Hey y’all!
I need help deciding if I should take AP Chem or not.
My school runs a block schedule and for the upcoming semester I only have orchestra, AP Lang, and then (presumably) AP Chem, then I go to work. I did really well in Honors Chem (A) but I’m not sure if I should take AP. I’m not really interested in Chemistry, but I don’t completely hate it. I don’t plan on doing into a heavy science field (I actually want to be a lawyer) but I just need another AP class because my dream school is Vanderbilt and I need to look impressive. I’ve also heard that the teacher is really nice.
Do y’all think I’m doing to much? That’ll make my junior year 3 APs (one in fall), 2 colleges courses (taken in fall), ACT, a job, and orchestra practice. (thank goodness I don’t play I sport as well!)
Please help!
@skieurope Can you remove OP’s name from the post?
Don’t take AP Chem unless you’re confident you can do well in it (A/B.) Workload’s extremely subjective----keep in mind that AP Chem corresponds to a full year of college chemistry at many schools, and there will be much more content-wise to learn than AP Lang, which is only 1 semester. IMO there’s not much point in taking AP Chem when you’re not a STEM concentrator----you would be better served by taking a Humanities/Social Science class.
Without knowing your other options, it’s hard to provide an opinion. What other AP courses are available?
What other courses have you taken?
I am currently a high school junior, don’t fall to the same mistake that I did. I took 4 AP’s because I thought I could handle the work. They did not offer the one that I wanted(AP Physics II) so I took AP Chemistry. Here are a few notes that I have on chemistry so far this year:
-This is a strange course to take. Many different formulas to learn, that don’t always coincide with current mathematical concepts.
-Once you have learned the material, you will not forget it. If you have taken Honors Chemistry, you have a very good chance at a good score on the test.
-Be prepared for strange wording. This is a device AP test creators make to test your ability to interpret and apply the correct concept, and it is a useful skill to have which will mean the difference between honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry.
Lastly, you want to ask yourself why you would take the course. If it is for the GPA boost, then only take it if you think you have retained the concepts. If it is for college credit, then be prepared to spend extra time to be able to apply concepts. Finally, if you are like me and you just like to take the hardest classes to show off, then make sure you leave enough room for happiness. I learned this the hard way. Good luck!
Probably don’t take ap chem if you don’t want to do a premed course line, or if you don’t want to do into any science, lots of my friends who take it usually go ahead in college and take all the pre-med courses, or major in something like neuroscience, but if you seriously just want to take another ap course just take APES or Ap gov.