Hi! I’m wondering what to do about my AP Bio class. I currently have a 77% (cringe…I know) and the marking period ends Friday. I’m extremely stressed out because all of my other grades are high As except for Honors French 4, which I have a B in (French has always been difficult for me, but I’m persevering). Typically, if I started off the year doing this terribly in a class I would drop it immediately. The problem is that I understand the material being taught enough to the point where I think I could score well on the AP test, but this is ONLY the material I’m being taught. This is my teacher’s first year teaching AP Bio and she is using materials from another teacher at our school, such as powerpoints, labs and even the same tests. She doesn’t realize that she misses concepts, then hands out a sheet the day before the test and tells us to read it and come in prepared for the test tomorrow. This teaching style does not work well with me because I typically have busy nights homework-wise every night and it is difficult for me to memorize unfamiliar concepts in their entirety in one night. On our last (and only!) test, I received the second highest grade, a 73%. The class average was failing, and most students received 55%-63% (although a lot were WAY lower-- a student got a 20%). In the other teacher’s class, the average was an 87%.
Obviously I can’t go on getting Cs in a class my junior year. So should I drop the class? Or what should I do?? My school will not let me transfer into the other teacher’s class, I’ve tried.
Sorry if I sound annoying, it’s because I’m really stressed out about this. Thanks in advance for your help.
Also, I feel like I should add that I can’t just “drop” the class, it would be shown as WP (withdrawn passing) which would technically be the same if I had a 65% (the lowest passing grade at my school).
However, I really, really do not want to drop it since I’ve already put in so much effort.
well at this point since you can’t drop the class, and you are almost at a B with 2.5% I would suggest you give it your best for improving. Watch the Bozeman Science Bio videos and maybe go for help at the other teacher since she teaches well. Get a prep book from barrons or cliffnotes and review the concepts before the test. At this point, that is my only rational.
I took AP Bio last year and struggled a lot as well. Every teacher has a different teaching style, but my teacher was a little disorganized her first year as well. She used powerpoints from other sources like the teacher you mentioned. At least for me, we were constantly being tested on thick material in class that eventually wasn’t absolutely essential for the AP exam. The class was a lot of dense textbook reading on my part, but I pushed through it! I recommend watching the Bozeman science videos to supplement with your in class learning. They are very concise and helpful. You should also buy a prep book to supplement with your learnings as well; Barron’s is usually better, and make sure your book fits the new curriculum. At least for the standards at my school, a 77 is not a decent grade at all. However, considering that you scored higher than the large majority of the class, perhaps that’s understandable? Maybe you should ask your teacher to consider giving a bell curve? I can’t advise you to drop the class because I don’t know what the standards are at your school, but if you think you’ll be successful in another class, maybe AP Bio isn’t for you. IDK but best of luck!
I’m taking ap bio this year too, and I agree with the above that Bozeman science is totally helpful. I started doing better in the class once i found a study method that works best for me. I go home and take notes on the textbook and color code them so it forces me to pay attention to what I’m writing (I write vocab in pink, important definitions in orange, etc). I also use quizlets from other people who have taken ap bio since it’s the same curriculum. My teacher is super unorganized too so I rely heavier on my studying than her notes.