Freshman Courses

Hello, I am an eighth grader. My middle school allows me to take honor classes at a high school, and I take Geometry Honors and Biology Honors. I have a high B in Biology Honors this semester, yet I’m struggling much in this class. We need to choose our courses for next year and I’m not sure what to do.

To stay in the Honors Course and take AP classes, I need to choose an Honor class. I was thinking that perhaps I should take Biology Honors again next year for ninth grade. Not only will taking this class prepare me for Biology AP for 10th grade, it will be easier for me to get better grades and I can do better in high school. However, I will have the same teacher, for there is only one teacher who teaches Biology Honors, who is my current teacher at this moment. Someone I knows has advised me against this, for she may be suspicious of me that I will cheat off of last year’s work, and the teacher will definitely expect much higher of me as a student who took the class the year before.

The other choice I have is to take Chemistry Honors, which is the path that most science honors students are taking. The disadvantage to this is that I will suffer under the hardships of this class, since it’s not easy. Not only is this the problem, but because I need to take Biology AP in 10th grade after Chem, I need to remember the basics of biology. Taking Chemistry Honors can cause me to forget what I learned this year. Should I just take Biology Honors again or should I take Chemistry Honors?

What should I do?

You should take Honors Chem. There’s no reason to retake a class you’re achieving a high B in.

Who says you have to take AP Bio sophomore year? You could choose to take AP Chem, AP Physics or AP Environmental (if your school offers these) if you’re not a fan of bio.

I would take Honors Chem. Taking Bio Honors again or AP Bio means you have spent two years of high school science on Biology. You don’t know if you will love Chemistry. Anyway, a High B is pretty good.

Unless your passion is Biology, take Honors Chem.

It’s unlikely that the school would even allow you to take bio honors again if you have a passing grade. Plus it would be a waste of time. Take Chem Honors next year.

As mentioned above, why do you “need” to take AP Bio as a sophomore? Are other options nor open to you?