How much work is AP Bio and AP World?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

In planning my class schedule for sophomore year, I am trying to fit as many AP classes as possible. We are on a 4x4 schedule. I take band during the fall with practice on Monday until 5:00 and Tuesday and Thursday until 6:00, which lasts until November. My schedule for next year currently looks like this:

FALL:
Algebra II Honors
Band
AP World
Biology Honors

SPRING:
10th Grade Lit Honors
Spanish I
AP World
AP Environmental Science

I was wondering: should replace AP Env. Sci. and Biology Honors with AP Biology? Would this be too much work during band season? Is there extensive amounts of homework (guided reading, etc.)? I know it all depends on the teacher, but I would just like to know more… thanks!

2

What science did you take freshman year?
I would not take AP Bio as a sophomore if you haven’t taken Honors bio already.

3

From what I’ve seen and experienced through my time in high school, both classes are an immense amount of both reading and memorization. As a sophomore, if you pack your entire schedule with AP class after AP class, you are going to tire yourself out and run the risk of low grades coupled with exhaustion. Also, many colleges like to see upward trend in addition to rigor of courses, so I recommend holding back on Bio and/or World and take them at a later time.

4

I’m taking both AP Bio and AP World right now as a senior, and I wouldn’t recommend it. They both take tons of memorization (especially bio). I would take World first and Bio after you’ve taken Honors.

5

AP World isn’t a big deal. I listen to the lectures and get 90s or more on the tests. I’m a freshman by the way.

6

I think these classes vary a lot from school to school. If you are worried solely about the difficulty of the class, I recommend asking upperclassmen from your school. As per Environmental Science—are you planning on taking AP Chemistry or AP Physics? If so, you likely should take AP Bio now so you don’t have to take APES instead of one of those. I think you have a good schedule for a sophomore.

7

I would definitely take Honors Bio first, and then take AP Bio the year directly after (seeing as AP Bio at my school packs college-level and Bio II concepts in the same course). That being said though, Bio II isn’t all that hard for my particular school, but we also produce a very low amount of fours and fives, so I’d take advice from others as well.

8

Definitely take AP Bio if you can. Why would you waste a year of science by basically taking same biology class 2 times. Trust me, I have taken AP Bio and it is super easy.