What do you want to major in? (You’re not the future nursing school applicant, right?)
Taking just Physics would be ok if you have another science you can take senior year.
What would your Junior and senior years look like schedule-wise?
@alondraaa I feel like the best option for you may be to ask any upper classmates you know who took this course, and who had the same teacher you will have to see how the workload is. Your questions seem to be more focused on how much time this course takes and honestly that depends on the teacher. I took AP Bio my junior year and I felt the workload was very light (both homework wise and study wise) in comparison to the other APs that I took that year. However I have a friend who attended a different highschool and she had the exact opposite experience with her teacher. I noticed someone else on the page posted about doing a summer assignment for AP Bio…I personally never had a summer assignment for AP Bio. How much homework is given is really dependent on the teacher. I will say that the lab reports did take around 4-6 hours for me, but that is because she wanted them extremely detailed, hand written, and color coded a specific way (again every teacher is different your teacher may not want detailed lab reports).
As for the material I can say that it wasn’t too difficult in comparison to the other APs I took during highschool. I did take Biology Honors my freshman year and I felt AP Bio was basically a continuation of that course with more detail on certain subject areas. Personally I feel that if you are willing to put in the effort to do the homework, study, and ask your teacher questions you should do well in the course.
@MYOS1634 That’s the thing. I’m not really sure what I want to do in the future. I’m not the future nursing school applicant, but I have put it on my list for possible careers. I don’t know whether I want to take a science major at all, but I thought AP Bio might be a good indicator of my love/hate of science. I just don’t want to regret taking it, because I’m not very centered with my mathematics.
I think I should mention that I got a 1030 on my PSAT during my sophomore year, where I did kinda well on the reading but not so well on the math. Does my bad math score help show whether I should take AP Bio or not?
@itsintheprocess That is a very good suggestion, I think I’ll email the AP Biology teacher to ask her a few questions in regards to the workload (I can’t believe I hadn’t thought about that before, thank you for that comment lol).
Also, when you say your bio workload was very light, how many hours of homework are you talking?
@alondraaa when I say my homework was light I mean, unless I had a lab report due at the end of the week I would have no homework. On weeks with lab reports due I would maybe spend around an hour or two a day. And on weeks where I had no lab reports due, I was not given any homework at all. My teacher would also give us the occassional project or two which would again result in a couple of hours a day during the week(s) spent on that, but overall I did not have any daily homework assignments or anything of that sort.
@alondraaa yeah I completely understand. I’ve just finished up my first assignment and I’m still not sure if the class is for me. I’m looking at it as a preparation for college work. Because in the end, we will have to do this type of work (even more) in college. So its like why not get a head start now. I like what you said about doing the summer work and then figuring out if you wanted to take the class. But you are just a junior so you can always take it next year. so don’t worry. Lol I’m a senior and that’s why I’m so focused on the class. Have you ever taken AP classes before? BTW im also taking AP Spanish next year.
AP bio doesn’t require math beside basic stuff.
I think you can give it a try - it’s good you’re trying to challenge yourself and see if science makes are in the cards or if you should look into other types of majors.
On the other hand, next year you’ll be studying for the SAT, with PSAT in October, Sat in March and/or May (perhaps sat subjects in June if you’re really good at a subject). Btw start using Khan academy right now. That sat score will have an enormous effect since most colleges use or not only for admission but also for scholarships…and without scholarships or may be difficult to afford college. so, if AP bio distracts you too much from sat prep, then it’s not a good idea to take AP bio… You have to judge what time you have each day.
Of course there are test optional colleges or colleges that only require your sat subject scores so they’d be a possibility. Perhaps aiming for doing well in both p bio and the sat would be optimal but I’d you feel you can’t do both then you’ll have to decide as to what to prioritize.
Beside physics and AP bio, what classes would you take as far as English, math, and Foreign language?
What ECs do you do?
What colleges are you seeing as matches and reaches? (If you don’t know many colleges, borrow a book called Princeton Review’s best colleges).
Hello! My experience with AP Bio was extremely positive. I found it interesting and manageable because although it moves quickly, the material is not very hard to wrap your head around. It involves minimal math, and if math does come up, it is mostly statistics-based. The Princeton Review book for AP biology had a ton of great review material which really helped me to be less anxious about the exam. I ended with a 5 in the class!! Best of luck!
