Will it be difficult to handle AP Chemistry and AP Biology at the same time?

<p>A lot of people are telling me it will be hell! However, I really love science and I want to major in biochem, and take my pre-med requirements, and eventually go to medical school! </p>

<p>I also have:
AP Calc BC
AP English Lit
AP Government</p>

<p>If you've taken both did you find it hard to balance? If you've only taken one can you give me organization tips or how to do well in the class.</p>

<p>If you've taken the other three classes can you give me tips for them too, thanks :). </p>

<p>My junior year, I doubled up in AP Chem and AP Bio. (I also took AP Eng, APUSH, and AP Calc BC.) Balancing it all wasn’t too bad, until a couple months before AP tests. If you have good background knowledge in biology, AP Bio should be a breeze (it also depends how much busy work your teacher gives for hw, but the course material isn’t hard at all). AP Chem got pretty watered down last year, and if you’re good with concepts/intuition (as opposed to calculations), then Chem shouldn’t be too difficult. A lot of my friends had trouble with Chem b/c they were so used to plug-and-chug formulas instead of asking the big “why” questions. Also, my chem teacher fell behind schedule and had to teach us the last 3 chapters in 2 months (the hardest stuff like kinetics, equilibrium, titrations, buffers), but the rest of the year wasn’t too terrible.</p>

<p>I wasn’t too organized for AP Bio, tbh (it’s child’s play compared to USABO, which I was already studying for at the time - plus I already knew ~80% of the material), but I would suggest making flashcards and separating them into the four “Big Ideas” that are on the AP exam. I didn’t have to memorize a lot - the test writers took out a lot of the memorization-heavy stuff like taxonomy, plants, etc. </p>

<p>For AP Chem, I kept a 4-inch binder of all my notes, diagrams, worksheets, reference materials, etc., even the ones from Honors Chem the year before, separated by book chapter. It’s crucial to keep up with homework because chem is very fast-paced. And speak up in class if you have no idea what’s going on because everything builds on top of previous concepts. (Less so for AP Bio.)</p>

<p>If you’re really passionate about science, I’d say go for it! Chem and Bio complement each other nicely, and you’ll be able to get the most out of each course if you take them at the same time. Good luck!</p>