AP Biology or AP Environmental Science for future Global Affairs major?Answered
My daughter will start high school in the fall and we are putting together her academic plan. Her goal is to attend an Ivy League-level school where she will study something in the Humanities - most likely Global Affairs.
My question is this: Would her taking AP Environmental Science instead of AP Biology put her at a disadvantage in Ivy admissions? Obviously the answer would be "yes" if she were going to pursue a STEM degree, but since she will be in a Humanities field I'm wondering if the same standard would apply.
Her high school allows only one AP course in each of her Freshman and Sophomore years, so the back end of her schedule will be heavily weighted with AP courses (11 total in her Junior and Senior years). Plus she will be taking Honors Biology and Honors Chemistry her Freshman and Sophomore years.
(AP HUG, AP Euro, APUSH, AP Lang, AP ES/Bio (?), AP French, AP US Gov, AP Comp Gov, AP Micro, AP Macro, AP Lit, AP Calc B/C, AP Art History)
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4 answers
I think it would be better for your daughter to take APES. Since she has already taken a variety of rigorous STEM classes, her school list is balanced enough to not need another demanding AP STEM class. APES is easier, so it would give her the benefits of a higher unweighted GPA, a chance to demonstrate her spike, and more time for extracurriculars.
Hope this helps!
Hi,
By the sounds of if she's still in middle school, personally I wouldn't recommend bombarding her schedule as you've done above, you should allow her to explore the AP classes first, allow her to do the one class per year as a Freshman & Sophomore, but from that point on allow her to decide what classes are best for her. Interest change heavily from middle to high school. It wouldn't be wise to plan her schedule this many years in advance (money & health wise).
As someone whose parents planned their classes based on what I wanted to do in middle school. IT'S NOT WORTH IT, my mental health was wreaked because I knew I had to live with a decision I made in middle school and to live up to preset expectations. I got high A's and 4-5 on all my AP test but the stress was just not it.
I wish you and your daughter the best of luck <333!!!!!!
Hi!
As a junior taking AP Biology right now, I would say if she is able to manage a harder class like AP Biology, then she should take APES with it as well if her schedule in highschool allows for it. Compared to AP bio, APES is a relatively easier class, therefore she could easily manage both if she takes it in one year.
If she is taking honors biology, she should definitely take ap biology as it would make the class so much easier for her. Honors biology covers a lot of things AP biology is going to teach, so it would be a really good preparation for her.
Hope this helps and good luck!!
Hey!
Even though your daughter will be going into the humanities aspect of college, colleges still want to see a balanced course load. This means taking hard classes in all subjects, which it seems like she’s planning to do. Personally I would recommend taking AP Bio over APES. AP Bio is regarded as one of the hardest AP’s so if you daughter can do well in that class, then she should definitely take it. Colleges know AP Bio is harder than APES so it will look better on her transcript
Hope this helps!
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Thanks a bunch! Very happy to hear this.