PLEASE HELP! Don't Know What AP's to Take!!

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

So I’m going to be a rising junior this year, and I cannot decide my schedule.

I will for sure take:
AP chem
AP stat
AP euro
honors precalc
spanish 4
english honors

However, I do not know if I want to take AP bio or not. AP bio I’ve heard is mostly time consuming memorization, but I’m still very worried because chem is already supposedly hard and time consuming, and I do not want to jeopardize high scores on the AP exams. Can anyone please offer advice/ anecdotes if they’ve done this before?? Thanks!

2

Unless you want to become a doctor or go into medicine or biomedical engineering, I would recommend against AP Biology. It will not serve you well unless you go to college and your major requires you to take biology as a class (not an elective). Otherwise, any AP class you take will be counted as electives for your major, and that way the subjects taught won’t matter as much.

I have friends who took AP biology for the “AP credit” and it was rough on them.
Their schedule was less demanding than yours, and they are brilliant people.
They try to cram 2-3 worth of semesters of biology into two semesters. It’s a breakneck fast class.

AP Chem is demanding enough. AP Chem + Biology is a combination no one can handle. You will just die.

If you want to take AP Biology, take it in senior year. Your schedule is demanding enough already.
Only take it if you are a biology person or if you are going into medicine or biomedical engineering.

Otherwise, I will suggest you take AP psych or the like. Just take an AP that will be an elective.

What major do you want go go and study in college? Determining the answer to that question will help.

3

I agree with @JoeyPapagobich. Maybe take AP Chemistry and AP Environmental Science this year (if APES is offered at your school). My friend did this, and she got a 5 on Chemistry and APES! Biology would be best for senior year. If your intended major is not natural sciences, medical, or biology oriented.

4

Hey. I do want to be a doctor and a bio/ chem major. The norm at my school is to take physics and bio together senior year, but I struggle with physics much more than I struggle with bio or chem; both of those honors classes were easy for me and I know the APs are much harder, but I feel like AP chem, AP bio and AP stat would be a slightly less evil combo than AP bio, AP physics and AP calc for me. However, without AP bio, I have a free period in my schedule and my school does not offer “elective” APs that I could fill it with.

5

Taking AP’s just for the sake of quantity is going to mean that a good grade is going to be a 3 instead of a 4 or 5.

I know that at universities in my area, if you get a 3, you get one semester exemption of classes, while a 4 or 5 gives you an exemption of two.

@LargeWatermelon1 I suggest that you take AP Biology Senior year, if anything, and study during the summer in order to make the transition less rough!! I think you said that you do not want to take AP Calc? Take it. It is non-negotiable. Colleges want you to take AP Calc, if anything, and if you need help, get a tutor.

The physics class that most people take senior year is AP Physics 1 & 2 or AP Physics C?
This will help us determine what to do.

I know that I am taking AP Physics C after taking Physics 1 Honors at my school.

6

Yep, def. taking calc! Just a little scared about it.

It would be physics C; which is why I’m especially worried about the calc physics bio combination if it were to happen. Physics honors was so rough for me, whereas bio and chem were extremely easy.

@JoeyPapagobich and the rest of CC, what if I studied over the summer for bio and chem? If I did it, would it be sufficient prep to ease my school-year workload? If I wanted to do it, I could do it as I’m only doing other summer hw and studying for things like the SAT right now.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

7

Although I haven’t taken physics C and Bio yet (Junior and senior year respectively), Bio and Physics C tend to have exams on the same day. My two cents: find a different combination. I’d hate to prepare for two science exams on the same day.

8

Studying for Biology and Chem is almost impossible unless you get a superb private tutor who is an outstanding teacher. These are topics that are not “self-study” friendly, but calc is a bit (Coursera has a Calc I class, and coupled with an Art of Problem Solving Book, I am working through calculus on my own). Physics also is a good self-study option.

Do not take AP Biology and Physics together. They are not in any way related, and just not worth the effort together.

However, take Physics.
AP Physics C will make you succeed in your Calculus class and vice versa, because there is a tad bit of calculus in Physics C (derivatives, mostly). When you use the math in applications, you will score much better in physics. I think they teach (at least in my school) the rudiments of calculus in Physics C for the first few weeks, so you will have a head-start over your peers who will be facing the material a year later than you. (Good Thing)

Self-studying physics over the summer before class starts is a better combination than studying either biology or chem or both… and if you do so, you will struggle less in class when you arrive on the scene than you would have without studying.

If possible, take chemistry and physics. I doubled up on both the honors classes, and a lot of the topics were related, so I found things easier. Doing the same with AP’s will only benefit you. I am taking AP Chem and Physics C (Mechanics) this upcoming year, also.

AP Biology can be taken senior year. I would recommend putting AP Statistics on hold until senior year as well as first of all, it will free time in your schedule for Chem and Physics, but also, AP Biology has a few Statistics concepts as well. (My friends who took AP Biology went to our Stats teacher for help when things came to testing hypothesis).

Statistics is not easy, but not killer hard. Do not underestimate it.

Again, my two cents. Take Physics and Chem (and prepare for physics during the summer).

What do you think of this suggestion? And what does the community think?

9

AP Physics, Chem, and AP Euro are a rigorous combination that is manageable for the motivated person.
Hard to do, but worth it.

If you feel that you are up for it, go for it.