<p>My parents don't want me to take AP Bio next yr (my sr, yr). They think i will be overloading myself.....however, I really want to take AP bio...i put myself on a track at my high school so i would be able to!</p>
<p>I am planning on writing a proposal to my parents about why i should...but they seem pretty determined to not let me take the class..</p>
<p>Does anyone have any convincing advice?
?????</p>
<p>thanx</p>
<p>Well, how overloaded are you? Five other AP classes, three sports, band AND orchestra, plus the lead in the school musical? :)</p>
<p>Seriously, I like the idea of the proposal. Especially if you are leaning toward a career in the sciences, AP bio will be a good foundation to have under your belt. I took it as a senior also, (back in the Pleistoscene), and it was my favorite class that year. Just be realistic about how much time you need for all your various commitments and how good you are at using your time wisely and prioritizing things when there are conflicts. Leave yourself a little time to have fun, too!</p>
<p>Bonus: Your fabulous persuasive essay may be fodder for a college application essay!</p>
<p>The proposal does seem like a good idea. If you take AP Bio, and it does turn out to be too much for you, would you be able to drop it without hurting yourself academically? Or drop back into an easier class? I know my son signed up for Anatomy and Physiology, a college-level class, as a senior, but found it to be too much (and decided he was not interested in medicine, after all). He was able to drop the course and take a science class at the community college, so it didn't leave him short on science classes.</p>
<p>If you could show your parents that you not only feel you can handle it, but have a back-up plan in case it IS too much, they may feel better about letting you try. Or if you could talk to the teacher and see if he/she feels you can handle it with your schedule--maybe the teacher could talk to your parents, too.</p>
<p>Does your GC have an opinion on this? They don't always know the kids personally, but one who has been around for awhile can usually spot an overly ambitious schedule and then can look closer at the student's record, talk with the student about their other time requirements, etc., and give some guidance based on that. AP Bio at one school can be vastly more or less time-consuming and challenging than AP Bio at another. At one of my kids' high schools, it's a bear of a course and no one takes that plus 3 or 4 other AP classes. At one of my other kids' schools, it was easier than the regular "biology 1" class that freshmen take at the other high school. So really, whether it's too much or not depends on what's going on at your school.</p>
<p>Great suggestion about talking to the GC. Also, maybe we could give you pointers for your proposal if you told us what your parents' objections are to your taking AP Bio.</p>
<p>The problem with my Gc is she is one of those Gcs who thinks that pratically evryone is working to0 hard...i fear that she will agree with my parents....</p>
<p>when it comes to taking another science class i would probably take bio honors....the way sciences work at my school (a pretty competive well respected high school in a college town)is that 9th grade- earth sci 10th-bio 11th-chem and 12-physics
the more advance kids can skip bio in 10th grade, take chem, and physics, then take AP bio (which encompasses both reg bio and ap)</p>
<p>the only APs we offer for sci are bio and enviro</p>
<p>these are the reasons my parents object (in a nutshell)</p>
<p>my other courses are AP latin, AP English, AP Calc AB (this is a compromise iinstead of doing teh AB-Bc combinded class) Constituional Law Honors, Econ/honors, Advanced photo portfolio (our school's ap art)</p>
<p>in addition, in the fall i will be taking an american studies course at Amherst college.</p>
<h2>my big ECs that are concerns is being the stage manager for mostly-all school productions, and i do crew in the fall and spring</h2>
<p>one of the ways i am defending my 'hard' course load is that the collegeclass takes up two blocks during teh fall trimester (we have 5 classes a day on a trimster schedule with all major academics being 2 trimesters with the exception of calc bc and ap bio) and the college class only meets two days a week, therefore for the other three days i will have at least one -two study halls!!</p>
<p>in addition teh college class takes up one block in teh winter and it only meets for 2 wks into the winter trimester...therefore i w ill have a study hall everyday in the winter! </p>
<p>*just a note these study halls dont even show up in my transcript it just says which college class i am taking!</p>
<p>umm..ask me questions....and when i type up my first draft of my proposal i will post it</p>
<p>one more thing!-if i take bio i will have taken 6 out of the 7 aps my school offers (not including languages i dont take)</p>
<p>You're probably right in suspecting that your GC will agree with your parents. Now that you've laid out your situation, I agree with your parents too. Still, if your mind is made up, I would not only write a proposal about why you should take AP Bio, I would also lay out sample plan for when everything will get done.</p>
