I was wondering, because I'm in 8th grade and yesterday some dude came in from the high school talking to us about schedules and 'our four year game plan.' :P He was mentioning AP Social Studies(like advanced social studies) and AP Biology. He was making AP Biology sound REALLY HARD so I'm just going to do regular Biology in 9th grade. But what about AP Social Studies? I'm kind of wondering if I should take it. Some people say it's hard, and some don't. I've always been good at social studies, but the memorization thing for AP Social Studies bugs me. Then again, I'm going to end up taking it in 10th grade anyway, so...yeah. :P So should I take it next year or wait until 10th?
Wait until 10th grade, don't make the same mistake I did.
AP Bio is pretty hard. Lots of memorization.
I dont plan on taking any AP classes in 9th grade (yea i'm in 8th)
I didn't know you can take any AP classes in 9th grade.
I was going to take AP European History as a Sophmore, but sadly they closed it.
I will be taking AP Bio Junior year though.
My school at this time offers no AP classes to sophomores, only to juniors. Prior to my arrival at our High School, they offered two AP history courses to sophomores, but that has since been discontinued. So I wouldn't know how hard it is, sorry, but I would say if you're doing well in your current course and you think you could handle it with considerations to other classes and extracurricular commitments, go for it.
Quote from: britneymahboy on March 08, 2008, 12:10:27 PM
AP Bio is pretty hard. Lots of memorization.
Psssh, I taught myself AP Bio as an independent study course and I got a 4. It's not that hard.
Don't take any AP classes as a freshman, you're asking for trouble. Keep in mind that AP classes are supposed to be the equivalent of a 100 or 200-level course at college, so they're going to be significantly harder than other classes, including Honors-level stuff.
Any AP history course requires a lot of writing; if you're good at essays in a constrained amount of time, you'll be at a significant advantage. AP US Government is a good starting course for the AP track; though you probably won't get a 4 or 5. AP Calculus is a joke. Unless you're ridiculously good at math, wait until college to take it; the curriculum is supremely intercourse ed up. AP Chem/Physics are also ridiculously hard, but if you manage to pass them, you don't have to sit through 4-hour lab periods during your freshman year in college.
Recommendation:
Sophomore Year: AP US Government and AP Microeconomics -or- AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics
Junior Year: AP US History and AP English Language
Senior Year: AP English Lit (if you got a 3 or less on AP Lang), an AP science of your choice, AP Psychology, and either AP European History -or- AP World History
Which AP "Social Studies"?
AP US History? AP World History? AP European History? There's several that can be considered AP Social Studies. And all of them require a great deal of memorization and essay writing.