<p>My school requires regular biology and one year of chem before AP Bio.
They require two years of chem before AP Chemistry.
We have block scheduling so it’s really easy to take more than one science in a year…you aren’t taking them at the same time.</p>
<p>In our school AP kids generally have taken high school level bio in 8th grade, and honors chem in 9th. AP Physics B, though can be taken without a regular physics course. Students taking AP Physics C will have taken either regular physics or AP Physics B. Since you can take your first high school course in 8th grade (and it does appear on the high school transcript) you can get all three APs in.</p>
<p>Typical schedule:
8th - Regents bio
9th - Honors Chem
10th - AP Physics B (replaced honors physics which used to be offered, but no longer is)
11th - AP Bio (or AP Chem)
12th - AP Chem or AP Physics C</p>
<p>My oldest took Chem in the summer through CTY so he could take AP Bio, AP Chem and AP Physics C.</p>
<p>My son and his sophomore friends are taking AP chem. As far as I know, most of them took only honors biology as freshman, plus some (lame) required course known as phy/chem, which my son says was a rehash of middle school general science.</p>
<p>He is also taking AP physics B.</p>
<p>Pre-reqs for AP Biology and Chemistry are Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. You can’t take an AP science until finishing the normal sequence.</p>
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<p>That sounds like busy work for the many students who can go directly into AP level classes, and do well.</p>
<p>Private secular schools in this area don’t generally offer AP courses.
Other daughter attended a comprehensive public, which allowed kids to take whatever level was appropriate- regular, honors or AP, provided that there was space and parents & teacher agreed.
( No AP bio though- 10th graders who had taken biology in 9th grade had the option of genetics or marine biology in 10th)</p>
<p>Our HS recommends 1 year of honors chem before AP Chem. Technically you are allowed to take it without, but I don’t know if anyone has tried it yet (they’re only on their 2nd or 3rd year of offering it). AP Bio is taken without prior preparation. Both classes have some summer homework to do in advance. Although our school is semsetered, both AP Chem and AP Bio are full year (two-semester) courses, and end up counting for 2 credits each.</p>
<p>When I went to high school (a non-elite public school which, at the time, sent about 30% of graduates to four year colleges, mostly state universities), there was only regular biology, regular chemistry and AP chemistry, and two variants of regular physics, each a two semester course. AP chemistry was a one semester course that can be taken after completing regular chemistry the year before.</p>
<p>The spammy claim that “90% of students do NOT get accepted into any of their top 3 college choices” is false.</p>
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<p>Depends… many college chemistry and physics courses do recommend high school chemistry and physics as prerequisites. So if the AP courses are college level (in theory), then the prerequisites should be high school courses in those subjects.</p>
<p>On the other hand, for chemistry, AP chemistry is often seen as equivalent to a semester of college chemistry at most. In theory, an accelerated high school chemistry course for motivated students can take a year to cover high school and first semester college chemistry topics without overstressing the students.</p>
<p>In physics, the B version is intended to be like a lower level physics course for biology majors which is less likely to specify high school physics as a prerequisite. So it may be reasonable to offer it as an honors high school physics course (which some high schools do). The C version is intended to be like an introductory physics course for engineering and physics majors which is more likely to specify high school physics as a prerequisite. In practice, many colleges do not accept them for subject credit anyway (or have very limited acceptance), due to the colleges’ own physics courses having higher math prerequisites than the AP courses have.</p>
<p>Our school has a really dumb open-door policy on everything, so there are technically no prerequisites. However, Pre-AP Biology is “strongly recommended” for AP Biology, as are Pre-AP Chemistry and Algebra 2 for AP Chemistry. </p>
<p>Both programs are suffering. AP Bio gets 60-90 kids per year and only a few pass each year. Last year, I was the only one who passed (5!!!). AP Chem hasn’t had anyone pass the exam in a few years. I did not take it, but I assume it’s the result of the open door policy, a less than stellar instructor, and the sheer difficulty of the exam.</p>
