I’m asking this as UMD (the school I want to go to) is very competitive and I’m just wondering if this would affect my chances.
It depends on the rest of your application (courses, grades, etc.). It also depends on what alternative course you will choose or already chose in place of AP chemistry.
Without that context, people will not be able to tell you whether choosing or not choosing one course in isolation will matter.
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@Zaid_Khalid Are you a Junior or a Senior? What are other Science class choices you have at your school? It really depends, but in the STEM field you are expected to take most vigorous classes offered. Without any context, the answer is probably yes, it “would be bad not to take AP Chemistry” if you want to study Mechanical Engineering.
It certainly won’t be helpful to skip chemistry and then to apply to college for mechanical ingineering. Mechanical Engineering deals with thermodynamics, heat transfer, and properties of fluids among other things, and closely related to ME is Materials Science. Chemistry is basic to all of these.
The real question is why would you not take chemistry if you are interested in Mechanical Engineering?
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Either way, you’ll be taking it at some time. It’s part of most ME curricula and needed for Materials.
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My daughter recently graduated as a MechE from a T10 program without AP Chem. As a MechE myself, I agree with her choice of Physics C instead.
I took AP Chem, as our school did not have AP Physics. I don’t recall using any of it in Thermo, Fluids, etc. Freshman Physics teachings were quite widely used in Statics, Dynamics, Stress, Materials, Vibrations, and other courses.
It’s better to take it than a study hall, basket weaving, etc. But it’s far from mandatory and I’d recommend Physics instead, if available.
This assume that you’ve taken one year of Chem. A first year course in Bio, Chem, and Physics should be prioritized before any APs.
You’ll almost certainly require both Chem and Physics in a first-year Engineering program. (CMU is 2 Physics, 1 Chem. It was 3&2 when I attended).
(Fwiw, I reviewed my school’s (CMU) MechE plan of study and course catalog. Fluids, Thermo, Statics, Stress all have Physics and Calc as the pre-reqs. Materials is just Calc. A grad course I’m Air Quality Engineering was the only Chem I could find)
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Both of our kids are MEs who graduated from top 10 publics and neither took AP Chemistry.
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I’m sure it varies from school to school. I only looked up 3, but Michigan, Cal Poly and Purdue all require Chemistry as a prerequisite for Materials.
That’s in no way saying AP Chem is necessary, but rather saying choosing ME isn’t a guaranteed way to dodge Chemistry.
For UMD I think.you are ok. Absolutely ensure you have one year of bio, phys and chem and at least one of those also AP level.
My S20 had the above with AP Chem and was accepted into Chemical Engineering at UMD. General chemistry is required of engineering majors so you’ll be taking it as a freshman anyway. You could test out of it there with a 4 on the AP exam.
The rest of your application is more important than one AP class. UMD selects by admission to the college first and then admission to specific major. It is competitive these days but if you have a good application you’ll at least get admitted to L&S and can apply to engineering once completing the gateway courses.
Whatever you do, apply EA, do not wait for RD.
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I’m a junior. I took AP Bio this year. and I did take Honors Bio, honors chem, and honors physics as well.
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Take AP Physics and AP Calc next year if you can and they are available. Those will be the most applicable for ME. You will likely be doing some coding as an ME student too, so knowing how to do that before you enter college will be a help.
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According to another thread the OP already took, is taking AP Calc AB and may also be interested in CS. I do agree that AP Physics could serve them well.
What are you thinking of taking for your senior year classes OP? Are you in-state?
Yeah, I’m in-state. I’m thinking of taking AP Calc BC, AP Physics, and maybe AP Chemistry
Depending on your grades and total application you should be a great candidate then. UMD is a great value for in-state students and has well regarded engineering and CS programs.
Yeah, I have like 5 B’s, and the rest are A’s so I’m a little worried about the B’s though. I got them in Honors physics, Pre Calc, Spanish 2, Anatomy and Microbiology
Nothing wrong with “some” B’s. Your grades sound similar to my son’s and he’s at UMD now. Keep up the good work.
Not taking AP Calc BC could be an issue, and AP Physics is better for you than AP Chem.
If it’s Physics C IMHO
I would think to be competitive for any engineering program, the more AP STEM classes, the better. If your school offers it and you can fit it into your schedule, take it. Our son took AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics and AP BC Calc. We did not have him take Calc II at the local university his senior year because it would have been a logistical nightmare, but we did have him take AP Statistics to fulfill most engineering programs’ four year math requirement.