I’m having trouble choosing between AP Bio and AP Environmental. APES is taught by my one of my favorite teachers, and I also hear it’s quite an easy class, so I would definitely prefer to take it over Bio. I also hear that AP Bio is one of the most difficult AP’s and I don’t know the teacher. I know it’s lazy, but I really just want to take my senior year a little bit more easily.
Also, right now I’m thinking that I will either enter a 6 year pharmacy program (which lets you get a PharmD in 6 years while taking classes over the summer) or major in biology then enter pharmacy school.
My other classes for next year are: AP Econ, AP Lit, H Physics, College Spanish 12 (there’s only college and AP), and Pre-Calc
I hear that colleges don’t care what AP’s you take, but rather how you do on them. How much would a college value me taking AP Bio over Environmental? Do you think it’s worth it?
As a potential biology major it does seem like a good idea to take AP Bio.
However, you’re totally right to try and loosen up a bit your senior year! The last thing you want to do is succumb to senioritis.
It really depends on the school, I think. Focus on staying in the game first, though; senior year gives you a bit more leeway.
If you are going into a Bio major or Pharm definitely definitely take AP Bio…you need to be prepared. Either you can get credit for it, or you will have a step up on knowing the material (and most other students will have take AP Bio too).
You over estimate the amount of time that colleges will take to analyze your transcript. While you will spends hours and hours on your application, the college will spend 12-15 minutes at most reading it. The college will look to see that your GC has rated your schedule as “most demanding” and then move on.
So taking the admissions process out of the equation, AP Bio does seem to be more aligned with your future plans.
Not sure, @skieurope …if you were applying to a 7 year PHarm program or wanted to be an Bio major and hadn’t taken AP Bio I would look askance…much like if you wanted to be an engineer but hadn’t taken Calculus (if offered)
My experience has always been that a college will tell you what it expects; it will not expect an applicant to read between the lines. YMMV. Regardless, if the OP is targeting a specific combined program, s/he can always ask the school.
There is a difference between an AP class and the exam itself, so it may be that the class is ‘fairly easy’- but find out what the AP scores were for last years class: the APES exam is a dark horse, and considerably harder than most people give it credit for being. If the scores from your school are high then most likely it’s not that easy a class- but if they are low it may well be. Also, Bio - while still challenging- is not as bad as it was before the re-set a couple of years ago.
If you are serious about the combined pharmacy program imo you would benefit by the boost to your application - your course rigor isn’t dazzling to start with, and those combo programs are very competitive. If you are going for a regular bio major it won’t matter at all.
Wasn’t saying that it’s ‘that bad’- just that it isn’t dazzling, and the programs you are looking at are competitive. Obviously, they will take into account what options you have had, but in the high schools that I know pre-calc is typically a junior year class and some sort of calc is senior year. If you look at Rutgers joint program you officially don’t need more than Alg II- but they also say that having more than that improves your chances. Northeastern (which has a great program) is similar. So, given your interest in pharmacy both the rigor and subject fit with AP Bio is going to read better for joint pharma programs than APES.
I’d take AP Bio, but to make things a bit easier on you, I’d replace AP Lit with Honors English 12 (if offered).
AP Bio is definitely going to be very important if you plan on majoring in biology.