<p>I am currently a junior in high school, I have a 3.94 GPA, and my school is starting senior course registration and I am having a hard time deciding which 3 AP courses to take senior year. Please give me your input!
First options:
AP Chemistry
AP Physics C
AP Calculus AB</p>
<p>Sorry accidentally submitted early!(I'm new at this)
Second option:
AP Chemistry
AP Government
AP Statistics
I plan to be a bio major in college (already taking AP Bio) and option 1 would probably be the more beneficial choice, but I'm worried that it would be too rigorous. I will more than likely have to take those classes in college anyway. So is it worth it to let my GPA take a hit and go for option 1 or should I go for the less rigorous option 2. While on the subject is AP calculus BC a lot harder than AB or is it no big deal? Please Help!</p>
<p>Calc BC covers more material than AB and should be very rigorous: all proofs presented and HW problems difficult. If you don't feel up to Calc BC, you should consider Physics B instead of Physics C in option 1. Which option you choose should depend on which set of courses interests you more, and what level of college you are interested in. Option 2 looks more lightweight for a science student applicant to a strong college. While it's true you might have to retake Chem and Physics in college (you can almost surely place out of Calc with an adequate score) you will be better prepared for difficult courses if you have taken the AP classes.</p>
<p>Thanks, but my school doesn't offer physics B only C I would definately much rather the B course but it's not an option.</p>
<p>Are there scheduling conflicts that limit you from taking another combination of APs? Two AP sciences is a LOT (friends of mine have done it before), but the first schedule does look better overall. </p>
<p>I'm taking BC calc now, and from what I can gather the main difference is pace. We just don't take class time to review things, and we cover material very fast. If you find yourself in Precalc, understanding a new concept before most other students, you can probably do BC. But if you don't really like math, don't bother. </p>
<p>Honestly, of these five subjects, which interest you the most?
Also, talk to current seniors at your school who are taking these classes. They'll be able to tell you if, for instance, Stats gets more work than Calc AB, AP Physics lab reports take forever, or AP Gov't has a horrible teacher. Those kinds of things can all influence your decision. Ultimately, both schedules look good. The first looks more hardcore. You need to take what is going to make you happy and sane.</p>
<p>It also depends on how much your school differentiates between Calc AB and BC.
When I took Calc, the course covered all the topics on the BC exam except for polar coordinates and Tylor series. We would have talked about those too if we had not run out of time. In the end, the whole course took the AB exam because our teacher felt that it looks better to score a 5 on the AB exam than a 3 or a 4 on the BC one.</p>
<p>I would take option one, but I am a science person.
I don't know which schools you consider applying to, but Calc will help you much more than Statistics will. A lot of schools don't even give credit (nor advanced placement) for the AP Statistic exam because it does not cover all the topics of an introductory college statistics class.</p>
<p>Anyone else I could really use some more advice/opinions this is a huge decision for me. Please Help!</p>
<p>As a fellow biology major, I suggest AP Calculus, AP Statistics, and AP Chemistry.</p>
<p>Many CCers sneer at AP Statistics, but statistics is very, very useful for a biology major. Physics C will be difficult without a calculus background; I wouldn't advise it. In any case, the topics covered in Physics C are not directly relevant to biology. The first semester of AP Calculus BC is usually a fast review of Calculus AB; the second semester brings in new material.</p>
<p>If the combination isn't possible, I'd go with option 1.</p>
<p>Is'nt it way too hard to do 2 AP math's at the same time.</p>
<p>Not any harder than it would be to take Calc and Physics at the same time. If you're not comfortable with two maths, statistics can be taken in college (preferably calc-based). In that case, I'd recommend Option 1. </p>
<p>(Option 1 is definitely doable. While taking IB Biology HL, IB Chemistry HL, AP Physics C, AP Calculus BC, IB History HL, IB English HL, IB German, and IB TOK my senior senior, I managed to maintain a 4.0. It just takes a lot of time management.)</p>
<p>Go with option one, but be prepared to work. Option 2 is out of the question though--Stat and Gov are wayyyy too easy and you need to be challenging yourself. In my opinion the best combo is AP Chem, AP Calc, and AP Stat. You will have a challenging math, a challenging science, and one less challenging course. AP Physics would be wayyy too much work and would compromise your GPA. </p>
<p>I notice that another above poster suggested this same combo. So, looks like your best bet :)</p>
<p>As for AB vs. BC calc: if you are naturally good at math I suggest BC calc but if you are like me and are not terribly intuitive with math--go with AB and get a good calc foundation. After studying AB for a year it's easy to go back and learn the BC material over a summer. But a BC course might move too fast for you to grasp the fundamentals. I recommend AB unless you're very good at math (I don't consider myself that good, and I got a 790 on the SAT 1 math/5 on APCalc AB in 11th grade)</p>
<p>Calc AB (most top colleges recomend taking calc in high school if possible)
AP Chem (good for bio majors, might as well have the background before being forced to take it in college)
AP Stat (easier A than AP Physics (which is calculus based anyway))</p>
<p>About BC vs AB, it really depends on your school, and I strongly suggest talking to currend seniors in both (and don't ask the math geniuses in BC). AB should be easier, but maybe BC is doable.</p>
<p>Here is my concern with a calc chem stat combo. In Utah Hs's they have this program called sterling scholar which would give full ride scholarships based on expertise in one area (Math Science English etc.) were I to not take AP Physics I worry that I may not get the science award for my school.</p>
<p>warblersrule86 if you look at this post again in your preparation for AP Physics what courses did you take (Calc AB Physics H) because I havn't done any, but the AP Physics teacher says as long as you take calc you can take AP Physics (this is probably because our school is run on a trimester schedule so we acctually spend a lot more time in an AP class than a school on a standard schedule) </p>
<p>Any more opinions would be great as well.</p>
<p>I took the IB equivalent of Calc AB my junior year, but I hadn't had physics before. In my class the people taking Physics C and Calc AB struggled a bit more than others, but that may have been because my teacher taught us waaaay more than we needed to know (including basic diff eq's :eek:). My advice would be to talk to the people currently in Physics C at your school and get a feel for how math-intensive it is.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your input guys. I've decided to go for option 1</p>
<p>is ap us gov usually considered easy?! we have a lot of history APs but at my school this is considered one of the hardest courses -- but, now that i think about it, maybe its just cause this teacher is much more challenging then all the other AP history teachers.. do colleges see this as an "easy" course, though?! i definately took it because it was the hardest one i hadnt taken in my school... but watch it looks like the easiest... greeeaaat.</p>
<p>anyways... option one looks very hard -- are the rest of your classes easy, though? if you do decide on that id make sure your other 2 arent that challenging.</p>
<p>and im in AP Stats. I took it because its the easiest AP (I suck at math and am taking other hard classes), and it is really easy, but its actually suprisingly useful in classes like bio/environmental/gov.</p>