Hello I hope you are having a good day, I’ve come to ask for advice on course selection.
This year I am currently taking english, algebra two plus, ap human geography, ap comp sci principles, PE, and chemistry (regular). I’m heading into sophomore year next year.
Next year I plan to take ap biology for my science. Originally I had planned for ap chemistry to go on top of regular chemistry as that seemed like the sensible path to take. The getting-out-of general education chemistry in college if I scored high enough on the exam is nice too.i discovered most of my friends are taking AP Bio and I want to join them so that’s definitely a factor, but I also feel like ap chemistry next year is hogging up too much space as a science class and I still gotta take bio or a life science to graduate.I would consider myself a pretty good student, going for IB full diploma eventually as well. I’ve heard many good things about advice on this site and I’ve come for your help.
Intended field of study is if relevant or helps:compsci major business minor.
I’m a big believer in making sure you do each of Physics, Chem, and Bio at least once at the HS or college level. As long as going straight to AP Bio is normal in your HS, that seems fine to me.
I may not be too knowledgable about this certain thing but im pretty sure to take an AP course like Chem or Bio you first have to take the honors/lower level version of the course and then only you are allowed to take the course, for example in my district at least to be able to take AP chem, AP bio, or AP physics you first have to respectably take honors chem, honors bio, and do a certain amount of mathematics (Algebra 2 for me) to be able to take the AP version of physics. Take what I am saying as a grain of salt as I may be wrong or I am inaccurately speaking for your respective district or school.
My school doesn’t require any prerequisites for sophomores for AP Bio, AP Chem, or AP Physics, just that you need to take the AP class to move onto the IB version of the class.
I think it’s fine to take AP Bio with your friends.
What have you heard about quality of teaching and AP test outcomes?
As an example, at my kids’ high school, the AP Chem teacher was well-loved but not very effective. Many a high-achieving kid got their only non-passing AP score in chem. In contrast, pass rates for AP bio were very high. If you were at my kids’ school, I’d definitely prioritize AP bio.
All things being equal, though, there’s nothing wrong with joining your friends in AP bio, and it might even be preferable to check the “bio” box before doing a second year of chem.