<p>I will be graduating next week and IMHO, looking at my own senior year courses, your courseload, in addition to your ECs seem too much. From the sounds of it, your school seems very much like mine. </p>
<p>Anyway, having taken all Honors classes 9th-11th grade, senior year I took Calculus, Econ, Public Affairs, English, Spanish and Physics all in one semester. I had one time consuming EC also. All of my classes were college-level (offered through Syracuse) with the exception of Spanish (AP) and Physics (Honors). Needlesstosay, I became overwhelmed very quickly despite having a free period everyday. After the first quarter, I switched into Regents (normal) Physics and stuck it out with my other classes until the end of the semester. Second semester, I decided to take it easy on myself and drop the electives I had signed up for. It may have seemed as if I had the laziest schedule (two free periods AND early dismissal lol) but the classes I was taking were very challlenging and I had gained some sanity. Yet, I was accepted to great colleges and I am very happy with the college I eventually chose.</p>
<p>I guess what my suggestion is that try taking AP Bio but be able admit to yourself when it's too much. If at all possible, arrange your schedule so that if you do decide to drop into a regular class, you don't have to rearrange your whole schedule and/or drop some classes. Or, take a look at what you want to study in college and tailor your classes that way. If it's getting into a good college that you may be worried about, I'd say you're just fine. You don't have to take ALL the hardest classes your school offers. Take the ones so that you'll have a foundation for your major and shows schools that you a definate interest. If getting into a good college is not what you're worried about and simply want to challenge yourself, just know your limits. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I say, go for it. I think AP Bio is way more fun than regular bio, and not much harder.</p>
<p>Be sure to leave time in the fall of your senior year to apply to college, take SATs, go on school visits, etc. First semester of senior year is a crazy time...I'd think twice about overloading during this crucial time unless my college plans were already set.</p>
<p>I agree to go for it since you seem to have your eyes open as to the workload in making the decision. I also agree to be wary of the GC - I think many of them don't give the best advice and sometimes generalize their approach rather than evaluating the individual student. </p>
<p>My D took all AP classes her junior (6 classes) and senior (5 classes and there were no more to take) years and did well including on the AP tests. She did this while on V-Tennis and starting on the Academic League. It wasn't stressful for her - i.e. she managed to do it without being overloaded.</p>
<p>thanx soo much for all the responses!!!
another parental concern is that i will be retaking the sats in october (i want a 2200+)</p>
<p>...another question....(yes, i know it is more of a chance one) do college level classes (liek the one i am taking at amherst college) look good(liek equal too if not better) to colleges than AP courses?</p>
<p>also if my gpa is (unwieghted) 3.6-ish(maybe like 3.59 after Jr. yr) and i score let's say a 2150 on the sats...but dont take AP bio....will this look bad??? </p>
<p>It is just really hard for me to see myself not taking AP bio since i have planned on taking it since being a freshman...</p>
<p>and for all of you who were asking about my major aspirations..i am leaning towards something in the humanities (i.e polsci or american studies -liek theocurse at amherst college i am taking)</p>
<p>I also feel liek if i dont take ap bio i really wont be taking that many aps just : AP latin -Vergil, AP latin-Lit, AP European history, AP English (comp and lang it's a wierd joint class), AP CAlc AB, and probably taking teh AP Art exam. </p>
<p>granted my school only offers ap bio, ap enviro sci in addition to those courses (and AP span, AP french, ,,but i dont take french and i started spanish last yr)</p>
<p>ok, sorry for my long posts...but, i really value your advice!</p>
<p>do you plan to study bio/the sciences? if your parents still say no, i recommend dropping one of your other APs and replacing it with AP bio... would they be okay with that?</p>
<p>Why do you want to take this AP Bio course?</p>
<p>FWIW, my D who just graduated from HS thought that AP Bio was one of the two most enjoyable courses she took there. And she's not primarily a science person.</p>
<p>So you have 4 APs, two honors and a college class. Seven advanced classes, and you propose to take an eighth, which will be your 5th AP? Am I understanding you correctly?</p>
<p>I would say no, too. If AP Bio is so important, then drop something else. Like Con Law, for example. IMO that subject is better studied in college anyway.</p>
<p>What is the rush? </p>
<p>(If you believe that taking all of that stuff will make you more attractive to colleges, well, I disagree with you.)</p>
<p><em>bangs head against wall MULTIPLE times</em>...since when is "AP latin -Vergil, AP latin-Lit, AP European history, AP English (comp and lang it's a wierd joint class), AP CAlc AB, and probably taking teh AP Art exam" not that many AP's???? </p>
<p>Not knocking you, OP, but when, oh when, will someone get a grip on reality!</p>