First of all, I understand that at least for the further levels the USNCO exams generally go far beyond AP Chemistry but it is usually said to be a good baseline for content. Second of all, I realize AP Chemistry is generally regarded as one of the harder APs and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
As a background, I’ve known about the science olympiads for a year or so but zeroed in on the possibility of doing USNCO earlier this year. I’ve always been interested in chemistry and STEM in general, but I decided to look into it more this summer. I’ve been self studying the chemistry (non-AP) course on khan academy as well as researching the field in general and have confirmed its definitely something I’m interested in competing in, at least over the other science olympiad options. I did a form of academic competition last year and really enjoyed it, so this is definitely something I would be willing to commit to.
This year I’m going to be a sophomore, and the way it usually goes in my area is that you take Honors Chemistry and then AP Chemistry as a junior. I’m pretty confident based on where I am now that I can finish the chemistry content on Khan academy. I’m not sure if this covers all of honors chemistry or not but it does seem to have many similarities with the AP chem content that’s on there. That being said, I know it is possible to take AP Chem as a sophomore even though its a challenging class and I’m sure having chemistry content under my belt would help.
If I take AP Chem early I would probably take the exam as a junior after studying the content that goes beyond the AP class. I understand USNCO has multiple stages so if I didn’t make it far as a junior I would have the opportunity to take it again as a senior.
If I take AP Chem as a junior what could happen is I either
Take USNCO senior year, hopefully still self studying throughout sophomore and junior year alongside the classes so I have a good chance of getting far
Possibly get to the point in self study where I pass AP Chem before or during taking the class (the same could happen with honors chem) and still take the exam junior year
Taking AP Chem as a sophomore seems like a safer decision purely speaking from a USNCO focused standpoint. I’d rather not be studying different material than what is going on in my classes in school if I did end up getting to that point. It also gets a difficult class out of the way and leaves junior year to self study. However, I understand this may not be worth it from a bigger picture perspective due to the difficulty of the class and stress it could cause. I’ve been taking higher level classes since middle school but haven’t taken any AP classes yet (I will be likely be taking 2 or 3 other AP classes this year).
Lastly, due to the obvious situation of the current pandemic conflicting with schools, this could all fall apart regardless depending on how things go. This is all assuming things go relatively smoothly in the coming year.
If anyone can offer some input or share some experience if they have been in a similar situation I would really appreciate it, thanks in advance.
TL;DR: Should I try and take AP chem a year early to get ahead on USNCO content or just take honors chem and continue self studying the material with the possibility I might be ahead of AP Chem content by the time I take the class?
