AP Bio or Honors Physics?

rbashier
Tue, 06 Aug 2013 00:21:39 +0000

Honors Physics. I’m kinda in a similar boat (but it’s a bit complicated because I’m PSEO and I ended up taking Intro Biology at Harvard Summer School), but my brother who just graduated with a degree in Genetics, Cell Development, and Cell Biology and another degree in Physiology strongly suggested that I don’t take AP Bio, or even the Harvard Bio course! He did, and went to University of Minnesota and said that colleges are extremely picky when it comes to biology credits and he pretty much had to retake the class, even though he did well on the AP exam.

I think it’s better to have a more well-rounded academic background before going into college so you can keep your major options open, especially if you haven’t taken any physics in high school. Also, even though you’re already thinking pre-med, the college isn’t going to require that you have the solid foundation of AP Bio as a term of acceptance. Well-rounded is better, in my opinion.

Also, especially if you’re going to go to a more selective college, you’ll probably going to have to retake a similar class. I’m kind of regretting taking an 8 credit, 2 semester Harvard Bio class in 7 weeks because you’re really going to need this stuff later on… (I’m also pre med!). Instead, I might just not have my credits transfer (because I’m probably going to end up with a B and don’t wanna ruin my GPA), and I’ll just sorta know what I’m doing when I take the course again in college. I am planning on taking physics next semester though, so I’ll have that too.