<p>Alright so I'm currently a HS junior and I am planning my senior year schedule and I'm so torn over which science courses to take. I want to go into the medical field and possibly get into an accelerated program, which I know is very difficult. The only 2 AP science courses that I have left (other than APES which I don't really want to take) are AP Bio and AP Chem; I took Living Environment in 9th grade which I don't think constitutes as a bio class (does it?) even though it was mainly biology. My HS has a really good/tough AP Chem teacher who although makes the class hell at times, makes college Chem a whole lot easier. Many colleges that I look at with med programs require a semester of physics, chem and bio. </p>
<p>Suggestions as to what I should I do? Since I doubt my Living Enviro. class counts as a bio class, should I take AP Bio and not take the more challenging AP Chem course or should I take AP Chem and risk not being able to apply/accepted to med programs because I didn't take Bio?</p>
<p>I'm at a loss! Or...should I take both in addition to 3-4 other APs? (AP English, AP Calc BC, AP Eco, AP Gov, AP Psych (not 100% about this one though))</p>
<p>I don’t really know much about the US AP educationcal system so I’ll give it my best shot. Could you not drop an AP that has nothing to do with the major you want to do, for example AP Gov or Eco? Just a suggestion that way you could take both, if I’m correct.</p>
<p>AP Chem is supposed to be a killer- but then college chem is a weed-out for pre-med so if it will help you there, that would be wise. The AP bio curriculum has changed and this is the first year. My daughter, who has never found things too hard, is quite stunned by the intensity of that class. My son, who does not study as intensely as his sister, aced regular chem and is “mind-blown” by AP chem. Bottom line, neither is easy. APES and AP Psych are usually seen as “soft” APs though the teacher at their school must have heard that because it was not easy for my D, mainly because of the reading which was heavy. I’d drop that one and I’d also get rid of econ if you’re going pre-med and decide to do both AP Bio and AP Chem. Gov should not be bad, and English here is the lit one for seniors (lang is for juniors)- so far its a lot of reading too, but certainly a good one to take. To me, the math/ English/ gov are the three definites from that list and then you should make some phone calls to schools you are considering to see what they say about the bio/ chem choice. I’m assuming you took regular chemistry already? Be warned- they may not give you a “straight” answer. Most competitive schools say three lab sciences and some will say specifics beyond that so check the websites as well.</p>
<p>Hmmm, well my school’s AP Bio class isn’t hard, it’s one of the easier ones, just a good amount of work; APES is the easiest science AP of all the AP sciences at my school and AP Chem is the hardest (class average usually around a 50 before the curve); and AP Gov/Ap Eco are mandated classes so I can’t get out of them. And yes I’ve taken Honors Chemistry; I was going to see if I could ask my counselor if Living Environment is still considered a biology course because it used to be called Biology until they shifted the curriculum around in NYS. Thanks for your insight, I really appreciate it :]</p>