This discussion was created from comments split from: Are four AP classes too little?.
<p>Alright, so i am a sophomore and i am trying to pick some courses for next year.
These I am definitely taking:
Analysis and Differential Calculus Honors
AP United States History
AP Physics
Phys Ed 11(mandatory)
Religion 11(mandatory)
I am undecided on this:
AP Language and Composition or American Lit Honors(which one should i take?)
Then I am picking 2 of these 3 electives:
AP Statistics
AP Chemistry
Spanish 4 Honors
I am not much of a writer(not a fast writer) and i have heard AP Lang has a TON of writing, so i am tentative about applying for it. I am leaning towards Lit Honors because i really dont want an AP english class to pull my GPA down(3.9 ish) and i am more of a math and science guy. Can someone please provide input on the AP classes(how hard,homework,ap test)?And for the electives, many of my classmates and my Spanish teacher are saying that taking a language throughout high school is really impressive to colleges, but wouldnt 2 APS instead of 1 and Spanish Honors be more impressive? My school doesnt offer AP Spanish until senior year, and although im good at it, i dont really like Spanish. I have also heard that AP Chem is REALLY hard and there were quite a few juniors(smart ones too) who have failed the class. I am extremely nervous about it. I am taking Chem Honors this year but my teacher really sucks.But i really like Chem, so i dont know what to do. I have heard AP Stat is easy and im probably going to take that no matter what. I am good with formulas so i should be fine for physics and i can do well in APUSH because there is a lot of memorization involved.Any input would be greatly appreciated and sorry if it was hard to follow im kind of tired now.</p>
<p>@6nreddy I think that you should choose Spanish 4 Honors. Taking another year of language looks good in the eyes of competitive colleges. Also this is just my opinion, but I think it would be extremely difficult to take AP Chemistry and AP Physics together. I am not a science oriented person. Would your teacher for honors chem be the same teacher for AP Chem? Could you handle having him/her for another year and having to put more effort self-studying for the AP exam? I have no prior experience with Stats, but in CC standards this is can be debated as an easy math and AP class. My suggestion is to definitely stick with Spanish. As for AP chem: if you’re willing to put in the work for the class and are truly interested in chemistry then I would recommend taking this course as well. I hope that this helped somehow!</p>
<p>@6nreddy I’m taking AP chem as a senior…and it’s terrible for me. I’m suffering just to maintain a B+ avg.
But the thing is…sophomores at my school skip HN chem and go straight to AP chem. So 60% of the people in my class are sophomores…and there’s only like 14 people. Most of them are doing better than me…so who knows! haha (the concepts are really hard in my opinion. The math to solve it is just algebra 2.)</p>
<p>Also AP English is REALLY not that bad. AP Lit is the one with a lot of writing (I took it). Lang is more discussion based. I heard it’s pretty chill and fun (my friends are taking it now).
I took Spanish 4…and it was pretty darn hard. My friend took AP spanish and she dropped out the first day (note that she got an A+ in HN spanish 4). haha it’s pretty intense. So I would think about it again if I were you.
I’m taking AP stats now…it’s fun! If AP Calc BC (I took it) is an 8, AP stats is like a 3.5-4 ish out a scale of 10.</p>
<p>Also…5 AP’s as a junior is pretty intense…O_O Most of the kids at my school who got into Harvard and the Ivy’s only took like 7-8 for their entire high school career. 1-2 sophomore year, 3 junior year, and 3 senior year.
But I mean…if you can manage that…then please do take them all. It will be VERY impressive! </p>
<p>It depends on where you want to go. You say that you are a math and science kind of person, so I assume you want to go into those fields. In that case, I would recommend AP Chem - go with your strengths, especially if they line up with your interests! I wouldn’t choose AP Stats because it’s [allegedly] easier, and if you are good with these subjects, definitely challenge yourself.</p>
<p>AP Chem is definitely not as hard you seem to think. I took it last year as a sophomore and got a 5. It definitely wasn’t my hardest class (my hardest class was actually spanish. I’m obviously a math/science kind of person as well).</p>
<p>One last thing. Don’t take classes simply because it will ‘look good’ on your college app. Take them if they interest you, or if they will be useful in the future. That’s why I took a high level of Spanish, even though I know it’s my weakness. I personally think that a foreign language is a good thing to have under one’s belt, even though my future major doesn’t require a foreign language and frankly doesn’t consider academics at all.</p>
<p>I hope I helped!</p>