February 25, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR SUZAN SONG IN IL
How fabulous that you're motivated! I'd say it depends on how strong you think
you are in the sciences. It really is important to have a good foundation. My
senior year in high school, I took AP Psych, AP Physics, AP Bio, and AP
Calculus. But that was just bc I really liked those classes/teachers. And I
loved every course actually. You can take the course and decide not to take the
AP exam if you want. But I took all AP exams, which allowed me to place out of
all those intro courses in college (I was a pre-med).

This helped me because it waivered a full semester of introductory courses that may
not have been that challenging. And the extra time in college allowed me to do
a double major in college (Biology and a Humanities major) while being in an
intensive Foreign language program (French).

All this being said, I think it's great that you're motivated and willing to
work. What you put in, you'll get out in return :) You can always choose not to
take the AP exams, but I'd suggest that you do - it doesn't hurt. Plus, if you
dont' feel like you have a strong enough foundation, then take the intro course
during college - no biggie. It'll be an easier class for you during the
freshman year :) I'm all for knowledge and learning, so if the opportunity is
there to learn more, why not take it? :) take care, and please feel free to
email me anytime.
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February 23, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
So much depends on the particular teacher - any one of the AP courses
with a good teacher is better than any other with a poor teacher!
You should ask around in the class ahead of you - what are the
students learning and are they excited about it?

Taking _some_ physics in high school, not necessarily an AP course,
is a good idea. It makes you apply your math (thereby learning it
more thoroughly) and gets you familiar with some basic principles,
which are also useful later for chemistry. Medical schools still
demand a year of physics in college, I believe, and rightly so -
think of all those CAT scans, MRI's, EEG's, EKG's, laser surgery, on
and on. all based on physical principles.

Different colleges cope with the different levels of preparation of
their first-year students in different ways. Some will give credit
for an AP course and place you into a more advanced course; some will
not give credit but still place you into a more advanced course; some
may have two entry-level versions of the same subject, for those with
less or more background. If you know what colleges you might apply
to, you can inquire about their attitude toward AP course credit and
placement. College curricula are mostly determined by the individual
departments, so there may be different options in physics and biology
in the same college.

Here in Brown's chemistry department we face the problem of students
who took high school chemistry (AP or not) more than a year ago and
don't remember a thing. Whatever you study, try to retain it past
the final exam!