Hello! I will be a rising senior this fall. I was considering taking AP Comp Sci (I’ll major in AP computer science) and adding it to my schedule, but I found out it is the same time as AP Gov & Poli but I REALLY want to take AP Gov & Poli and the teacher is really good. For AP Comp Sci, I don’t really want to take it because this is the first year my school is having it and I don’t like the teacher and I know the course wouldn’t be fun. Should I opt for the class that I’ve been WANTING to take for a long time or the class I’m majoring in, but wouldn’t enjoy? I’m torn
Gov
Hard choice. As an electrical engineering graduate I’d say bottom line take Gov and fill yourself in on the CS material by googling up some programming exercises to teach yourself for fun.
But… AP Physics was the reason I became an electrical engineer as AP courses can help you confirm or steer you to a career choice.
–AP Gov is a very useful course to be “informed” and it actually is worth good college credit because…
AP Computer Science has watered itself down so much over the years as AP continues to make changes to it and it makes me very sad. Pretty much now equivalent to the “remedial” college programming class that introduces students to the subject and prepares them for the actual introductory programming class that Computer Science and Computer Engineers start out taking (Old Computer Science A). And Computer Science A/B which used to be offered was equivalent to the first two semesters.
Quick note: I am a rising ninth grader, so I apologize if my answer is inaccurate or not good. Sorry!
I want to major in political science, so I would pick AP US Government. But it seems that you want to major in Computer Science in university/college. Therefore, I recommend AP Computer Science as you want to major in it. However, if you can take both or self-study one of them, I would recommend doing so since it seems as you are very interested in both classes. It is better, normally, to take AP courses for classes you want to major in because it will help you more in college. But the choice is still and always up to you.
Hope this helped and have a good day!
But see, OP has SAID that they wouldn’t enjoy the class.
You don’t need to take AP Computer Science if there’s something you’d rather take instead, but you’ll probably have to take classes with professors you don’t like once you’re in college, so maybe that’s something to get used to.
See if you can take a comp sci class at a cc. My friends did that.
Take AP Gov - it sounds like you know you’ll enjoy the class more and that it will be taught well. You don’t need to take CS courses in high school to major in it.
You’ll probably learn more in a quarter-long class at college than a year-long high school course on computer science, so why sacrifice a year with a new and possibly underwhelming teacher? If you can take a CS course at a community college then that’s an option as well. Many Profs even say they prefer teaching students without prior “bad habits” in their coding which can either come from being self-taught or poor teachers in high school.