So I am scheduled to take AP Bio for the 2017-2018 school year, which would be my senior year in high school. It’s a really hard class and according to the teacher, it’s harder than the bio class in University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, which is crazy.
He gave us a summer Chem/Biochemistry packet to do, and he encouraged us to use sources from the internet to help us. When I started working on the packet, I literally did not know the answers to ANY of the questions except one question where it asks what does a water molecule look like… I ended up searching every question up and finding the answers to them, and on the first day of school he’s making us turn in the packet and then take a test on the things we were supposed to learn over the summer.
I am worried that I’ll fall behind tremendously. Overall, I’m a good science student. I’ve had a B in regular bio in freshman year, a B in regular chemistry in sophomore year, and an A in Honors Physics in Junior year. What worries me is that I remember little to no information from my freshman year biology class and sophomore year chemistry class. I think that will negatively affect me in Ap Bio…
Should I drop my AP Bio class or no? I don’t want to fail that class. However, I do love bio so it’s not like I won’t be interested during lectures. But I do feel like the test he’s giving us on the first day of school will really start me off slow.
AP bio works better if you’ve taken honors bio and honors chem.
What would you take instead of AP bio though?
And if the way it’s taught at your school makes it harder than UIUC 's basic bio class, why not take UIUC 's integrative biology 100, which is an awesome class?
Just some encouragement, S took regular biology in 9th grade (only option offered no honors or AP) and got a B. It didn’t interest him. Then over the next couple of years he developed a real interest for biology and realized that is was the teacher not the subject he didn’t like. His senior year he chose to take AP Biology (he changed school his sophomore year) even though he had his 4 sciences in already. He remembered nothing about his original class. The teacher was noted in being hard. He ended up loving it and getting the highest grade in the class, of all sections. He feels he did great on the AP test. So it is possible to do well if you listen hard in class and work hard.
I imagine the purpose of the packet is to teach you things…so if you knew it already then why bother?
What do you want to major in? You will want to be prepared for college science if those are classes that are needed for your major.
Also you can learn to amp up your study skills which will prepare you for college. Here are some tips:
GO TO CLASS, READ THE BOOK, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
Go to Teacher’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
If you have problems with the homework, go to Teacher’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
Form a study group with other kids in your class.
Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or chemistry whatever. Watch online videos on line about the topic you are studying.
If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skill center at your college.
How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? In college, it is generally expected that for each hour in class, you spend 2-3 outside doing homework.
If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the guidance counselor and talk to them.
At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The teacher may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the teacher wants).
If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the teacher’s office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
Take advantage of any test “re-do’s” your teacher may allow…your teacher wants you to learn the material. Future material depends on it so you need to have the foundation. By explaining what went wrong you really understand it. Take advantage of this.