I’m going to bookmark this thread and check in with you later. 
Please report back indeed, it’ll be very useful to future high school students with the same dilemma.
Good luck!
Don’t forget to discuss EFC and budget with your parents now… and to run the NPC’s on all the colleges you’re interested in for safeties and matches (in addition to reaches)!
Hello.
This is a small update before school starts.
I had summer homework on all my APs. Some were easier/harder than others.
AP Lang: we had to read a book and write a narrative and a mentor sentence. I didn’t think that was too bad.
APUSH: we had to write a DBQ (3pgs) and find sources on our own. It was time consuming, but manageable.
AP Chem: I thought this was the hardest…we have to read 3 chapters (which is considered a review of basic chemistry) in the textbook. There are also like 20 questions on each chapter. I thought some of the questions were really hard; I had to think a lot, generally the conceptual questions. It makes me worry…that I am struggling when school hasn’t even started yet. We also have to memorize ions and polyatomic formulas.
AP Physics: This was one of my biggest worries, but the summer homework was the easiest. There were only 10 math problems…no physics involved.
In this stage, do I regret my decision?
I hate to say it, but I am more worried than I was before. Most people who had APs in the past will take 3, while the very smart students will take 4. I was worried that I wasn’t doing enough, so I decided to push myself.
My plan so far is that if I can’t handle 4 APs, I will take only 3 next year in my senior year.
What do you want to major in?
If STEM, then double up on science and drop APUSH.
If Humanities, drop AP Chem and take it next year.
If not sure, drop AP CHem and take it next year.
In any case, what science would you take next year?
To me given that you are in pre-calc, says that you are “average smart”. So doubling up on science plus APUSH and Lit would make it too much.
Sounds like you should keep AP Chem to senior year . can you still switch for something else?
To colleges, taking 3 AP classes and getting A’s in them is way better than taking 4 and getting B’s in them because you were too busy. You don’t get a medal for doubling up and then floundering.
Yes, I wish to major in STEM. For next year (senior year), I plan to take AP Bio, AP environmental, and regular microbiology. (Any thoughts about that?) I am debating if I should also do anatomy. I do not plan to continue AP physics 2 or C since AP physics 1 is already hard to me. Actually, lemme just list the schedule lol
AP bio
AP environmental
AP calc (ab or bc)
microbiology
regular lit.
dual enrollment for economics and government.
though it may change, that’s my plan so far.
Since ap world was a breeze, I thought apush would be the same, but it’s not. Quite different…
Our school has AP decisions during January-February and we cannot change them or switch. They are pretty strict.
Can you still ask to switch AP Chem to next year to take alongside microbiology?
If not, don’t take AP Bio and microbiology as those are essentially two sides of the same coin.
What do you want to major in? Engineering will require considerable amounts of Physics.
Don’t take AP Environmental just to take an AP. Are you interested in that?
^Eh. There’s no harm in taking it just to take an AP. It is, after all, an AP, and while colleges won’t assign much weight to ES, a lot of people have it under their belt. It is technically another AP science. Plus, it’s a breeze. Even if you aren’t envisioning a future with environmental science in it, it is a very useful class and helps you become aware of our impact in the environment and our role within it.
And I’m not sure what you would replace it with, anyhow.
I don’t think I will do engineering, especially if it requires physics. For now, I lean towards the science field with bio and environmental. So yes, I wish to take AP environmental because I truly wish to do that.
Hello again, this is an update for the 1st semester.
Overall, my grades compared to last year went down. However, I managed a natural A (we receive 5 points on our grades for AP classes. So like if I get a raw 90, the school adds 5 to make it a 95) in all my classes except AP Physics. For that class I got a high B so with the 5 points, it’s an A but for weighted gpa only 
My main struggles were AP Physics followed by APUSH. I already had a feeling that I wouldn’t do well in physics since conceptual things are hard for me, but I didn’t want a B. But it happened, and I’m worried if it’ll bring down my unweighted gpa a lot. I don’t expect to make an A next semester for physics.
The situation and reasons for my struggles in each class to get an idea:
AP LANG: the teacher does not teach, so basically the ability you have now will determine your grade. I wasn’t good at MC (got 80s usually with the curve) but my writing was better. We do projects and small activities so it’s easy to make an A in her class. The things we do that are for a grade don’t usually involve AP MC so that’s why my grade is maintained. And compared to the other AP lang teacher at our school, the one I have is much more lenient toward grading and less picky. Plus, she is flexible and doesn’t count things late.
ACC PRECALC: a breeze. If you took AP Stat ( I struggled with that class), this will be an easy class. Very straightforward. The teacher lectures with prepared notes and goes through each kind of problem that we needed to know.
OCEANOGRAPHY: really easy, except that you have to memorize a lot of things. Since I didn’t have much time and had to focus on other AP classes, I didn’t do as well as I could have.
APUSH: the teacher doesn’t really teach. More self studying. she rarely lectures. She has a rule that you can re-take tests, DBQs, and LEQs so it makes her class easier. The only thing that brings me down is that her pop quizzes are really hard. Hard enough to bring down my grade by several points. I did extremely well in AP world so I’m a bit surprised that I’m struggling with this class.
AP PHYSICS: I wish I didn’t take this class. The teacher goes through the very basics and expects you to do complex problems based on the fundamental information she taught. Not like math where you go through every kind of problem. And everyone is struggling with that class, not just me. Only if you’re like a genius (top 10 ranking of class) then you’re will probably be okay with it. Tests are like the AP exams but she allows you to gain 50% credit back that you lost. Because of that, I decided it’s okay to take her class, but no her tests are too hard. We also have daily quizzes…
AP CHEM: the teacher goes through the material extremely fast. He doesn’t work out the problems with you. He already has them prepared and shows it to class to copy down. but he does provide prepared notes. He also allows people to gain 50% back credit for tests. He told us first semester will be things we are familiar with from gifted or regular chem. I do better in chem than in physics but chem is still hard to me (and I did very well in reg chem so I was a bit surprised again that I struggles a lot).
Okay, so hopefully this can help you guys to get an idea of what the classes are like and what I am like to give a comparison of how well you think you’ll do. If it helps I’m like 30 ranking in my class.
I would NOT recommend to take AP Physics unless you are confident or are okay with potentially making a B.
I would say taking 4 APs is manageable (I know others in my school taking more) but you will feel stretched out.
Have a good semester break and I’ll be back to update for the 2nd semester.