AP Physics or AP Chem. Which is smarter choice?

[VeggieForce]

I am currently taking AP Chemistry and school has started for a week. I want to go to medical school. One thing im not so sure of is whether to switch out of AP Chem and take AP Physics. I'm better at chemistry than physics, but so would it be smarter to save Chemistry for college and try to pass the physics AP exam (I would most likely take Physics B exam and not C)? But the thing is that i KNOW i can pass the ap chem exam with a high grade because I'm good at chemistry, but i'm not so sure about the AP Physics even though i got straight A's in it, (mostly b/c of the calculus even though Physics B exam has roughly no calc)and my Physics teacher is one of, if not the best in the school. But i feel very confidant in chemistry and feel very possible to get a 5 on it so i can skip out on Gen Chem I and II. while if i take physics B and get a 4 (i dont feel i can get a 5 in physics mostly cuz of the calc which i am taking this year also) i may only be able to skip out on gen physics I AT MOST. However if i get A's in chem I and II in college, if i take ap physics and if i pass the test and skip out on gen physics I, then there is still physics II to take. <<this could boost my science GPA for med school. which one is the smarter decision or am i just being too concerned and just go and take AP CHEM and stop being two-minded and try my hardest in physics in college.

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[Badger MD]

I am currently taking AP Chemistry and school has started for a week. I want to go to medical school. One thing im not so sure of is whether to switch out of AP Chem and take AP Physics. I'm better at chemistry than physics, but so would it be smarter to save Chemistry for college and try to pass the physics AP exam (I would most likely take Physics B exam and not C)? But the thing is that i KNOW i can pass the ap chem exam with a high grade because I'm good at chemistry, but i'm not so sure about the AP Physics even though i got straight A's in it, (mostly b/c of the calculus even though Physics B exam has roughly no calc)and my Physics teacher is one of, if not the best in the school. But i feel very confidant in chemistry and feel very possible to get a 5 on it so i can skip out on Gen Chem I and II. while if i take physics B and get a 4 (i dont feel i can get a 5 in physics mostly cuz of the calc which i am taking this year also) i may only be able to skip out on gen physics I AT MOST. However if i get A's in chem I and II in college, if i take ap physics and if i pass the test and skip out on gen physics I, then there is still physics II to take. <<this could boost my science GPA for med school. which one is the smarter decision or am i just being too concerned and just go and take AP CHEM and stop being two-minded and try my hardest in physics in college.

Just a word of caution about the AP chem exam... a friend of mine should have EASILY cranked out a 5 on the exam (her parents both taught chem classes at a local university) seeing as she was a COMPLETE natural with parental resources, and she ended up with a 2. I also was projecting at least a 4, and I also received a 2. Statistically, nearly 1/3 of people score a one on the exam... and a lot of them are "fairly" confident they will pass by a mile.

Now I don't know your exact ability or knowledge, and it does depend a lot on the test questions asked that year (seems like last year was easy multiple choice & touch FRQs/DBQs - so maybe the opposite this year?) but I would feel bad if I mislead you in regards to the exam While the AP official distribution says one thing, its not uncommon for 80% of a chem class to get a 1.

Another thing to note is that the College Board (I will try and cite this later) somewhat recently edited their science grading procedures because they did a study. The study basically gave the current AP science exams to college freshmen and they VASTLY outscored the average high school score. The result? The college board purposely inflated requirements (a 2 became a 1, etc.) This makes it a lot harder to get a 5.

One more thing to note, make sure to check what medical schools take AP credit that was used to get a prereq. out of the way. Sorry that I can't comment on physics

The best of luck to you!

 

[Richardh]

adding similar points to the previous post: do make sure to check with the medical school that you have an idea of applying later on. some times the school doesn't accept AP credits. often the univerisy or college you go for undergrad doesn't give you the option to pass and not take an introductory chem or physics.

the best option is to take the subject that you want to improve and better prepare for undergrad

 

[Richardh]

i didn't have any physics experience before undergrad so when i finally took beginner's physics (or physics-I) i was overwhelmed with the info. on the otherhand, i took general chem and AP chem while in highschool so the by the time i took undergrad chemistry, it was fairly straightforward.

(but as a sidenote: i still needed to retake beginner's chemistry even when i got a 4 which i didn't mind i got partial credit. better than nothing!)

 

[deleted316655]

There's no way you could take both classes?

 

[GoodmanBrown]

It really probably doesn't matter much. I suppose a 2 wouldn't look great, but you'll probably want to retake the class to prepare for the MCAT and to get that shiny A that shows you know what you're doing.

 

[ComradeDoktor]

Here's my word of caution: consider what your plans for college are, and which classes you are going to be taking for your prospective major(s).

Short story: I'm a UC student in biochem. I took the AP Chem test in high school and got a 5 on it. Many of the medical schools I would want to apply to either don't accept AP credit at all or still want you to take SOME chemistry in college (ochem doesn't count). Since I already had the AP scores to test out of regular general chemistry, I had to take the honors sequence, which hurt my GPA significantly.

Moral of the story: Don't count on AP tests to get you out of a subject area. If you're going to be a chemistry major and have chemistry up the whazoo by the time you graduate, maybe it is smart to skip the easy general chem in college. If you're in a major that's light on chemistry or physics on the other hand maybe it's a smarter move to NOT test out of stuff and actually take the classes in college.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Yes, AP credit usually does not work for the pre-med requirements. You'll still have to take the class in college for med schools (not for school credit). And, you should take it anyway...for the MCAT.

So, I'd take whatever you'll get the best grade in. I found Ap Physics to be extremely useful, but I doubt it's more useful than Chem. That said, I didn't regret not taking Ap Chem and did very well. I really do regret having not taken AP Bio. The people who took AP Bio seemed to really dominate that class due to all the memorization of minutia. There's a whole style of studying in bio that was completely foreign to me and made the intro bio classes a pain in college.