Hello everyone! To start off, I’m sorry if I’m in the wrong forum: I’ve never started a thread, though I have been reading posts since freshmen year! So… I’m a rising Senior in high school (in upstate NY) and I need some advice regarding which AP science to take this year.
Here’s some background:
I’ve taken Regents Biology (100 average all year, 98 on regents), Regents Chemistry (horrible teaching situation, 87 on regents exam), and AP Physics 1 (great teacher, 4 on AP exam, 99 on regents)
My school offers 5 AP Science classes- Bio, Chem, Physics 1, Physics C, and Environmental Science.
I want to study engineering in college
There’s a good chance that I’ll end up at University at Buffalo or Case Western (because of tuition), but I also plan on applying to some more selective/expensive schools like Tufts, Carnegie Mellon, and my dream/ super super reach school, MIT
I met with my new guidance counselor today, and my schedule is pretty gridlocked. My only options for science are APES, AP Physics C, and AP Bio (because AP Chem is all full). My top choices are APES and Physics C. So here’s my dilemma: do I want to take it a little easy with APES, a softer science, or do I want to fight through Physics C all year?
What class should I take? Aside from cold hard data, I genuinely enjoyed Physics last year but also think I’ll love APES because I love being outside and civil engineering…
Any input/ advice in any form would be HUGELY appreciated!!
P.S. Here’s some extra info to hopefully preemptively answer any questions:
-I took Pre Calc last year and would be taking AP Calc BC concurrently with Physics C
-The Physics teacher is great… I had him last year so I’m familiar with his teaching style, grading policy, HW format, etc.
-The APES teacher is a slacker: you basically have to teach yourself from the textbook all year, but I heard that class is fun and he knows his stuff when he’s motivated to actually teach
Have you looked at how your target universities will view these classes in terms of whether they will give you credit for the class if you have a sufficiently high score on the AP exam? You can compare how many credit hours they will give you for what score, and whether they hours will apply toward electives, core subjects or your major. Also, are any of these courses required for the major you have in mind?
I don’t think it will make much difference in terms of admissions – seems like AP Bio would be best from that standpoint since you said you already had an AP Physics course – but it might make a difference in whether you can bypass a specific required course or not once you start college. It’s worth spending some time looking up that information to find out. All universities will have on their website somewhere how they apply your AP exams for credits, and what classes are required for various majors.
Except OP is expressing a desire to study engineering in college.
I can’t speak for all schools on your list, but most are aware that APES is not as challenging as AP Bio or AP Physics C; that probably won’t be the determining actor in the admissions decision, however. I’d still suggest Physics C or Bio.
Physics C is definitely the more rigorous option, but I’d actually lean towards APES. You’ll probably get more out of a true college physics course, which is more important than just getting the credit if you plan on a physics major.
APES won’t be likely to bore you since it’s AP (and chances are that it’ll help you graduate college, but you wouldn’t take it as part of your major otherwise) but it won’t be nearly as time consuming in a year where you have to juggle college admissions applications, being a leader in extra curriculars, and the rest of your course load.
You want to be an engineer, so I highly recommend taking AP Physics. It depends on the teacher, but the knowledge you gain really helps in your introductory engineering classes. If the APES teacher isn’t as motivated, why would you want to take their class?
Thanks everyone! I took mommyrocks 's advice and checked out the AP credit policies at the colleges I want to apply to. As of now, I’m going to take APES because I can easily get AP credit at like 75% of the schools I’m applying to… julianstanley was right when suggesting that it’d be a good idea to not overload on work during application season.
Though In really love physics, I decided that I’d might as well try out a new science before to better gauge my loves and talents before entering college.
