Which AP science for computer science

My S will take Biology honors, Chemistry honors and Physics honors and then choose 1 of those in AP…which would be most useful and why iyo?

@moscott My best suggestion would be physics, since knowledge of how circuits work is useful when dealing with computer architecture. Also, many well-known CS problems can be stated using circuit logic.

@MITer94

Great thank you. Any other courses you would recommend? He will have AP Computer Science and BC Calculus completed as well by that point.

@moscott In terms of AP’s, I can’t really recommend any others for CS. However scores on certain AP tests may exempt him from having to take general ed classes, which may be nice. For physics, I recommend Physics C since it is calculus-based, and more colleges grant Physics C credit than Physics 1/2 (which is not calculus-based).

@MITer94

Thank you. Unfortunately, looking at the curriculum, the highest course they offer at his school is AP Physics B/Physics II. It’s not offered on Florida virtual either.

I recommend that you take a look at the departmental requirements for likely schools.

Since Physics C is unavailable (which could give appropriate Physics credit for the CS program at just about any Florida university - with a high enough score), you should decide if Chemistry of Biology would better serve your child. Physics B will give a nice basis, but won’t result in “usable” credit for a CS student.

At UF, Chem 2045 is required for the major, and so I would recommend AP Chem if that is the first choice school.

At UCF, the additional science requirements can be satisfied with 1 Chem and 1 Bio, or simply 2 semesters of Bio (you must have at least 1 semester of Bio to satisfy the Gen Ed requirements). So, in this case, I would choose AP Bio.

This can be looked up at any school’s website in fairly short order. Happy hunting!