So I go to an online cyber school, and am about to graduate to 9th grade. I was really excited to take at least a couple AP classes my freshmen year, but my school says I have to take Honors before AP. However, if this applies, then I would have to take Honors Biology and AP Biology-- so I would be taking Biology twice; which seems kind of redundant and doesn’t make much sense to me. If I didn’t take AP Biology, then I’d still have at least 7-9 AP classes on my high school transcript for an ivy league college. Plus, community college courses my senior year. My question is, do most schools have this kind of restriction for freshmen, is it an across-the-board thing? Or is my high school just being restrictive? I am kinda of unsure what to do now that my school has discouraged me from taking AP in 9th grade.
Our school has no issue with freshmen taking any AP as long as they have the required prerequists and our school requires EVERYONE that wants to take AP BIO to have taken pre-AP Bio (which I’m sure is the same as honors Bio). The same with AP Chem you must take pre-AP Chem BEFORE AP Chem there is no way you could hope to pass the class with out it. We had two kids try to game the system by taking a Chem class on line during the summer by the second week of AP Chem they were so far behind the teacher had told them they had to drop her class.
At our school freshmen typical take AP Human Geo and/or AP Comp Sci see if you can take one of those.
It is very normal that the high school class, such as honors bio, is a prerequisite to the college class, AP bio. They are not redundant, but rather one builds upon the other.
Many schools have restrictions on AP classes. Some don’t allow freshmen to take any, others allow just one, or just one as a sophomore. I went to a high school (in the dark ages) that didn’t offer any AP classes at all, and even now only offers 6-8 total. There is a university just down the street and if a student wants to take an advanced class, they are available.
AP is supposed to be ‘just like college.’ There aren’t many 14 year olds who are ready for college level courses so I don’t disagree with your program restricting the AP courses to those who have already taken the high school level course.
Our school also requires Honors Bio and Honors Chem before the AP verions. My D1 will graduate with 2 years of Bio and 2 of Chemistry. She finished AP bio this year and says that the courses are very different and both worth taking.
Thanks for your reply! It was really helpful. I’m also thinking of taking AP Chem in 10th grade, and then taking AP Physics in 11th, but I guess I’ll have to double-up with Honors science classes in 10th grade if I want to do that, then. : /
My kids’ high school is slightly more flexible than some - my daughter skipped 9th grade bio because she’d covered most of the material in her 8th grade private middle school science class. Instead of going straight to AP bio she took regular chem in 9th and then ap bio in 10th. (This school doesn’t have ‘honors’ classes… it’s either regular or AP).
Also, for physics, our school only has AP Physics 1, so they let kids go straight to that without taking regular physics first. We also have a very popular Biotechnology program (2 years of regular class work and a 3rd year of independent study). So for the most sciency kids who want to devote all of their free electives to extra science classes, the track might look like-
9th - regular bio;
summer after 9th - chemistry at the local CC;
10th - biotech 1/2 and AP bio;
11th - biotech 3/4 and AP physics 1;
12th - biotech IS and APES or AP Chem.
I don’t think our school would let freshmen take AP anything… although a friend’s kid took AP Calc at a different hs in the same district so maybe.
One issue we do have is that classes fill up and seniors get priority. Might not be an issue with online school. But for instance, in theory, a sophomore could take AP Comp Sci, but in practice there are never spots for this class unless you are a senior.
Bummer to hear that your school has restrictions but it’s not the end of the world. If you self study the AP class, will your school let you take the AP test?
My school had a really limited selection of AP classes so I ended up studying APES, AP Lang, and Econ by myself. There are lots of resources online and you can find prep books for cheap! If you’re interested in the content and can lay out some studying time, self studying the AP test will serve you well!
This is typical. Remember Honors biology is geared to HS students, and AP Bio is a college equivalent. AP Bio presupposes knowledge of HS bio and chem, so the teacher is not going to spend much time on things you should already know.
Which is more than enough for admissions. There may be valid reason for taking more, but more won’t appreciably strengthen an application further.
Ditto on the science AP classes, they are only after the regular class.
No AP as freshman, soph is only AP world unless you want to be the only soph in human geography, which they will allow but almost no one does it.
Then 4/year max as Jr and Sr.
our school offers 1 AP class for 9th graders (APUSH) and 1 for sophomores (APHUG). and honors or reg bio and chem must be taken before AP bio and chem.
but - seriously - if you are even contemplating going into those subjects in college – you might as well get a good grasp of the concepts in HS. basically, no need to rush it all by taking loads of AP classes at age 14/15.
It is normal for introductory level college science courses to assume the high school science course as a recommended prerequisite. So it is not too surprising that a high school AP science course that covers similar material as an introductory level college science course lists the regular high school science course as a prerequisite.
Similarly, AP calculus requires high school math through precalculus, AP English requires high school English taken in grade 10 or 11, and AP foreign language requires high school foreign language level 3 or 4 (or equivalent knowledge as a heritage speaker or otherwise).
Our school had the same rule so we went and took AP Biology through BYU Independent Study with a local doctor teaching us the course. We all passed the exam as freshman and the next year the school allowed us to go straight into AP Chem then AP Physics. Maybe try another online independent study course?
@Polymatheo The more APs you take won’t necessarily increase your chances of getting into an ivy league school, keep that in mind.
My school prohibits freshman from taking any AP classes but allows them to take the AP exams if they wish. Prerequisites are built into our course catalog and IMO they are normal across all schools and all grades.
Even with perfect grades, you still only have a 5% chance of getting in. Instead of focusing on these schools, instead spend time deciding what your interests are, then find colleges that are the best fit for you, rather than the other way around.
My school, which when I was in high school had 45% of the class go to the ivy league, didn’t allow APs until junior year. 9th-grade bio was a prereq for AP Bio, 10th-grade chem was a prereq for AP Chem, 11th-grade physics was a prereq for AP physics.
You’re currently an 8th grader.
You’re looking to take a college course.
Many, many schools would have an issue with this.