The class of 2020 was the first class to be offered AP Biology as freshmen. Prior to that, a few HGM freshmen had taken AP Biology, for the most part students took the honors course. This year, the majority of freshmen took two AP classes, the other one being the required World History. I was not one of them, instead I took the non-biology option, orchestra, along with Eileen G.
It’s not that I wasn’t interested in biology. In fact, my seventh grade science class had helped develop a true interest in it. My science teacher had noticed my small seedling of fascination and watered it. But I wasn’t sure I could handle two AP classes in my first year of high school. Having struggled with ADHD and asthma all my life, I have learned to exercise caution when planning out my schedule and homework. Because of my ADHD, I often have trouble prioritizing activities and managing my time. If I stay up doing homework or get home late from an extracurricular activity, it’s likely that my asthma will flare up due to the stress. I didn’t know if I could manage the potential workload that two AP classes required. So I decided to wait until I was a senior. Hopefully, I would be more academically mature by then.
Although I chose orchestra because I genuinely loved playing music and not slacking off, it turned out that the class wasn’t as laid-back as I’d expected. Back in middle school, the orchestra music was too easy for me to practice. Here, however, Mr. Sharp gives us much more challenging repertoire and second semester is no walk in the park. There are weekly after-school rehearsals and we have to play at music festivals, only afterwards to arrive home late in the evening. This did significantly impact my schedule. But I was still far less stressed compared to my classmates in AP Biology. I’d hear how they had to stay up late doing a lab report, how hard the tests were, and how much they had studied. I knew then that I made the right choice.
With intellectual aptitude comes higher expectations in terms of academic performance. These expectations often come from other people, such as parents, but in many cases, it comes from within. It’s no surprise, then, that the pressure to take AP courses is amplified in the HGM. Many students go for AP classes because it will make their transcript look good to colleges--not particularly because the students have any interest or strength in the subject. In some instances, students might take a certain AP class because everyone else is doing it.
Of course, all the late nights and stress will be worth it if they do well in the class. But not all AP courses are not created equal; you might be able to get away with not studying in some classes, but not in others. Mr. Maine’s Physics classes are especially notorious--you really have to understand the concepts in order to apply the math or else there’s little chance for success. Some people like Glen H., our resident Vector IT wizard, just have an intuitive grasp of physics, while others might not understand it at all. No matter how much they study. In hard classes like Physics or Biology, students might find out that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. According to Eileen G., whose mom is on the HGM board, the parents initially wanted AP Bio to be available to freshmen. Now they’re complaining that it’s too much work. Due to the complaints, the subject might only be open to upperclassmen in the years to come. Indeed, there is a drastic difference between the freshmen and the upperclassmen when it comes to grades. The upperclassmen have the previous experiences of hard classes to do well; the inexperienced freshmen struggle.
And so it boils down to how well you know yourself. You have to know how hard you’re willing to work and how much time you can devote to a particular subject. If you can’t take the Honors version because you don’t like the teacher or there are scheduling conflicts, you might have to drop a few activities or events from your schedule to study for an AP class. And keep this question in mind: is the challenge really worth it or will it unnecessarily zap you of your sanity?