ve previously taken is very much looked down upon by med school adcomms.
Med schools are interested in admitting well-rounded students with interests outside of medicine and science. In fact, all med schools now have pre-reqs in social sciences and English/writing skills, not just science and math. (50% of MCAT topics do not involve science.) Foreign language skills are always a plus.
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I understand, thank you. In your opinion do you think I have to take AP Bio at all then? I mean currently, I have AP Chem and AP Physics lined up for 10th grade but I’m really worried about the courseload if I take AP Bio in 10th or even 11th grade because in 11th grade I’m taking college math courses at my local community college as well as AP Physics C. I could take it in 11th grade but honestly I’m so lost right now I don’t even know. Sorry for this quasi-rant.
In addition to this I like to sleep as well
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Why would you take two AP lab sciences next year? Much better to spread them out and it looks like you have plenty of time to do so (you can take one AP science in each of the next three years).
Life is not a sprint, it is a marathon.
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You dont use AP for applying to med school. You take all the prereqs in colllege, again. And the term AP robot sounds to me l8ke denigrating someone for their high achievement, perhaps with racial overtones.
If you are a straight A student in the highest classes allowed, you might go straight to AP.
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