@MYOS1634 You are absolutely right. I never had my SATs in mind when applying for that AP Bio class. Now that you mention it, I think it might be best to remove AP Bio from my schedule. I’ll still consider the class, first I want to email the AP Bio teacher and ask a few questions. But I’m almost positive that Bio is not the way to go for me.
The classes I’ll be taking this year are: APUSH, physics, integrated math 3, studio art (have to fill that visual arts req), AP English, anddd there is now an open spot because of AP Bio (again, still a consideration, but not likely). Next year I plan to take about 3 ap’s, but that’s subject to change.
I don’t have many ECs, but I consider them a bit consistent. I’ve been homework-helping/tutoring a couple of young ones in simple math. These are children of Spanish-speaking parents that don’t feel that they are completely fit to assist their children with homework. I’ve been in key club since the beginning of sophomore year and plan to do that until senior year. That’s all, though. It’s still not as many ECs as I’d like to have, meaning I’d like to join more clubs/do more volunteer work in the future. And I have to do that as soon as possible to make myself look a little better on my apps.
And on the topic of colleges, I have only a few in mind. I’m not shooting too high (Ivies, etc.), I really want to stay in California. So, it’s either UCs or state schools. For state schools, I was thinking San Jose State and San Francisco State. For UCs, UC Santa Cruz or Santa Barbara (these might be a reach for me). Then again, these are the schools I chose merely on location and my ability to meet their requirements. Don’t know my major/career just yet.
@Seniorstudent01 That IS a good point. Taking AP Bio to get a headstart was pretty much the reason why I was taking it, but I’m not confident in my work ethic or in my ability to understand the material enough to take it. I think I could work it into my senior schedule though, but for now I think I might focus on my SATs for now. I’ve taken a few ap’s before (AP Spanish and WHAP), and I don’t think I did horribly bad.
I don’t want to sound harsh but it seems like your trying to find any excuse to get out of AP Bio instead of listening to what almost everyone has said, which is that AP Bio is a fairly manageable class. You’re always going to have something else outside of classes to focus on. PSATs and SAT might be this year but then you have college essays for next year. There’s AP tests, subject tests, college visits, senior prom, applying for scholarships that will also happen too in 11th and 12th grade. It’s good that you recognize your limitations, but it’s also good to try and push yourself to be the best that you can be.
Having said that, it generally makes more sense to spread out your science classes, which in this case would be Physics this year and AP Bio next year. The main reason you want AP Bio this year is if you planned on taking AP Chem or some sort of AP Physics next year. But as I mentioned, it’s also good to make your schedule as rigorous as possible each year, that you can handle, and if that means sticking in AP Bio this year and some other science or math AP next year, then that is good too. Having a rigorous schedule is always a top priority for admissions officers, right there with GPA and test scores.
^ Op scored 1030 on her PSAT and will already be taking physics and 3 APs. S/he’s not looking for “excuses” - 3 APs Jr year are more than sufficient for CSUs and UCSB/UCSC so the priority is raising that sat/sat score to UC level.
Having an easier class instead of AP bio would help in achieving that.
As you said, s/he can take AP bio senior year.
@MYOS1634 I was actually the future nursing applicant that posted
@ProfessorPlum168 I know it sounds like I’m making excuses, but I don’t mean to come off that way. My intention with this thread was to find out how an AP Bio class was like for everyone else, and judge whether I’d be prepared for a class like that (sorry if the title was misleading, I realize it doesn’t portray my intentions w/ this). Unfortunately, it’s hard to measure the difficulty of a class because everyone’s experience is different, I’ve learned that. Those who say the class is easy tend to be the very successful students. What I tried to mention at the beginning was that I’m not like those students. But, I still shouldn’t judge the class based on other’s experiences. I know, this is something that I should have discussed with my counselor and the AP Bio teacher, but it never came to mind until recently. I just want to be sure of my decisions before I make them. But it does make me realize that if I’m not confident in taking the class, I really shouldn’t take it at all. There’s always next year for AP Bio.
For me, AP Bio ended up being a good class to take because it helped me to realize that a Biology major wasn’t for me. It was still interesting even if I struggled to understand everything. I had enjoyed regular biology but AP Bio went into a lot more detail, and there was a lot more to remember that just didn’t click for me. I would say that it is easier then AP Physics and AP Chem, though. I did well on the AP test even though I didn’t really understand the class.
What takes the most time is reading the book because they pack a lot of info into each chapter and doing chapter review packets if your teacher assigns them.