AP Chem vs AP Bio as a rising Junior

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
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Is AP Chem fine to take at the same time as Algebra 2? Or should I take AP Bio instead?
I am leaning towards the medical field- hoping to be an Orthodontist. I just took chemistry as a sophomore but didn’t really have a strong foundation since my teacher wasn’t the best. I’ve also heard that AP Bio will be easier if you take AP chem first.

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Hi! CollegeBoard says that their recommended prerequisite is Algebra 2 for AP Chemistry, and doesn’t specify a math prerequisite for AP Biology (you may already know this, but I thought I’d mention it in case not). You definitely need to have a solid grasp of math for both AP Chemistry and AP Biology, but more so for chemistry.

If you want to get a preview of AP Chemistry course content and see if the math looks familiar, you can look through the Course and Exam description on CollegeBoard’s website (linked below) or search for other AP Chemistry resources to browse the content. However, I would go by what CollegeBoard says is the prerequisite. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-chemistry-course-and-exam-description.pdf

Good luck with your decision!

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My D’s HS progression was bio–> chem–> physics. That was mine back in the day as well.

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AP Chem vs AP Bio as a rising Junior

I’m going to say neither and to take physics. You can take bio if chem as a senior.

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Agree that you should first complete a sequence of bio, chem, and physics.

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@caitlin_burwell

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College Board recommends that you complete Algebra 2 BEFORE taking AP Chem since you will be using math methods learned in Algebra 2 during the class.

You need to check the policies at your school to see whether they will allow take AP Chem will being concurrently enrolled in Algebra 2.

(FWIW, my daughter took AP Phys C will being concurrently enrolled in AP Calc–and said that in retrospect she wished she hadn’t done that since it made the physics class so much harder than it needed to be because she had to teach herself the math she needed for the physics class.)

And I agree with everyone above: bio–> chem–> physics–>AP Bio or AP Chem.

You will need a year of HS physics before you start college as a science major.

BTW: orthodontics is a dental specialty and requires doing to dental school, not medical school. Orthodontics requires a post-dental school residency of 2-3 additional years.

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Just voting with everyone else. I would recommend doing the first year of Bio, Chem, and Physics in whatever order your HS likes, and also Algebra 2, before doing any APs. Then whichever you like of AP Chem or Bio.

As an aside, I do personally think it makes sense to do some advanced/college-level Chem before advanced/college-level Bio, whether that is in terms of APs or in actual college. And in fact I recently learned that WUSTL (where my S24 is currently picking classes for his first term) does it just like that–if you want to do Bio as a major or minor, the standard sequence actually starts with Chem in the first semester, and then the Bio sequence for majors/minors starts in the second semester.

And in fact, all that is really related to why you should take some Physics first. Physics is foundational to Chem, and Chem is foundational to Biology. So while you can maybe get a HS-level introduction to Biology before all that, for advanced/college-level Biology you really should have done some basic Physics, followed by some advanced Chem, and then you are ready for advanced Bio.

And then for REALLY advanced Bio, you need Organic Chem, but that is something you can “enjoy” in the future should you continue along that path.