<p>I am currently a high school senior and an aspiring doctor. While I excel at Chemistry, I seem to be struggling in my AP Biology course. It seems as if my mind has trouble logically connecting these ideas together, and quite frankly, this is the first time in my academic career that I have encountered this. I don't seem to have these problems in other and arguably more rigorous courses. This also affects me during the lab activities. I barely made an 80 this quarter, with tests and lab accounting for 2/3 of our final grade. We use a college textbook, but I feel like I'm taking a skewed approach by just reading it. It seems that it isn't rote memorization after all -- I somehow have to think about it, too.</p>
<p>Since I'll be heading off to college in a few months, I don't want to face the shock of failing an Intro Biology course or something. So, what is usually the best approach for tackling this class, while I'm in it? How much time should be dedicated to reading? And when I read, what should I be asking myself? In general, how are the science courses at college DIFFERENT? </p>
<p>For my classes, my teacher was super helpful and put up a study guide that just had a ton of terms that we needed for that test. It was our responsibility to learn what all the words meant, and how they connected with each other.</p>
<p>For you, I'd suggest going through each of the chapters you need to read, and writing down every bolded word, and try and figure out how the system acts as a whole.</p>
<p>EDIT: You'll probably get more helpful tips posting this in the high school forum.</p>
<p>Well, they are a LOT more difficult. This is because the teachers actually care if you learn the subject rather than focusing on some stupid standardized test, which doesn't mean anything anyways. I know someone that got an A and a 5(AP test) in AP physics C that ended up with a C in introductory mechanics. And for Biology, don't even get me started with all the premeds that you're up against. To see how up to par you are with college, look to see if there is any deviation between the amount of material covered in the text vs the amount covered in class. Secondly, search around for past exams from college and see how they compare. Sites like MITcourseware.com may help and I believe that Berkeley also has a nice set of past exams posted somewhere.</p>
<p>Well, of course because in highschool AP classes are inflated. That 80% would translate to an A. But in college, that percentage is merely a 2.7, not even close to being considered as respectable by MedSchool, Law school, gradschool and possibly the job market. In fact, that percentage may be even lower do cutthroat competition and bell-curving.</p>
<p>^ exactly. by no means am i really obsessed with these types of things, an 80 in a high school course doesn't necessarily equate to college success. hence why i'm asking for tips in advance.</p>