<p>hi! so i'm a sophomore, and because i'm in a small magnet-program school, we don't have a lot of AP courses. there's an option to skip honors chem next year and take AP chem next year. however, i've heard from upperclassmen that it's awful, has a huge workload, and kills GPAs. it's not weighted. </p>
<p>right now my GPA is pretty good at 97.. so i'm trying to decide whether it would be more important to have the AP listed there, or to maintain a good GPA. i don't really have any hooks, and there's a lot of competition within the school and region for good colleges. i'm also self-studying AP bio and HG this year. </p>
<p>AP chem is a hard enough course when it’s not at a magnet school and you’ve already taken a year of chemistry. I would highly advise that you not do that.</p>
<p>I advise against AP Chem; every student I have ever discussed it with seems to agree that without a teacher who has a PhD in Chem from an Ivy, you are pretty much condemned to a difficult year with a lot of potential stress and practically guaranteed low grades. If you already attend a prestigious school and maintain your stellar GPA, I don’t think that the admissions process will be biased against you because of the absence of Chem on your transcript! Good luck!</p>
<p>(Oh, I also intend to self-study Human Geography this year. Out of curiosity, what prep materials are you using? I currently have the REA book but other CCers seem to think that Barron’s is better…?)</p>
<p>thanks! i wasn’t really aware about how hard it was, i’d just heard that there was a HUGE time investment involved. as for grades, i hear people get high 80s-low 90s, and that was a really really smart class… i’m not really interested in chem anyway. </p>
<p>i’ve talked to some people who took it, and they all said they wished they listened to everyone that told them not to take it. </p>
<p>i’m still not sure, though… i hate decisions.</p>
<p>Listen to the people on here and don’t take it. I’m taking it right now and that class is hell. It’s basically all self-study because it’s a difficult subject to teach. The problem is that unless you’re really good at the subject, it’s hard to do very well in it even if you put lots of time into studying it. I know a few people who went on to attend Ivies who had a hard time in that class. Junior year is stressful enough. Don’t take it.</p>
<p>In the Canadian Education System, AP Chemistry is one of the easiest subject to not get an A in, although the pre-AP Chemistry course was extremely difficult for me.</p>
<p>I took Honors Chem instead of AP Chem, and I regret it. Mostly because at my school, the Honors Chem teacher couldn’t teach AT ALL, while the AP Chem teacher was, by all accounts, fantastic. I mostly taught myself Chem. IMO you should take the class you think you’ll do best in and will be most meaningful for you. And definitely ask around about the teachers for the respective courses.</p>
<p>As a rule of thumb, it all depends on if you are interested in chem. If you plan to major/intensely study chem after HS (or you think so) then it is a good idea. However, it is different for every school, every class, and every person. Good luck!</p>
<p>Ya… so… I think AP Chem is really easy to be honest. I got an A first semester and am on track for an A this semester. Do you guys really think it’s that hard?! I guess a lot of people in my class though think it’s extremely hard, but then again I’m planning on majoring in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry… so it would make sense. However, my teacher (I think) is absolutely terrific at explaining concepts and so that is a big plus. I guess there is, however, a lot of stuff to know.</p>
<p>hm. i’ve heard that the AP chem teacher is ‘psycho’, ‘hell’, and stuff like that. so i’m going to go ahead and assume that she isn’t that great at teaching, either. </p>
<p>also, thepotato, i hope you’re being sarcastic. it’s hard to tell online. </p>
<p>both chem teachers are pretty awful, insane psycho teachers though. i have about five more days to mull, anyone have any other input? please?</p>
<p>It’s not weighted so it’s basically the same as Honors. I don’t think you can learn even half the stuff needed for AP chem is a regular chemistry course. You just learn the basics there. Don’t ruin your GPA, it’s really not worth it. AP Chemistry is an extremely hard course even if you took honors. I would advise against it.</p>
<p>i hate to do this, but bump… course selection is due tomorrow and i’m still not sure. i’d be skipping honors and taking AP chem, and i’m not sure if i could do that. and i’m not sure if it’d be worth all of the stress and work and lowered grades.</p>