My school seems to be pretty unorthodox in that it did not allow my class (2018) to take more than 1 AP class until junior year. Because of this, all students were required to take something called Coordinated Sciences, which spanned the whole year freshman year and taught us basic middle school science. It my opinion, it was unnecessary, but the school was also extremely strict about prerequisites before going into AP Sciences.
As of now, I have taken Coordinated Science Honors, Biology Honors, AP Bio, Chemistry (honors was not offered), and now I am wondering whether it would look better on my transcript if I took AP Physics or AP Chemistry when applying as a psychology major.
Both AP science teachers at my school are notoriously bad and I chose AP Chem because I’m bad at math and conceptual things, but now I’m worried.
It’s my understanding that most kids don’t have to take this ‘coordinated sciences’ class and have much more wiggle room in taking advanced classes so I know I’m already at a disadvantage. Any advice would help!
Edit: I can only take one of the two because I have 6 periods and have 5 AP classes already. I don’t think I can handle 6 with my extracurriculars.
One of my sons had to take a similar general science course in 9th grade before being allowed to take Bio, Chem or Physics. It reduced the number of AP science classes he was eligible to take, so he made sure to mention the restriction on his college applications in the explanations section.
I think that AP Chem is a good choice for a psychology major because it could help later when you study neurotransmitters and psychopharmacology. Since the teacher is known to be bad, be sure to buy one of the AP Chem study books and get a head start over the summer (if you stick with the Chem choice.) Some teachers leave out important sections that are on the AP test, so you may have to teach yourself from the book.
If you are applying to more selective colleges, it is best to have all three of biology, chemistry, and physics among your high school courses (they do not necessarily have to be AP level courses).