Honors Biology or AP Biology? AP or GPA?

<p>Hello, my name is Paul and I just started my freshman year. I just moved from South Korea and I went to an international school. The education is very good there and in my science class, I took parts of Bio, Chem, and Physics. I went to my new school's website and looked for Summer Assignments that were mandatory for freshmen, so I completed my Summer Reading and the AP Bio Summer Assignments just incase I wanted to take AP Bio. When I came to school to register for my classes, I told them about how I took Algebra, Spanish A and B (1), and parts of Bio, Chem, and Physics in the international school. They put me into Geometry and Spanish 2 classes with a bunch of Sophomores. However, in this county, it seems like students who went to middle schools here were taught a whole year of biology during their 8th grade year. This means that the school allowed students to take AP Bio during their freshman year. The Counselor asked me if I was willing to take the AP Bio class with the freshmen and I was aware of the difficulty of the class. I wanted to challenge myself and see how it'd go, so I enrolled into the AP class; but I'm starting to regret taking this class. It's been a week of school and the counselor said that I can come to her and ask her to change my AP class to honors class any time I wanted to. But I feel like if I change it later, it'd be too late to change my schedule later. My mom says it's a great privilege and chance to take this AP course this year because in my old school, people could only start taking AP's during their Sophomore year and it would be a disadvantage for them because if their goals were to complete 6 AP courses during their high school year, then they would have to take 1 AP course in 10th, 2 in 11th, and 3 in 12th. But in my case, I can take 1 this year, 2 in 10th, 2 in 11th, and 1 in 12th, so it would make it easier for me. So far we took 2 quizzes and finished 2 chapters in our textbook and I'm already feeling uncomfortable. So I was wondering, should I change my AP Bio class to Honors Bio class before it's too late?</p>

<p>Another thing I want to point out, I want to know if taking this AP class really worth my GPA. This year, I really want to get a 4.0 GPA. In this school, there are no A- or B+ in this school, only A's, B's, C's, D's, and F's. The scored goes like this.</p>

<p>A: 90 above
B: 80-89
C: 74-79
D: 70-73
F: 69 or below</p>

<p>So if I get all A's, then I would get a GPA of 4.0 right? Geometry and other classes are and seem easy because I took Geometry and Critical Reading/Writing classes in my Summer Academy. But the question is, is taking an AP that I know I'm not going to do so well on worth losing points? I'm thinking of changing my AP class tomorrow before it's too late... HELP ME!! </p>

<p>Hey, I’m Korean too (I assume you are too since you were living there)! Well I’m not sure if you made a decision yet but I would go with Honors Biology. I ended up taking 15 AP exams at the end of my senior year, yet I only took 1 AP exam my freshman year. So, you have PLENTY of time to take more AP classes later on. Freshman year is when you get used to the high school academic rigor. The first few weeks of AP bio are mostly general information with some chemistry “review.” I’d recommend a freshman against taking AP biology. Start with Honors; it may be a little too easy but it is definitely more in depth than biology taught in middle school (at least it was for me). </p>

<p>And yes all A’s is a 4.0 GPA. Colleges want to see you challenge yourself but you don’t need to start freshman year. Take some other “easy” AP courses if your school offers them. AP Environmental and Human Geography are considered the “easiest” AP courses. Plus, AP Environ. will have some biology related information. In my opinion, chemistry and environmental science were the two most helpful classes that gave me a background in biology. </p>

<p>So basically to summarize what I said: Don’t take AP bio, save your grade, and take other easier AP courses. Good luck, if you have any other questions message me!</p>