Taking AP Spanish & AP Environmental Science vs. just AP Biology?

Applying to College
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<p>I was planning on taking AP Spanish & AP Environmental Science my senior year (alongside AP English, AP Statistics and AP Government). However, I am applying to 5 year OT programs and my college counselor really thinks I should take AP Biology. </p>

<p>However, AP Biology takes up 2 periods at my school so if I take it, I need to drop AP Spanish. Or should I drop AP Government since I already have 5 history credits? (Honors World History, Criminology/International Diplomacy (1 semester each), US History, AP Microeconomics and AP European History)</p>

<p>Should I take AP Bio, or AP Environmental and AP Spanish? The workload will be similar either way.
BTW, my top choice is USC, if the school choice matters.</p>

<p>Thank you for any advice you can give!!</p>

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<p>What other science classes have you had? AP Enviro doesn’t really substitute for AP Bio if you’re a little weak in science classes, but AP Spanish and AP Gov are both good classes to have, so you have a bit of a dilemma.</p>

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<p>I disagree about AP Gov. It is so lite, that some (many?) top colleges don’t even recognize it.</p>

<p>For your OT career, Bio will be much more valuable than Enviro. Ditto Spanish over Gov.</p>

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<p>MrMom62 I have taken/am currently taking CP Physics (got a 75), CP Biology (got a 98) , Anatomy/Physiology (got a 97) , and Honors Chemistry (got a 88)</p>

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<p>On AP Gov, it may depend on who’s teaching it as to the level of the course. At our HS, the AP Gov teacher (who’s near retirement) has a friend who teaches at a state flagship and says that the AP Gov taught at our HS is actually more rigorous than the freshman Gov course taught at the flagship.</p>

<p>OP, you have all the sciences covered, yet you have no core AP science, and you want to go into a science-based major. It’s not absolutely essential, but I do think it would look better if you had a core science at the AP level rather than AP Enviro. What else you take is up to you, but I think the AP Gov course might be the obvious one to let go, given your other social studies classes already taken. </p>

<p>Just be aware that AP Spanish can be very difficult to do well in, many excellent foreign language students at D’s HS report really struggling with it and/or the time required by it. YMMV.</p>

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<p>At this point you should just think about what you WANT to do. This year I took AP Bio/physiology (prerequisite) because I thought I needed more sciences… BAD DECISION. TERRIBLE. I hate it. Should have taken AP Art History instead.</p>

<p>Anyway, in my experiences, colleges care more about the sheer # of AP classes you take than which ones you take, provided you’re not all over the map or are clearly only taking the easy ones (i.e. Psych, lol). </p>

<p>Personally, I’d go with AP Spanish and AP Environmental Science. I took AP Spanish last year as a junior, and it was super interesting and enriching. Environmental Science isn’t offered at my school, but it sounds pretty awesome. Bio… meh. But I suppose that’s just me.</p>

<p>Ok, honestly, I don’t really know. But that’s what I would do.</p>

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<p>Don’t project your own experiences on to OP - Art History? Really? OP is looking at going into a science-related program. </p>

<p>And never mistake quantity for quality.</p>

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<p>At my kids’ HS AP Gov is one of the very hardest AP courses. The teacher is thorough and hard and his kids basically all get 4/5 on the exam AND get a ton of project and writing experience. It is not unusual for kids to get a 5 on the exam but NOT an A in the course.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the helpful information everyone! I decided to listen to my college counselors advice and take AP Bio, since it makes sense for my major.
I have one more question though: I was thinking about dropping my study hall and taking a 2nd science? Either retaking physics (I got a 75 freshman year; I would probably take honors physics though) or taking AP Chemistry? Which will look better?</p>