AP courses are known for their rigor and while all have tough aspects, certain classes are notoriously more challenging than others. Students often debate over which is the hardest. A few of the AP courses that frequently pop up in these conversations are AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C. Widely known as the hardest APs, each comes with aspects that puts it above others in terms of difficulty.
AP Biology is a double-period course, renowned for its high demand of memorization and wide range of in-depth content, as well as copious amounts of homework. The course requires students to memorize minute details about concepts and processes, all of which they must fully remember to succeed in the course. “I remember staying up late so many nights while taking AP Bio in order to memorize all of the details that you had to stay up to date on so you wouldn’t fall behind,” senior Artin Noori said, who took AP Biology in his junior year.
Another double-period course, AP Chemistry demands a strong foundation of mathematical concepts, in addition to a deep understanding of chemical principles that are learned throughout the year. On top of the extensive knowledge that is required by this course, students must engage in labs throughout the year, each calling for careful precision while carrying out experiments and correct interpretation of their results. “I believe it is hard because it does not only require problem-solving skills and logical thinking skills as math and physics need but also requires strong analytical skills and reading skills…It is hard to understand many concepts such as molecular structures and periodic trends,” AP Chemistry teacher Mei Wang said, who has almost 30 years of teaching experience.
AP Calculus BC places high in the ranking of most difficult. The course requires students to quickly grasp new mathematical concepts in great depth, while also integrating and reinforcing concepts taught to them in previous math courses within their work. Students must also display their ability to abstractly reason through complex problems and apply their knowledge in new ways all the time, giving the course a level of difficulty that other AP math courses do not have.
AP Physics C is a double-period course that combines the complex concepts learned in an intense physics environment with applications of a deep understanding of calculus, limiting students who do not have an elevated conceptual grasp of calculus. In addition to this combination of physics and calculus, students are presented with multiple labs a week that are followed by lab analysis questions that entail critical thinking about difficult physics concepts. “We usually do a new lab every day…lab analysis questions can be hard because the concepts they are centered around can be tough to understand,” junior Vishnu Varma, who is taking AP Physics C this year, said.
