<p>I want to take it next year as a junior but apparently it's the hardest class my school offers. My guidance counselor said even high-achieving students average out with C's and D's. I just want to know what makes AP bio so hard.</p>
<p>The difficulty of the class probably depends on how difficult your school is in general. They redesigned the curriculum last year, but it still involves a lot of detail and memorization. The test is sort of hard (example questions can be found [here](<a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/IN120084785_BiologyCED_Effective_Fall_2012_Revised_lkd.pdf]here[/url]”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/IN120084785_BiologyCED_Effective_Fall_2012_Revised_lkd.pdf)</a>), but it’s not nearly as bad as AP Chem.</p>
<p>I’m in AP Bio this year, and I’ve not had trouble with it, although it is a TON of work. However, what your grade is like depends upon your teacher. I have had over 100% the whole year because of curves. (Although some students are STILL flunking.) If you have a hard teacher, a grade would be more of a struggle. </p>
<p>Overall, AP Bio is just tons of memorization and reading. If you hate reading or can’t memorize things, the class is not for you. Otherwise, go for it, and just realize it will easily take a ton of your time.</p>
<p>Oh, and I’m a senior, but I know several people who have taken AP Bio as juniors.</p>
<p>And I would concur that AP Chem is way harder.</p>
<p>It depends on what kind of student you are, I think, as well as how the class is run. I have always been a student who has been able to fly through math, physics, chemistry, and even non-AP Bio classes with only about 0-2 hours of studying the night before tests, and AP Bio is not like that AT ALL. There is a ton of work involved with it. It covers a very large amount of material, yes, but it is the depth that matters most in how difficult it will be. In basically all AP Bio classes the breadth of material will be the same (they will all cover respiration, photosynthesis, etc.) but the depth could be wildly variant - in my class, I think the depth is relatively profound and as such there is just so much material to cover for tests that I wish I had never signed up for the class.</p>
<p>AP Chem seemed way easier for me, actually. The people who did poorly in AP Chem because they weren’t that good at it (not a mathy kind of mind and tried to just memorize everything rather than understand) seem to be in the B-C range, and they have to study a ton to get those B’s. The people who were good at AP Chem, if they study a decent amount, get A’s and some B’s. I would definitely ask people who are currently taking the class to get the best idea of how hard it would be at your school.</p>
<p>I asked a friend how her class was going and if I should take it. She just stared at me , which makes me scared to take it, but I really want to take it because I want to major in biology.</p>
<p>If you want to major in biology, you should take the course anyway, even if you only last a week or two before you have to drop out. If you’re concerned, you can always wait until Senior year to take the course. Have you taken an AP class before? That would factor into whether or not you should take it as well. If you haven’t taken any AP courses, I wouldn’t recommend starting with AP Bio. I started with APUSH, which is similar in workload/memorization to AP Bio, although perhaps a bit easier.</p>
<p>Yeah I’m taking APUSH now.</p>
<p>If you’re doing well in APUSH, you can probably handle AP Bio, provided you’re decent at science.</p>
<p>If you an memorize a lot of complicated information and vocabulary, it’s not that hard.</p>
<p>They also changed the AP test last year, so it tests more analyzing than just spitting out facts (but if you’re gonna take the SAT bio subject test, you have to learn all the facts). The test isn’t that hard (got a 5, yay!). It’s much easier to pass (with a 3 or higher), but is much harder to score a 5 (only like 5% did, though this may change next year). The class is very comparable to APUSH (the worst class ever!), but for science people. </p>
<p>If you’re really into science, then I say take it.</p>
<p>Tbh honest if recommend the class. It is a difficult class (depending on the type of student you are) it’s a lot about memorizing and taking all of the material you memorized & putting it together. I do the same thing when people ask me about the class. But I’m just dramatic lol. If you want to be a bio major take it & don’t be sad if you get a B. Just study ( don’t cram the night before a test )</p>
<p>Thanks guys, hopefully I can convince my guidance counselor into letting me take AP Bio.</p>
<p>Not THAT difficult. From what I’ve seen, AP bio courses tend to use Campbell’s Biology, which seems WAY too in depth for the new format. The exam is data interpretation; pure memorization will help you primarily on the FRQs. The way I’m studying for it is by using a Barron’s prep book. I’m self studying for the next three months with Barron’s and, from what I’ve seen so far, it isn’t THAT bad. I mean, for the past exam, you’d have to know stuff like the names of the complexes in the electron transport chain; for this exam, you don’t need to know that.</p>
<p>I didn’t memorize stuff, only in short detail for my class tests. There was a lot of hard reading that I did the night before my tests. That was a mistake, but a valuable lesson. The AP exam didn’t require much biology info except for maybe the essays. Take it if you’re interested in biology and have heard that the course has labs + a good teacher. I miss it. I really liked it.</p>
<p>it completely depends on the school/teacher.</p>
<p>At my school, one of the teachers is an amazing teacher, and I lucked out and got him. The class is a breeze, it’s literally my easiest class (even easier than REGULAR Bio) and currently my highest grade. Even with a harder teacher, it can’t be that hard… but it’s probably best to ask people you know who are in the class about how hard it is.</p>
<p>As a class, it depends on the teacher; the test itself isn’t too bad, though. I think bio is a relatively easy AP to self study.</p>
<p>Very, my teacher was a fun good teacher but I didn’t understand anything in his lectures or labs, luckily for my case I could do loads of EC to boost my grade to a B… If your good with understanding and analyzing vocabulary and data at a fast rate the go for it!</p>
<p>Depending on the school, it will be different.
I got a 5 on the new test, and I found the class labor-intensive but not difficult. (Then again, I love biology, which is why I took the class- someone who doesn’t care about it will find it a lot more annoying.) There was a lot of work, and I tend to do a lot of my work the night before so I’d usually stay up late doing all that work, but the material is not always that difficult. We had take-home tests, which made life a lot easier also.
In the end, there are two important factors that made a difference between the 4s and 5s in my grades- all kids who are smart and got excellent grades. The ones who got 5s also did well on the SAT Critical Reading section (I got an 800) and could make connections between topics with practical applications. It’s not the kids who memorized each step of the Krebs Cycle who got the 5s- it’s the ones who really understood where each cog stood in the machine and how they all worked together. On the test, there is a lot of reading and a lot of inference (it’s kind of like ACT science, actually)- if you can do that, you’ll do fine on the test.
The class is a different story, because it’s different for everyone. My teacher does not emphasize memorization, which is frankly not necessary on the AP, and keeps the work to a reasonable amount. She also makes it cool and fun, which is not something to take lightly. Ask how much work there is. Make sure that no matter how hard it is, people actually LIKE the class, because in the long run, that’s what makes all the work worth it. The information is complex but fascinating, and if you’re as hooked on it as I am, you WANT to understand and do well. I know I did and do.</p>
<p>AP Bio for some people is either extremely hard or extremely easy. If you are good at critical reading and reasoning then its easy. If your prefer memorizing facts straight up and etc. its hard. The newly reformed bio test is a lot like a reading test now.</p>
<p>Depends on a variety of factors, but its a stretch to say its the hardest AP class. AP Physics, AP Euro, and Calc are almost surely much tougher. Its very conceptual and it helps if you’ve taken chem or AP chem. Take if if you want to go into medicine or bio when you get to college.</p>
<p>Do you have a good memory?</p>