<p>I don't know if I should take chemistry honors next year (junior). I really would like to take it but everyone says that the teacher is horrible and that he just doesn't teach anything at all. Should I take it or just find some other AP/honors class to take? I don't want to self-study all the time for hours and get a bad grade. People say that the assignments okay but the tests are just irrelevant to what is being taught. I hate teachers who give those kind of tests. You can study for hours and still get a bad grade because you simply study the wrong thing. What should I do??</p>
<p>I think that you should try it. I think everyone should do chemistry at least once in their high school career.</p>
<p>if you want to bypass taking honors chem , i recc doing a summer study to take the course and be done with it , get credit , and not have to deal with the teacher .
but that's just what i would do .</p>
<p>ew hell no.</p>
<p>Chem's one of those classes where if you have a teacher that's anything less than excellent you'll find it incredibly boring. Luckily I got an excellent teacher for chem soph year.....even though I still got B-'s.</p>
<p>And I must tell you, chem ruined my life.</p>
<p>It sounds like you want to take it simply for the label. Based on your peers, I wouldn't.</p>
<p>Eh, the "everybody says so" thing might not really be true. I know that I like to exaggerate things a bit when its not going my way. And what do you mean by he doesn't teach? My chem teacher never really taught. He would lecture but he didn't really care who was paying attention or not. In fact, on some days we would get sidetracked and talk about other things. Still, somehow we still learned everything (and more since he used to work in the field). </p>
<p>Then again, he was probably the best teacher I've ever had...</p>
<p>My chem honors teacher is extremely horrible. She does not teach at all....just gives answers to practice problems (with no explanation) and expects us to do good on tests.</p>
<p>So, as a result I have to try to self study chem, and self-studying the harder topics, like stoichiometry, isn't easy at all. I got a D the first semester and I'm hanging on to a 75% this semester. It's a nightmare; it ruined my academic record.</p>
<p>Be cautious. Talk with current chem students to make sure the teacher is good, or else you'll be in hell.</p>
<p>I had horrible chem teachers all year long (last year), so I slept in class. I passed every single exam with the highest grade in the class(es) because I went home and studied since I was interested in chem.</p>
<p>If you think you have an interest in chem, I definitely recommend taking it.</p>
<p>If you don't take it at the honors level, will you be taking it at a college prep level at least? </p>
<p>I think whether you would do well with a teacher like that really depends on you. Do you have the motivation to do a lot of self-studying? (Or at least to do a lot of extra work?) Do you mind staying after when you don't understand something? Another thing to consider is what other classes you're going to be taking next year.</p>
<p>Look, even if everyone does tell you how awful the class and teacher are, it doesn't mean you'll have the same experience they did. That was the case with me. I took AP Chem this year, even though all her honors and AP kids spent the entire year complaining about her teaching style last year. I struggled to adjust to her style at the beginning of the year, but now things really aren't that bad, and I'm doing well in it.</p>
<p>So it all depends on you.</p>
<p>Why not regular chem? If everyone says the teacher is that bad, why should you waste your time?</p>
<p>I think I won't be taking it.. I'm really eager to learn but I really want a good teacher to teach me information so I wont WASTE my time!! I also would like the 5.0 if I get an A that is.. Basically the teacher is like this from what I've heard: He doesn't teach that much and mostly talks about irrelevant stuff. He assigns regular problems out of the book and it takes avg of 1-2 hours to complete. Labs and tests are HARD and this is the reason why most people get a bad grade in this class. There are only a few As in all of the classes this year. The only consequence of not taking the class would be the lack of Chem knowledge that I may need for other courses, lack of the 5.0 GPA that I may get if I get an A that is, and the lack of the lable (CHEMISTRY HONORS) on my transcript. Again, I don't take classes just because of the GPA. I take classes because I want to LEARN but I don't think I'll be learning that effectively if I take the class where the teacher doesn't teach and gives hard tests.</p>
<p>One question, should I take the HARDEST courses during my junior year or senior year?? What do colleges consider the most?? Do they consider Senior year at all???</p>
<p>Should I take more APs/Honors in my junior year or my senior year? Would it be better for me to take 4 APs and get mostly As than take 5 APs and get more B's?? Btw, how is class rank calculated? Is it by the weigted GPA (5.0 for honors/Ap) or by the unweighted GPA?? </p>
<p>I don't get how this works. Is there a site where they explain all these admissions stuff? Thanks for all the replies!! =]</p>
<p>Haha, this would be the site to answer those questions.</p>
<p>Junior year is probably the most important year for adcoms. The best case scenario would be to take a rigorous courseload and excel/do well in those classes while balancing your ECs. </p>
<p>Colleges do consider senior year to an extent. If you're applying ED or EA, they most likely won't see your first semester, or even first quarter, grades, but they'll probably ask you on their applications what classes you're taking senior year. However, even if they don't see your first quarter grades at the time of application, you will most likely have to submit a Mid-year Report, which shows your first semester grades. Some schools also require final transcripts. This is to verify that you didn't slack off and start failing after you got into college. If you intend your courseload to be rigorous junior year, then senior year should be similar.</p>
<p>The general trend I've seen is that people take the most number of AP classes senior year, probably because by the time they're seniors, they have the most options. (And for classes that require pre-reqs, you might not have completed them until senior year.) Senior year is a time to keep up your trend of rigorous classes, usually by taking the same number of or more APs.</p>
<p>As for class rank, this varies from school to school. Some schools go by weighted, some by unweighted. You'll have to ask your GC about that one.</p>
<p>As for taking 4 APs and getting A's versus taking 5 and getting B's, the former's probably better.</p>
<p>Well, at my school chem honors is mandatory, so I had to take it. It's not fun or interesting. I guess the labs are okay, but the material is really boring. I hate it......</p>
<p>Oh, and 4 AP's with A's is definitely better.</p>
<p>Lets consider this: 4 APs with all A's or 5 APs with 4 A's and 1 B. Which is better?</p>
<p>For people who have experience in taking 4+ APs, how many hours do you think it would take me per day if I took: APUSH, English H, AP Bio??</p>
<p>Should I take AP Environmental Science? Do Bio and Environmental Science go together?? Is Enviromental Science beneficial GPA/AP Credit wise? Do colleges even count it? Is it easy and is it hard to understand? Thanks again.</p>
<p>I only have taken 2 this year, but I can say that APUSH and AP Bio will require a ton of reading. I know that in APUSH, I have to spend about 12 hours per week solely on work for that class. Lots of writing too.</p>
<p>Try it if it sucks drop and take regular. This happens at my school constantly W/ Chem H kids hate the teacher and drop to regular. I like my Chem H teacher so therefore you can't know if the teacher sucks without giving him a chance.</p>
<p>hell no. my teacher is similarly horrible-assignments OKAY but tests are totally crazy. Really regret it for sophomore year because I had to spend like 15 hours a week studying/doing hw. Maybe you could take AP Chem?</p>