My son’s school does not allow AP class for Freshman, so he self learned biology and took AP bio (score 5) in freshman.
My question is: if he takes a AP BIO class in Junior year and do well, will this reverse order hurt his admission or doesn’t matter? From your experiences, would you suggest try to avoid this same subject AP or doesn’t matter? Thanks
Doesn’t matter, IMO
Yes. What’s the point in taking the class? In general, I’m not a big fan of self studying a class that the school offers, unless extenuating circumstances exist. But at this point, what’s done is done.
Along the same lines, I can’t imagine that a kid that was motivated enough to self study AP Bio would not be bored taking the class. Surely there is something equally/more rigorous he can take instead.
I can’t imagine he won’t be bored to tears sitting through a daily class on a subject he knows (unless perhaps there are a lot of amazing labs). Is there a different AP science he can take?
Agree here (plus, it looks like obvious grade-grubbing). Why not something new, like physics if he does not already have it in his schedule?
We are in a public school which only allows 1 science class per year. So our plans are ap chem or ap bio in Junior and AP physics in senior. The poor kid sit through bio class in freshman and self studied ap bio and got 5. This year, the physics honor is completely bored him again, so he plans to self study chemistry and take ap chem test. The thing is he has no other choice since we don’t want to pay for private high school, and we can’t send/pick him up from nearby community college to take extra classes per his school counselor’s suggestion. We seriously asked for ap bio class for sophomore but was denied. I guess this is the sad part of attending public school-we don’t have choices on the class selection at all!
I was at a joint info session (HYP & UVa). Someone posed how they viewed self studied AP tests. Each school frowned on it. It’s not about the test or test score – but the learning in the classroom. What’s done is done. Don’t have DS bored in the class now. It’s also about wise choices that show he really is invested in learning – not just accumulating grades and high scores. Good luck
If he is in physics now and wants more challenge, why not do additional study in physics and take the AP physics 1 and/or 2 tests? Then he won’t have to deal with the out-of-order AP test and course next year for chemistry?
Yes, it seems to make more sense to synch the AP tests to when he is taking the course in HS.
This could look pretty confusing on the application. What tier of colleges is he potentially thinking of and what possible major? Agree self-study is dicey when the same course is both offered by the hs and also a standard core. And if he’s thinking STEM, you don’t want a year without a sci course.
What else can he do to advance his experiences related to his academic interests? Does the hs facilitate getting to the comm college? Any public transpo? Ride-sharing?
Appreciate all the comments. AP physics 1 is in the plan.