AP Courses?

So, this year I took AP Calculus as well AP Bio and wrote both exams. It would make sense that I couldn't use the credits in iSci because of the integratedness (lol note to self: find better word). I'm ok with that because I took them more for enrichment and fun than for the actual credit. I was wondering if anyone was in a similar situation last year and how it worked out. Did you find some things were boring because you already knew them? Can I take other electives because I already have the prereq for them if I have the credit? I won't really care either way because I'm so excited about iSci but the question popped into my head. Thanks! : )

hey, you won't be able to take another course as a replacement for an iSci component, even if you have the AP credit for it, because of the way the course is structured. So if you have the AP credit for calculus, you won't be able to take another course as a replacement to the iSci component.

you will be able to take electives with iSci however. iSci is 24 units, which means you can take 6 units of electives on top of iSci (a single course is 3 units). So if you are interested in another course and have the prereqs, and the schedule permits, you can defintiely take that course as an elective. I'm not sure about AP courses counting as prerequisites. The info should be listed on mac's course calendar/registrar's website. Alternatively, you can try contacting Sarah Robinson, our very helpful administrator, at x20841.

in terms of content, even if you covered a course in AP, you probably won't find the iSci component boring. in my case, i came out of a solid physics program out of highschool and knew most of the content already, but still loved the course, the prof, and his crazy derivations provided in a lovely british accent. hope that helped.

hey, i was in the total same situation as you, i passed the AP bio, physics 'B', and the easier calculus exams.

i know at say UofT, this could have warranted an equivalent of one full year course for bio, and two half year courses for each physics and calculus (the harder physics and calculus exams cover the full year).

however, i asked the same questions as you at the start of the year, and you CANNOT take other courses in their place, because of this 'integratedness'

to be completely honest, i did find first semester of math, first semester of physics, and biology (until we got into the cancer stuff), somewhat boring... simply because we've already covered the material in AP before. the way i took it though, is that i was able to spend more time studying for chemistry and earth science, perhaps didn't have to study as much for exams, and focus more on the guest lectures. it also allowed me to put more focus into my elective (electives are important too!!)... (all positives!)

don't worry about being busy though, because the projects are very open-ended and you will find that to be the source of most of your creative thought. and always come to class nonetheless, as you will almost always find content directly useful for your project in lectures.

for much of first year, especially first 6 weeks, it's review for some students, as it is a means to level the basic knowledge of all the students. if you took AP or IB, you'll likely find first semester a bit easier because you only have to get used to the iSci style, not the content. but don't take it for granted, because i guarantee for math if you didn't do series, and for the new cancer/radiation content in biology, you'll need to study second semester.

Would that mean people whose not in IB or AP have disadvantage compared to those who took it?

Well, the whole point of AP/IB curriculum is to get that head start in University. It's almost the equivalent of say reading the required textbook in the summer, it will prepare you better for the knowledge. So in my opinion, there is an advantage, but if you're strong in all the sciences and you had a good curriculum in your high school, you'll be on the same level as other students.

You will still need a strong work ethic and stay on track, I really think there was 0 correlation between AP experience and grades, I may be wrong, but you aren't at a disadvantage by any means, simply if you're exposed to content earlier you won't have to relearn it.

Thanks a lot! And to James, because AP courses were first semester of grade 12 (at least for me), by the time iSci rolls around most of the detail that is actually helpful would probably be forgotten. Just a general sense of things would remain which would help one relearn better.

To James SungJun Han:
I did not take AP or IB but but i didn't do poorly. Its true that some people have covered certain materials that others have not, but with the differences are so minute their are negligible. At the end of the day, it boils down to hard work and talent, not the knowledge gained prior to iSCI.

I knew that was coming at the end once i saw a darren post