Which is harder AP Biology or AP Chemistry

Test Preparation AP Sciences
1

I am a sophmore and I have signed up for AP Biology next year as a junior, but now I am having doubts and want to take AP Chemistry. I heard that in bio you need to memorize more and in chem you need to use math and equations more. I have also heard that the college board re did the bio curriculum and test to make bio more analytical and applying knowledge based. I just want to know overall feelings on either class.

2

There is not too much math in chemistry anymore. There’s some, but it’s very basic. For me, the concepts are extremely difficult to grasp because of their intangibility. I think most people would say AP Biology is easier but not easy by any means.

3

AP Chem’s new curriculum isn’t as math-based anymore. AP Bio has easier concepts, but a lot of more content to cover. It all depends on what interests you more. I personally found AP Chem to be waaaaaay harder than AP Bio though.

4

At my DD’s school AP Biology is taken mostly by advanced sophomores without any pre-requisites. But AP Chem is limited to Juniors and Seniors and requires completion of Honors Chemistry and Algebra II with a B or better, plus enrollment in Pre-Calculus or higher. Based on this I think AP Chem is probably harder.

5

Just an FYI, the biology exam changed in 2013. In 2014, 10% of chemistry students got a 5 on the exam, whereas 6.5% of biology students got a 5 on the exam.

I took AP Bio as a Freshman with no prior biology classes. The class was tough, but I ended the year with a high A and a 5 on the new bio AP exam. Workload is dependent on your teacher and your school’s program. Everyone on CC (unless they go to your school) can’t really help you on your class’s difficulty, only on the national AP exam’s difficulty.

6

Honestly, AP Biology is harder in the aspect that it requires more reading. Not only the textbook, but also on the multiple-choice and FRQs, where a lot of information has to be quickly interpreted and understood.

In contrast, AP Chemistry is more about doing. A lot of it is getting the answer and explaining the process.

7

Both seem like nightmares to me. Take the AP Physics route!