Should I or should I not take an AP class sophmore year?

I’m selecting my classes for sophmore year and I was hoping to take at least one AP with my honors classes. I have the choice of either AP Chemistry or AP Psychology but I’m a bit reluctant of taking either honestly. For AP Chem, I know that I’ll have tons of work and I’ve already heard that it is hard. Plus, I haven’t even taken a chemistry class before and I would need to take a summer prep course (which would result in me having a summer workload because I’m already taking a math summer class, along w/ summer reading, volunteering, etc.). For AP Psych, I would need to not take courses that apply for graduation credits and take them in later years (since a social study course isn’t necessary sophmore year). Also, I’d have to read this 800+ pg book for AP Psych this summer too. Overall, I am unsure about what AP class to take, if any. Note that I’m looking into semi-prestigious colleges, so would taking no AP classes sophmore year affect anything?

At my kid’s HS they let you take 1 AP as a sophomore, up to 4 as a junior and no limits as a senior as long as you can handle it.

is AP Biology available? I’ll assume you took regular Biology in 9th? Otherwise AP World History or AP Euro History is available at some schools. AP Psychology is relatively speaking pretty easy. A lot of times students with take AP Psych in 12th grade as a balance to the really hard classes like AP Physics C and AP English Lit.

APs matter from the standpoint that most prestigious schools want you to have your guidance counselor mark down “most rigorous courses taken” for your profile.

@ProfessorPlum168 Thank you for replying! Unfortunately, AP Biology won’t be available until junior year and I actually took Physics in 9th. I was also planning on taking AP Psych my 11th or 12th grade as well, but AP Psych seemed to be my only option other than AP Chem if I want to take an AP in 10th grade.

Is regular chemistry not a prerequisite for AP Chem at your school? Were you planning on taking AP Chemistry at some point anyway?

If you want to take both at some time, then it does not really matter which one you take next year (although AP Psych would probably be a bit of an easier transition). Also note, for many AP classes at many high schools, summer prep work is a. given., so I would not let that be a factor in your decision.

@skieurope Technically it is a prereq somewhat. If I want to take it as a sophmore I’d need to complete an online summer prep course. Otherwise, I would either just take regular Chemistry or Chemistry Honors in 10th grade. I’m not sure if I want to take it at some point besides now (mostly because my only other chance to take it is senior year), but I’ll see. Thanks for your input!

I’m not a big fan of taking AP Chem (or bio) without the corresponding intro course, particularly when it is a prerequisite per the school. Even with the summer prep, know that with the amount of material to cover in the AP class, the teacher is not going to spend much time reviewing old material. You really need a solid grasp of intro chem. Just my opinion.

My kid took AP Chem without any prerequisite other than a few weeks of summer prep. He struggled along for the first 2 months or so but persevered and got a 5 on the AP. FWIW.

@skieurope Yep, that’s mostly why I became hesitant of taking it. I know I won’t be familiar with the material enough.

@ProfessorPlum168 That’s true perseverance! There are just so many chances I could be taking if I do the same.

Ask the guidance department what criteria they use for checking the “most rigorous curriculum” box. At our school it’s 2 AP classes. Not exactly “most rigorous” in my opinion. My kid took 10 APs!

NO college expects you to take AP Chem sophomore year, especially without the appropriate intro course (it’s considered a jr/sr course). Not Harvard, not MIT, not Caltech. So if you’re aiming for “semi prestigious” by which I assume you mean top 50 universities/LACs/honorscollege at your flagship, it’s actually to your advantage to NOT take AP Chem sophomore year. However since so far you’ve had intro physics and biology you WOULD be expected to take Chemistry (preferably Honors) sophomore year.
Junior and Senior year you could take two from AP Physics 1 or 2, or AP Chem, or AP Bio, or if you’re aiming at a Social Science/Business/Humanities major, APES + another one.
AP Psych is a relatively easy AP, one of the “AP lites”, so it’s a good “first AP”. Another good “first AP” is AP Human Geography.
What’s that 800 page book you’d have to read?
Note that selective colleges will expect 4 years of social science/history, regardless of whether your HS makes it a HS graduation requirement; you’ll also be expected to have 4 years of English, each of biology, chemistry, physics, + 1 more science, math through precalculus or calculus, foreign language through level 3, 4, or AP. Those are your core courses. For the rest, take classes of interest. In terms of rigor, English should be Honors or AP if possible, and you should have 4-8 AP’s TOTAL for all of HS (which would translate as 1 sophomore year, 2-3 junior year, 2-4 senior year.)

I would recommend taking AP Psych because it is recommended to have a strong foundation in Chemistry before entering AP Chem.

I would not take AP Chem…I would take Honor Chem at this point.
AP Psych might be doable…are you interested in the topic?

@MYOS1634 Sorry for the misinterpretation, I haven’t taken biology yet as I am taking it junior year and the same requirement for AP Chemistry follows for AP Biology (a summer prep course). I’m willing to take AP Psych, just a little on the fence because of the credits thing. I’m expected to fufill graduation credits from certain classes (painting, photography, etc.) by the end of sophmore year. Instead I would be taking AP Psych and not those classes, having to take them later. So is it worth doing? Also, the 800+ pg book is The Story of Psychology.

@SaraiM1 I see. Thank you!

@bopper Yeah, I will probably take Chemistry Honors and not the AP. I am interested in Psych, so I agree that it might be doable.