Biology, chemistry and physics are well-known as the three core AP sciences. Students often argue over which subject is the most difficult, so we’re here to settle the argument. We asked students about how the classes challenge them, and how to survive an AP science class.
“I think biology is very fast paced. There’s a lot of content, a lot of memorization that needs to be done. I took AP Chem last year, and I feel like a lot of the concepts learned in chemistry are here again in biology, which I think makes it really hard because you need to know a lot of content, even outside of biology, for AP Bio. My advice to excel in AP Bio is to learn the content instead of simply memorizing it so you can apply the concept learned to harder questions.”
– Alice Park (12)
“Chemistry is a class where there’s a lot of memorization, and you have a limited time to memorize these topics. There’s so many topics in chemistry that the pacing is extremely fast throughout the year. My best advice would be to pay attention in class and practice with people who can support you.”
– Ishaan Hrishikesh (11)
“I think physics is hard because the work was super conceptual and sometimes got hard to visualize, meaning you either know it or you don’t; you can’t guess. It also has a lot of steps and combines math with scientific understanding. I think the most important thing to succeed is to pay attention to the lectures and visit tutorial often for help.”
– Arnav Dhar (12)
Though challenging, these struggles are essential to making learning more rewarding. It is also important to recognize that teachers are here to help students learn and overcome the challenges of these classes. Other resources for students who want to improve their performance in AP science classes include Northwood’s Peer Tutor program, talking to teachers during tutorial about course content and watching AP Classroom videos.
