<p>It’s my senior year next year and I want to take aeronautical or mechanical engineering in college. I will be taking three regular science courses (physics, chem, bio) and AP physics for sure.</p>
<p>Will taking an AP chem course on top of that improve my app? </p>
<p>I would love to take it but my course schedule is full right now; I’ll have to take social studies online (which costs an extra 500 bucks ) if I am to take AP chem.</p>
<p>Is it worth the time and money? Is AP chem managable?</p>
<p>I’m very much lost at the moment. It would be great if anybody could give me any advice. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>It is your job as a student to take advantage of all of the APs your school offers especially if you desire to get into a top university, I don’t know how many APs your school offers but if your going into the field you say you are going into then chances are you will have to take chemistry anyways in college so you might as well get college credit for it now.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply.
Definitely leaning towards taking the course now. </p>
<p>Can you tell me if self studying anything will help me get into a better uni? Because if I don’t take the course, the unis won’t get my grade until I actually send them my score in July right? Or is mentioning it in the personal statement/recommendation letter bound to give me an advantage?</p>
<p>I know AP’s main purpose is to give you college credits but I guess getting into one is a higher priority as of now.</p>
<p>You should take AP courses if you feel like you can handle them. Do they help your application? Yes and no. Universities like to see that you are challenging yourself, so it will certainly be helpful to take the highest level classes. But it gets to a point where all applicants are taking these same classes, so it doesn’t mean as much anymore.</p>
<p>Back when I was in high school I took AP Chemistry and both AP Physics C exams in the same semester (as well as 4+ other AP exams, can’t even remember now). I did perfectly fine. Now am I you? No, so I don’t know how you’ll do. I’m just here to say that it IS manageable, but it’s not necessarily going to help your app.</p>
<p>AP chem will be very helpful once you get to college (most US engineering students will have taken it), and you will be at a disadvantage if you have not. But social studies is worthwhile too. Can you perhaps find a tutor to help you self-study the AP chem material, since there is a lot of time left this summer and then you could continue thru the year and take the exam next May?</p>
<p>Thanks for your opinions. I have decided to do AP chemistry now, considering the fact that it would put me on the backfoot going into an engineering major.</p>
<p>But is it possible to self-study it? Of course I can get a head start during the summer but labs are one thing I can’t do on my own. Are the labs essential to getting a 4 or a 5 on the exam? Finding a tutor here seems unlikely… I don’t speak the local language. </p>
<p>Sadly, social studies is a must take course (whether online or in-class) in my school, even for those not going into humanities. Thankfully the online course is much easier than in-class but that doesn’t change the fact that my schedule is loaded with other grade 12 level courses. </p>
<p>I have asked my school counselor about whether or not I should take three grade 12 level sciences (physics, chem, bio, all non-AP). He says that it is essential since colleges like candidates who are capable of handling the load. I took all three last year, no problem. But biology is relatively unrelated to my major and now since I want to take AP chem, should I think about not taking bio next year? I still have time to decide on this one; my school accepts course changes one month into the school year.</p>
<p>More I think about it, the more complicated it seems to get! Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>I would not self-study it, unless you feel like you can grasp the chemistry concepts easily and/or you have taken regular/honors chemistry before. I don’t think that the labs are included on the exam from what I’ve heard but they still help you understand difficult concepts (but I haven’t take AP Chemistry yet). AP Chemistry is probably one of the most advanced AP courses available so I wouldn’t self-study unless you can handle it.</p>
<p>I did take chemistry last year (junior year) and I did get a decent grade. But since the exam itself is being renewed, I don’t know what to expect(nor does anybody else I guess). I would take a look at the course syllabus Collegeboard offers online and try to grasp how difficult it is.</p>