A Missing Element: Reactions to the Reduction in AP Chemistry

As the end of the school year approaches, along with a busy flurry of tests and projects, course selections begin. Advanced Placement (AP) selections opened for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors on April 25, 2025. For freshmen, this is a relatively new process, yet an incredibly important one. However, there are limited AP class options for rising sophomores: AP World History, AP European History, AP Environmental Science, and AP Chemistry. The last of these has long been a notably difficult class for rising sophomores to get into because of the limited number of sections and seats. With the recent decision to combine sophomore sections with junior and senior sections, it has become even harder for rising sophomores to get into the class. The drastic change has quickly turned into a major setback for students. 

In the 2024-2025 school year, there were seven sections of AP Chemistry for both sophomores and upperclassmen, with roughly three classes' worth of seats dedicated to sophomores. However, due to some teachers not teaching the class anymore, there will only be three sections—for all grades—of AP Chemistry in the upcoming school year. This reduction in classes will drastically limit the availability of seats for students, particularly sophomores, who have the least seniority in course selections. Guidance counselor Paul Goldsman acknowledged the complicated situation for rising sophomores. “Even if we had seven sections like we do this year, getting into AP Chem is difficult because we have a lot of strong math students. So now we cut from seven to three [classes]. My recommendation for sophomores was not to put it first because it’s more than likely that they will not get it,” Goldsman warned. He also pointed out that, typically, sophomores who wish to be placed in AP Chemistry also want to take a history AP. Thus, if students rank AP Chemistry first in their rankings, they will “burn” through their first choice and run the risk of not getting any APs at all. 

However, Goldsman also acknowledged that the exact details regarding the selection process are unknown. “Ultimately, it’s up to [Assistant Principal of Chemistry Scott] Thomas, because he has to decide how many seats he wants to allocate for the upperclassmen and how many seats he wants to allocate for rising sophomores,” Goldsman explained. Goldsman acknowledged the disappointment and frustration many students might feel with this change. “I feel like oftentimes we’re brought up or we teach that, you know, things are based on merit. Like, [if] you work hard and you’ll do well, you’re gonna get what you’ve worked towards. And in this situation, despite kids performing extremely well as freshmen and excelling in math and science and deserving a seat in AP Chem, they’re not getting it. And I think that’s very disappointing and frustrating,” Goldsman said.

AP Chemistry is certainly a rigorous course—a fact that has only furthered its popularity. “Even though I’ve heard that the course is like a death wish for your GPA, I still wanted to take it for the challenge,” freshman Sabrina Nurullaeva explained. Many Stuyvesant students appreciate the option to take challenging classes, but this change eliminates a major route to doing so.

Some freshmen are worried about the impact of not taking the course on their future college applications. “If you give only 30 out of [roughly] 800 students [a spot in AP Chemistry], it doesn’t make or break your application. But I would say it does make 30 students appear as if they had a very rigorous course load,” freshman Helena Suh argued. Since colleges typically compare applicants from within the same school, not taking the course may set a majority of students behind the select few who are admitted to the class. Suh worried that this would make Stuyvesant appear overall as a less rigorous school, especially compared to its competitors. 

Many freshmen also look forward to taking the course in order to begin their AP repertoire. “I was like, it’s okay if I don’t take a lot of APs freshman year and just take it easy, because I thought a lot [of APs] would be available to me in the future. But right now, there actually aren’t that many for me and I have a really slim chance of getting into [AP] Chemistry,” Suh described. 

Furthermore, many students take their lives beyond high school into account when considering the classes they take at Stuyvesant. “[AP Chemistry is] also super useful for a future career in the medical field, which I am planning on pursuing,” Nuruvelleva said. 

Goldsman, however, took a different stance on the impact this programming change will have on college applications. Though the college process is extremely competitive, taking AP Chemistry sophomore year versus later in high school will likely not make much of a difference. “We have a large amount of students that double up junior year. They’ll take AP Chemistry and Physics,” he explained. Additionally, taking AP Chemistry during sophomore year isn’t always the correct choice for students due to its heavy workload. “Because it’s so rigorous, they’re not able to devote as much time to other classes, to devote time to sleep, to extracurriculars, to family,” Goldsman cautioned. That being said, due to the combined sections, there are now fewer spots in AP Chemistry in general, not just for sophomores. Some upperclassmen, especially those who had hoped for higher priority in getting the class, also worry about not being able to take AP Chemistry at all as a result. 

With sophomores, juniors, and seniors being mixed into a single class, there is bound to be some polarity. Sophomore Zhong Rui Li, who is currently taking AP Chemistry, described the classroom dynamic when grades are combined. “Some seniors are kind of distant, but some aren’t. Some juniors are close. Mostly, the sophomores stick together,” Li said. For sophomores, it can be both insightful to be able to access upperclassmen who have already taken Honors and isolating to not have as many fellow sophomore peers.

While the exact process for determining AP Chemistry seats remains unknown as of yet, interested students should understand that there are many others struggling with the same issue. Nevertheless, the administration should do as much as possible to retain and regain the seats that have historically been reserved for sophomores to mitigate this setback, allowing students to pursue their interests in challenging courses. If this is truly impossible, however, there should be resources made available for students to self-study the class and still get a high score on the final AP exam. The purpose of Stuyvesant is not to place any more unnecessary pressure on its students; rather, it is to allow them to push themselves to their greatest ability. For hundreds of students, this means studying chemistry at a higher level—and this school should provide the resources to do so.