<p>So I have to sign up for course for next year, and I was wondering if this courseload would be too difficult for me to handle. I am a fairly strong student. </p>
<p>AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP English Language
AP US
AP Calculus AB
Spanish V</p>
<p>Is it worth doubling on science next year? Anyone who has taken AP Bio/Chem in the same year?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Pairing AP Bio and AP Chem is my school is really. Most people, who are willing to put the effort, do fine handling both.</p>
<p>With SAT’s, I honestly don’t see how you would manage.</p>
<p>^^ Sorry, I meant to say - really <em>common</em></p>
<p>I’m a Junior and my schedule is almost the same as your schedule b/c I’m taking AP Chem, AP Lang, Calc AB, and APUSH, too. Mine is pretty manageable for me and your schedule seems pretty manageable (if as you said you are a “fairly strong student”)…unless you have a really harsh teacher.
I was considering taking AP Bio the same year, but decided to continue Journalism instead. For my school, taking both AP Bio and AP Chem is uncommon b/c AP Bio and AP Chem are pretty harsh (I really have no clue how I’m surviving AP Chem) compared to the other AP science classes at my school. So, I guess it depends on how harsh it is at your school…</p>
<p>I would say leave at least one of the ap sciences out for senior year. If you want to apply to ivy’s or other high caliber schools, though, then stick to your schedule- they want to see you taking the most challenging workload.</p>
<p>Well, Bio and Chem are very different, so it shouldn’t be a problem…but good luck studying for both the AP Bio AND APUSH exams, since those are entirely memorization. I have friends who say that it’s a terrible combo.</p>
<p>Bio+USH = really hard time. yeah, you’re going to have to face learning so much information compared to the other AP classes. However, it’s still feasible to ace the class and the exam.</p>
<p>Yes what nonexistent and jerry said, bio and u.s are harsh. They require intensive memorization. And the work load is heavy. If it was bio and chem, or chem and u.s then it’d be different, and probably wouldn’t be as tiring. Chem has some memorization, but mostly thinking skills.</p>
<p>I think it all depends on the school. You should talk to the current juniors at your school who are taking what you’re planning on taking, and get a feel from them on how hard the class really is/how intensive the workload. At my school at least, Chem Bio & US history are probably the three hardest classes, and nobody is taking all 3 this year. It might be different for you though, that’s why you should talk to people who can give you advice specific to your school :)</p>
<p>Alright thanks for the input guys! I finally decided to take AP Physics B instead of AP Biology. Hopefully this will require less memorization.</p>
<p>Good decision.</p>
<p>It varies extensively depending on your school and individual ability. Case in point:</p>
<p>My school operates on a 4-class block schedule, and APs are year-round. Ergo, I spend 90 minutes a day for an entire year for each AP class, which results in a greater workload. People from my school take fewer AP classes but get higher scores. Certain AP classes also involve different workloads: I haven’t done any homework for Chem in 2 months (too lazy to study for review tests), I’ve done maybe a couple problems a day for Calc BC, and I’ve done nothing but a term paper in Psych for the last month and a half. On the other hand, my school’s APUSH block is getting absolutely raped by the teacher…I’m fairly sure the highest grade in there is a B+ right now.</p>
<p>tl;dr: It depends on your school’s teachers.</p>
<p>^Agreed. The highest grade on the Midterm for APUSH in my school was a 66. It was then curved to a 92. It’s ridiculous. I’m scared to take APUSH next year. I would like to mention; however, that the 66 was from a kid who has a 99.7 in the actual class.</p>
<p>If you read actual books and have done well in school, APUSH in a very easy AP. Students who do not score well simply do not study. The concepts are fairly easy to grasp…it does require some easy memorization. You just need to read AMSCO and Crash Course, and unless you retain no information, you will get a 5. </p>
<p>I agree that Bio is hard…</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the advice. I ended up signing up for the above schedule except I switched AP Bio for AP Physics B. Hopefully this will lower the amount of reading every night. I will take AP Bio senior year.</p>
<p>Chem and Bio would have been a good combination, in my opinion. APUSH might be the hardest AP course in your schedule… Either that or Physics.</p>
<p>Bio really isn’t that hard if you take it in school. It does take some reading, but not much. I haven’t read from our textbook for this entire second semester, and I have a high A in the class and am doing well on practice AP exams.</p>
<p>SeekingUni. I would have done that however the school administration has decided that after next year, Honors Physics would be required to take AP Physics. I decided to go ahead and take AP Physics next year in order to bypass the Honors Physics requirement. I don’t really want to take 2 years of Physics. Therefore I will be taking Bio senior year.</p>
<p>That’s kinda silly, IMO. What if you wanted to self-study AP Physics and just take the exam. Would they not let you since you haven’t taken honors physics?</p>
<p>I hate when the schools restrict our options like that. It makes hardly any sense to me.</p>
<p>I would suggest you instead of taking AP Bio, take AP Stats.
AP Bio + APUSH may be too much for most schools. At all my friends’ schools, it is crazy cuz both classes are about memorization. Chem and Stats aren’t too intensive on reading, they are more about application. Plus with Spanish V, i don’t think you’ll want to memorize Bio terms after learning Spanish terms and all those Acts and tariffs and panics in APUSH</p>