Should I self-study AP Biology if I am interested in pre-med?

I’m currently a junior in high school and am interested in pursuing a pre-med track I am currently doing well in my honors biology class and had been planning all year to self-study for the AP biology exam and have been keeping up with the AP textbook and other supplements; however, I have read that many college students believe those who did not take AP biology at school were disadvantaged in intro to biology courses in the first few semesters of college. Does anyone have any experience with this? I cannot decide whether I should continue to self-study AP biology, or to just take the class next year in school. I had originally planned on self-studying because a) I am taking honors bio this year and because I love biology motivation is not an issue for me and b) I was planning on taking AP Physics C next year since I am taking Calc BC this year and wanted to avoid doubling up on science AP’s since I am going to be taking 4-5 AP’s next year.

I just really want to know how big of a difference it will make in pre-med courses if I lack as solid of a foundation in biology compared to other students who took the AP course as I am aware that studying for the AP exam itself is not as comprehensive as the course itself. Thanks for any and all help!

Another note –– part of the reason I had decided to self-study AP biology is that my school does not offer AP courses until junior year, so I am only enrolled in two AP’s this year. My friends in schools in neighboring towns have already taken 4-5 AP’s and so I was hoping to take the AP biology exam to be able to “match” the standard in surrounding schools.

I’m a current pre-med student (senior in college and got all A’s in pre-med/science coursework; now I’m just studying to take the MCAT again). Tbh, it’s in your best interest to take the intro-Bio course once you get to college. There are a number of reasons for this: 1) a lot of med schools will not accept AP credit for pre-med coursework (especially something as vital as Bio; the only exemption for this is if you make it up with comparable upper-level coursework), 2) AP Bio isn’t comparable to a lot of college’s intro-level Bio classes (mine was one of them; you weren’t allowed to exempt for AP credit because it didn’t match the rigor of the curriculum) 2) you need to master the information as much as you can, so don’t rush into completing these classes just to get them out of the way, 3) if you decide to go to a college where you can exempt using AP credit, you could be at a disadvantage when you take upper-level coursework if you don’t know the basic material well enough, 4) I’m not sure if self-studying for any AP science class will give you the tools/experience that you need in order to succeed, so I’m very skeptical.

Basically, you should definitely take AP Bio as an actual course (not just self-study) to challenge yourself and to get acclimated to almost college-level coursework. However, I wouldn’t recommend using AP credit to exempt out of Intro Bio. GPA and mastery of the material are SO IMPORTANT when it comes to medical school admissions. It’s in your best interest to take your time and make sure that you REALLY know everything so that you can succeed.

Also (side note), don’t use AP Physics credit to exempt yourself out of Physics, either. You aren’t likely to take any comparable upper-level coursework if you do this. Just take it in college and use the AP as a basis for preparing yourself.

Another side note: college admissions counselors don’t care if you couldn’t take APs before your friends at other schools. Lots of people can’t take APs until their junior year. That doesn’t make them any less competitive than people who went to a school where they were able to take them freshman year. Just do what you can with the resources that you have (without burning yourself out). That’s all that they’re looking for.