<p>Right now I am taking academic (regular) biology, and I have an A+. I have never taken an AP class, and I've heard that a regular class is a complete joke compared to an AP class. I've heard in an AP class you get a little more work, the essays are a lot longer, unless you are a savant, if you don't study you fail the tests, and even if you do a study, the tests are as hard as if you slept through a regular class and didn't study for a regular test. Is all of this true? I am trying to get into NYU Stern, so next year I am taking AP Micro, and AP Bio, because they heavily weight AP classes. Senior year I am going to take AP Macro and AP Psych, and possibly AP Chem. But anyway, is the class so unbelievable for someone who has never taken an AP class? Thanks.</p>
<p>Basically yeah. AP classes are tough hence the Advanced Placement part of its name ;)</p>
<p>I’m sure it’s tough, especially since it is going to be one of your first APs. But I suggest taking it. The more you get used to the ‘AP’ style, the less tough it will seem as the year passes. </p>
<p>Plus, you might be blessed with an easy and or good teacher .</p>
<p>no way. im taking it as my co-first ap and im fine. i just do the work and read the book and i have a high ‘a’.</p>
<p>teacher is really good too.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say it’s difficult. There’s just massive amounts of memorization.</p>
<p>AP Biology is super fun! Do take it. In my opinion it really was not too much memorization, and I think some people are forced to perceive it that way because they learn it improperly. In reality, its all logical so you really just have to use your mind to make connections between the various subjects and it all make sense. It’s so beautiful really.</p>
<p>From what I’ve garnered the first time I read anything it made no sense, and they only way I would have learned anything is by memorization, so that holds true in that sense. But the more times you read it, the elegance of it all comes in to place and you can help but be fascinated by it’s simplicity and clarity.</p>
<p>AP tests are more heavily weighted than minor assessments. So you can just blow off the labs/hw and get A+ on tests, and still end with a high A or possibly an A+. AP Bio just requires time.</p>
<p>I don’t think the content itself is necessarily difficult, but like everyone mentioned, it requires a lot of time and effort. </p>
<p>In my opinion, it’s nothing that you can’t handle, but the problem I see with a lot of people struggling in my class is just a lot of them are not willing to put the time and effort into it.</p>
<p>It depends on the class you have and the kind of student you are. I don’t “get” science, so for me it is a lot of memorization. Plus, I have found that our course expects us to remember a lot from biology… four years ago. I do remember a lot, but not the details. So, the pace is grueling for me because I don’t remember the exact processes of the Golgi Apparatus and I can’t name and identify each form of RNA.</p>
<p>easily memorized. class wise ask students at your school who have taken it, all depends on your teacher.</p>
<p>“In my opinion it really was not too much memorization”</p>
<p>Surely you kid. :)</p>
<p>I am currently taking it now and so far it is not as bad as I thought. As long as I keep up with the work, pay attention during class and study (almost) every night I usually get Bs and As. The hardest part of the class for me are the tests, because sometimes it is a lot of infomation and you need to know things in a lot of detail. So far my highest test grade was only a 90. Also, I do not read the textbook from cover to cover (my teacher does not assign reading). I might read about something that I didnt understand in class, but mostly I use the barron study book as my “textbook”.</p>
<p>^^Most definitely not ;)</p>
<p>My teacher used tests from AP Tests + Campbells for quizzes and tests… That class was super hard. A lot of memorization in addition to a very boring and incompetent teacher made it hell. Plus you’re not meant to get 100s or 90s on those AP exams so say good bye to those As and high Bs you got in your other AP classes or previous classes.</p>
<p>This is just my teacher’s methods. You’re class and teacher could be amazing and you could have a great time learning this stuff, it’s quite interesting.</p>
<p>its super easy! i got 100%!
no. its an ap class so no matter what, good teacher or bad, its gonna be hard. i did get an a both semesters as a sophmore, but im glad i took it as one of my first aps, cause it was one of the ones you had to dedicate yourself to, and i learned some great study habits because of it. its a great class, just a lot of work</p>
<p>I watch a porno everynight and I scored a 5. It’s that easy</p>
<p>based on previous experience, its just a lot to memorize. If u taken others classes such as psych or a human anatomy class, it will help. Buts its just straight off memorization and if ur interested, u shouldnt do bad.</p>
<p>It is a lot to memorize, as gysper said, but if you pace yourself, and learn a little bit each day, or a couple of chapters each week (throughout the school year), then it’s super-easy. Then just review for a week or two before the exam and you’ll be golden. Review = read Cliff’s from front-to-back. ;)</p>
<p>I’m not sure it’s fair for any of us to comment on the difficulty of the class, since AP Biology (as a class) varies from school to school. The course at my school is pretty rigorous and we move extremely fast, but our teacher is excellent and we did tons of tests throughout the year. We took unit tests from the book (which were hard), but on generic practice tests, answers seemed MUCH clearer. By the time the AP came around, we didn’t have too much of a problem with the exam. AP Bio is a LOT of memorization and requires alot of absorption and understanding (not much problem solving or stuff you can do on the spot, like a math course). Ask people who have taken AP Bio at your school how prepared they felt.</p>
<p>@ lemone: “I watch a porno everynight and I scored a 5. It’s that easy”</p>
<p>Really funny, especially since there’s maybe one question on reproduction on the test.
Seriously though, didn’t you make the same joke in a different thread?</p>
<p>To answer the OP:
AP Bio is for motivated students. Not necessarily genius students, but extremely hard-working. You do have to be smart though to do well on the AP.</p>