<p>If no one passes the AP chemistry test after two years of high school chemistry, then there is something seriously wrong with how the high school teaches chemistry. (And passing with a 3 is not considered that great an achievement, since many colleges require higher scores for subject credit, and it is implied that a 3 is like getting a C in the course.)</p>
<p>9th Grade: Bio
10th Grade: Chem
11th&12th Grades: Physics/AP Chem/AP Bio</p>
<p>Basic courses are prerequisites, and AP course assume a basic working knowledge of subject matter. AP teachers also teach some of the basic course sections.</p>
<p>Our feeder high school sequences science courses this way: Honors Bio 9th Grade, Honors Chem 10th Grade, then student’s choice for further math. Child 1 took Honors Bio 9th Grade, Honors Chem and AP Bio 10th Grade, AP Chem and IB Standard Level Physics in 11th Grade, and Higher Level IB Chemistry 12th Grade. (Honors physics was offered, but he jumped straight to IB due to schedule requirements). This feeder high school typically reports very high AP and IB scores. </p>
<p>Child 2 is a 9th grader at a different school that is specifically science-focused, and I was interested that they teach Honors Physics to the kids in 9th Grade. Then Honors Chem in 10th, and Honors Bio in 11th; kids layer AP classes according to their preference in later grades. Child 1 thinks this makes more sense than the sequence at his feeder high school.</p>
<p>Hmmm, my old high school requires precalculus/trigonometry as a co-requisite to take regular physics or AP physics B, so it is not surprising that it is normally taken as the latest (11th-12th grade) science course rather than as a freshman science course.</p>
<p>UCB, many of the kids at Child 1’s Feeder school did have Pre-Calc as 9th Graders (Child 1 did–High School Math Sequence was Pre-Calc, AB Calc, BC Calc, IB HL Math. Some of his peers were accelerated more than he was). Harder to gauge now with Common Core Math, but many at Child 2’s Science/Math-focused school probably are at this same level.</p>
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<p>Seems like a highly elite school system, but one with a decelerated math program where students entering three grade levels ahead finish one grade level ahead (because they spend three years on what is ordinarily one year of calculus in college). This makes little sense, since a student three grade levels ahead in math should be a top student in math who should be able to complete AP BC / IB HL in one year and then go on to more advanced math (multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations) at a local college.</p>
<p>UCB, are you trying to be unpleasant? 
Child1 took many many challenging courses, including those 6 science courses and many, many other AP and IB humanities and social studies courses (he was a National AP Scholar early). You’re right: AB and BC Calc in two separate years was easy for him–hallelujah! We made a deliberate choice not to have him run back and forth to the college for higher math courses, though other parents chose to accelerate and send their high school kids to the local university for college courses. We’re not second-guessing their choice, which were probably good for their students. You might not know that HL IB Math can only be taken as a senior and is an extremely challenging course. </p>
<p>My answer was intended for the OP, to provide a perspective on how another two schools deal with science courses. I hope that the majority of your 17,000+ messages do not appear as hostile as these do.</p>
<p>AP bio and AP Chem require one year of chemistry, usually 9th grade. Bio is taken 10th and Chem is taken 12th. pretty strange</p>
<p>EastGrad, a lot of us are appalled that many school systems drag out what should be a one year calculus course over two years. I have no problem offering AB or BC, some students do benefit from the slower pace, but strong math students should have no problem covering the BC material in a year. Even my non-math kids was able to do that.</p>
<p>MathMom, I understand the point you are making. Could my child have taken the entire Calc sequence in one year? Yep, and some kids do. Our kid is good at math. Does he live and breathe math? Nope. Is he planning to major in math in college? Nope. And we didn’t want him trying to get back and forth to the University, and he was taking five AP classes, and two IB classes, and playing a varsity sport, and debating, and involved in another time-crushing leadership extracurricular as a junior. And he’s a pretty nice person who loves his activities, friends, and family and is not hyper competitive. We are simply glad he survived that year. This year, he was accepted to his SCEA college, an ivy, so they didn’t seem to mind his math sequencing.</p>
<p>Occasionally, those who have posted a lot on CC give the impression that they know better by virtue of their time and number of posts on CC. I believe that at least in some situations it’s better not to be appalled but instead assume that at least some of your fellow posters know what they’re doing, especially if they didn’t pose a question.</p>