<p>After reading some of these science course selection threads, it got me thinking. At DKs' HS, AP chem and AP bio are taken without any intro level chem or bio, and no summer school related intro either. They just take 9 months of AP chem (10th) then 9 months AP bio (11th). Is this unusual or rare for schools to do?</p>
<p>Ap chem required bio and chem, Ap bio did not require bio but preferred it</p>
<p>My kids’ HS requires 1 year of bio before AP bio and 1 year of chem before AP chem. Both of these prerequisites are typically taken at a very rigorous honors level. Probably overkill.</p>
<p>Our HS does honors bio in 9th grade and honors chem in 10 th grade. Junior year you can take AP physics, AP bio or AP chem. Same for senior year. There are also a bunch of electives- AP marine bio, forensics, etc.</p>
<p>Our school required bio. and chem. before taking the AP’s. When S1 took AP Bio. it ran the entire school year (instead of one semester) with the class lasting ninety minutes each day.</p>
<p>Both require the honors version of Introduction to Physical Science, Biology, and Chemistry. Although, some people at my school in the past have either skipped and/or took the prerequisites online and got a 5 on both exams.</p>
<p>My S took AP Chem as a junior. He did not have a chem class before that. The teacher had him take a “reasoning test” that he did not do well on and thought he might struggle in the class. But S was determined to take the class anyway. He did and there were some struggles but he learned to work through them, finished the class with a good grade and got a 4 on the AP test.</p>
<p>He couldn’t have been happier and I honestly think it did wonders for his work ethic and learning how to do well in chemistry. Now that he is taking freshmen chemistry course in college, he is much better prepared. He did have the option of using the AP credit for his first college chem class but opted not to. Since he took it his junior year, he wanted to have that refresher.</p>
<p>Both AP courses required an Honors Bio / Chem with an 85 to be achieved in the respective honors courses ( a 92 to be achieved in the respective regents course). As I stated in an earlier thread, only AP physics did not require an introductory course which is ludicrous . These AP course certainly do need an introduction since in our HS the AP courses are very rigorous ( probably more so than necessary). The good thing is that most returning students sail through college in these courses! So the pain of a B or a C+ with hard work pays off later ( assuming you get into the college you were striving for lol)</p>
<p>At our school kids can choose which level they want to take. If the teachers don’t feel they are capable of doing the work, however, they strongly urge the kids to take a lower level. Bio is taken in 10th grade, chem in 11th. They can take regular, honors or AP of both.</p>
<p>AP sciences are second year courses and are often referred to by the kids as chem II and bio II. Kids can try AP chem after a year of regular chem, but a lot of them have to drop. It’s better to have had honors chem first. Honors/regular bio seems to matter less as prep for AP bio, but that’s probably a school-specific thing. We have no AP physics. physics II is a DE class through a local LAC.</p>
<p>Our school requires chem before AP chem, and bio and chem before AP bio. None of my kids have taken AP bio, but I know there is little overlap in the chem classes - completely different subject matter is covered. So if one skipped chem, material would be missed. They don’t offer AP physics, but a dual enrollment class, which also needs a physics class before it. Some kids take an AP physics test after that class.</p>
<p>At our school, 9th grade is Intro to Physical Science and Chem - can be taken at honors level.
10th grade - option of regular, honors or AP bio. AP is a double period.
11th grade - option of regular, honor or AP chem. AP is a double period.
12th grade - physics - again I think there is option of regular, honors or AP.</p>
<p>We also have a bunch of science electives - AP Enviro, Astronomy (school has a planetarium), Engineering, Bioethics, not sure what else as my D is not science oriented.</p>
<p>Several of courses are also offered as IB HL - I think at least Chem and Physics.</p>
<p>Our school requires an A in intro to bio and intro to Chem or a B and AP teacher permission.</p>
<p>Our school requires honors bio and honors chem for AP courses. Also both are double credit courses. supposedly they do a lot of labs.</p>
<p>Both Bio and Chem were prereqs for any AP science (Bio, Chem or Physics) at my kids’ HS.</p>
<p>Op here.
Wow, I never realized that so many schools require reg or honors Chem before their AP Chem and reg or honors Bio before their AP Bio. So if your kid wants to take AP Chem and AP Bio, then it takes 4 years? If they have to take reg or honors Physics before AP Physics, then how do they end up taking all 3 AP Science courses? Do they have to take 2 science classes during a year to accomplish this?</p>
<p>At my kids’ HS, students that take multiple AP science classes need to double up somewhere along the way, sometimes more than once. This HS also requires Physical Science freshman year, so kids don’t typically take bio until grade 10 (even the highly motivated students that end up at HYP and the like). The school does not have AP physics, just honors. The honors level is very rigorous, however, and roughly equivalent to AP physics B. Many students take the AP exam for physics B after this course and end up with 5s. Any student that wants to (and has time to) take AP physics C needs to do it online.</p>
<p>Yes, if a student wants to take both AP science classes or an AP science and the DE physics, they have to double up. Frequently that occurs junior year when a kid will take AP chem and physics I. Senior year they can go phys II and AP bio. My d would rather light herself on fire than take more bio, so she’ll double up on math (ap stat and calc II).</p>
<p>Our school allows you to take AP physics without regular first ( we don’t have honors). The kids recommended for AP physics are those who were getting the A+ in honors bio and chem. AP physics would be taken junior year.</p>
<p>Our school required Bio and Chem at the high school level plus a teacher recommendation for AP Bio or Chem. AP Physics can be taken without high school level Physics.</p>