What Is the Hardest Thing to Study in High School?

Ask any high school student what’s the hardest thing to study, and you’ll get a dozen different answers. Some say calculus. Others swear by chemistry. A few will tell you it’s not a subject at all-it’s the sheer volume of work piled on top of deadlines, extracurriculars, and part-time jobs. But if you look at real data from national surveys, college prep programs, and teacher feedback across the U.S., one thing keeps showing up: AP Physics 1.

Why AP Physics 1 Stands Out

AP Physics 1 isn’t just hard because it’s full of formulas. It’s hard because it demands you think differently. You’re not memorizing the speed of light-you’re figuring out how a cart slows down on a ramp, why a pendulum swings the way it does, and how forces interact in systems you can’t see. It’s algebra-based, so no calculus needed, but that doesn’t make it easier. In fact, it makes it trickier. Without calculus, you have to rely on conceptual understanding, which many students aren’t trained for.

According to the College Board’s 2024 score reports, only 42% of students who took AP Physics 1 scored a 3 or higher-the minimum to earn college credit. That’s the lowest pass rate of any AP exam, even lower than AP Chemistry (51%) and AP Calculus AB (58%). Students who score a 5? Just 8%. Compare that to AP Psychology, where nearly 25% get a 5, and you start to see the gap.

Teachers report the same thing: students can solve problems in class but freeze when asked to explain why something happens. They can plug numbers into F = ma, but they can’t describe how friction affects motion in real life. That’s the core challenge. Physics isn’t about getting the right number-it’s about seeing the world as a system of interacting forces.

Chemistry: The Memory Trap

If physics is about thinking in new ways, chemistry is about remembering too much at once. High school chemistry piles on periodic trends, electron configurations, Lewis structures, hybridization, equilibrium constants, acid-base reactions, and stoichiometry-all in one year. And if you miss one concept, the rest collapses.

Take stoichiometry. You need to balance equations, convert grams to moles, use molar ratios, and track limiting reactants. One mistake in the first step, and your whole answer is wrong. Students often get lost because they treat it like arithmetic instead of a chemical story. It’s not just math-it’s counting atoms and predicting how molecules behave.

Plus, there’s the lab component. Writing lab reports that follow the scientific method, calculating percent error, identifying sources of error-these aren’t just busywork. They’re skills colleges expect you to have. But most high schools don’t give enough time to really build them.

Calculus: The Gatekeeper

Calculus gets a bad reputation because it’s the first math class that feels abstract. You go from solving for x to asking, “What’s the slope at this exact point?” or “How much water flows out over time?” It’s not about finding answers-it’s about modeling change.

But here’s the twist: calculus isn’t the hardest because it’s complex. It’s hard because students are often pushed into it before they’re ready. Many schools require Algebra II and precalculus as prerequisites, but if you didn’t fully grasp functions, trigonometry, or logarithms, calculus becomes a wall. A 2023 study by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics found that 68% of students who failed AP Calculus AB had scored below a B in precalculus.

The real issue? Speed. Teachers rush through limits, derivatives, and integrals because the AP exam is in May. Students end up memorizing procedures instead of understanding them. That’s why so many students who aced algebra crash in calculus-they never learned how to think mathematically, just how to follow steps.

Why the Workload Is the Real Enemy

Here’s something no one talks about enough: the hardest thing to study in high school isn’t a subject. It’s the workload.

Think about it. A student taking AP Physics, AP Chemistry, and AP Calculus is also expected to write a 15-page research paper in English, memorize 500 terms for AP U.S. History, and complete a 10-hour community service project. Add in SAT prep, college applications, and maybe a part-time job, and you’ve got 80+ hours a week of demands.

Studies from the American Psychological Association show that high school students today report stress levels comparable to adults in high-pressure jobs. Sleep deprivation is common. Anxiety is rising. And the pressure to get into a “good college” makes students feel like one bad grade will ruin everything.

That’s why some students who can handle the material still fail. They burn out. They stop sleeping. They stop eating right. They stop asking for help because they think they’re the only one struggling.

What Actually Helps

So what works? Not more hours. Not cramming. Not tutoring every night.

• Start early. If you’re taking AP Physics, review vectors and trigonometry over the summer. You don’t need to master it-just get familiar.
• Use visual tools. PhET simulations from the University of Colorado are free and help you see how forces, waves, and energy behave in real time.
• Teach it to someone else. Explaining Newton’s laws to a friend forces you to clarify your own thinking.
• Focus on patterns, not problems. In chemistry, learn the rules for naming compounds, not just one example. In calculus, recognize when to use the chain rule versus the product rule.
• Protect your sleep. Students who get 7+ hours a night score 12% higher on average, according to a 2024 study from the University of Michigan.

And here’s the most important thing: talk to your teacher. Not when you’re failing. Not when the test is tomorrow. Talk to them in September. Ask, “What’s the one concept most students struggle with?” They’ll tell you. And they’ll give you resources you didn’t know existed.

It’s Not About Being the Smartest

The hardest thing to study in high school isn’t physics, chemistry, or calculus. It’s believing you can do it when everyone around you acts like it’s impossible. The students who succeed aren’t the ones with the highest IQs. They’re the ones who show up, ask questions, and keep going-even when they’re tired.

High school doesn’t reward perfection. It rewards persistence. One wrong answer doesn’t mean you’re bad at science. One late assignment doesn’t mean you’re a failure. Progress, not perfection, is the goal.

So if you’re struggling? You’re not alone. And you’re not behind. You’re just learning.