4 Year Plan

Pre-College Topics High School Life
21

To the OP:

On a [previous thread](How hard is AP Biology? - AP Test Preparation - College Confidential Forums), you said that the bio teacher was discouraging students from taking AP Bio without a prior class, regardless of school policy. Personally, I would take the advice of a teacher over that from another teenager. :slight_smile:

22

^ the AP Bio teacher is right. I know it’s tempting to believe your friends know what they’re talking about and the teacher doesn’t (we’ve all been 13), but unless your school has a special sequence, you should take Honors Bio, Honors Chem, THEN either AP Bio or AP Chem (I’d recommend AP Chem since it’s very versatile for stem/prehealth), and finally Honors Physics or AP Physics 1. You can also be super ambitious and take Honors Chem and AP Physics 1 sophomore year, then AP Chem junior year and AP Physics C senior year. But that’d be where the madness stops, and even that is pushing it.

23

believe me, I planned out a 4 year schedule when I was in 8th grade too (during a movie in us history, never forget), and it was atrociously unrealistic. I had taken out my lunch periods to replace with APs and dual enrollment courses, my summers had 3 classes each, I was taking 3 languages and at least 4 APs a year or something crazy like that
 and that’s NOT what you want to do in high school!!!
please take an easy freshman year, at the least. I only took 1 AP my freshmen year and all honors classes. life gets in the way. you have problems, things happen. if you’re going overboard with APs and summer courses as soon as you get into high school, you’re gonna have a bad time.
I love education, I love learning, and I love APs. but you’re going to make yourself miserable with that schedule.
(also, I definitely recommend taking honors bio and honors chem before APs. I know some people skip, but they end up dedicating their lives to understanding that class, because it’s 50% harder without the honors knowledge. I looked through an AP bio review book today, since I’m taking it next year, and the first chapter was mostly things I learned in chem honors this year. so please, go easy and relax).

24

@ihavenoideawow @GMTplus7 part of me feels like every 8th grader goes through some crazy phase like this before high school
 for me it was “I don’t want to go to college” lol

25

Your schedule is very intense and most likely impossible to complete (and this is coming from an overachiever herself). Here are my suggestions:

  1. Don’t take Geometry over the summer. I am just finishing Geometry Honors right now, and it is completely different than Algebra. A summer course is always a condensed version of it, and a lot of geometry can be found on the SAT. Therefore, it would probably improve your SAT score if you just took geometry freshman year, as you still would have time for Calculus. AP Statistics is also considered an “AP Light” and many colleges don’t accept credit for it, so it isn’t beneficial to take that senior year. You can take it as one of your electives, but I would not take geometry over the summer just to get to it. Summer courses are not considered “honors” either, regardless of what you may think. Geometry Honors includes A LOT more than Geometry Academic.

Math sequence: Algebra 1 (8) – Geometry Honors (9) – Algebra II H (10) – Pre-Calculus H (11) – AP Calculus BC (12)

  1. Doing the health over the summer seems like a good idea.

  2. I really think you should take Biology Honors. Taking physical science is NOT a good enough prerequisite for AP Biology, and a lot of times you need a full year of BOTH chem and bio to do well in it. Take the honors version in 9th grade, especially since it is a transition year, and then possibly do it later.

Science sequence – Physical Science (8) – Biology Honors (9) – AP or H Chemistry (10) – Either AP Bio or AP Physics 1 (11) – AP Physics 1 or 2 depending on junior year (12)

  1. Taking Spanish over the summer is totally ludicrous. It will be way difficult to take the class for a short period of time and then have to wait a whole year before continuing it. Taking three short summer classes in Spanish will NOT make you proficient enough to take AP Spanish Language (which would mean you would have to take the AP exam a little less than a year after that too). Skip German and only take Spanish during high school.

  2. You have WAY too many AP. Quality over quantity. Colleges would prefer you take some challenging courses and do well in them, rather than loading your schedule up with APs.

  3. Your schedule has no focus. Just by looking at it, I have no idea what you are interested in and what you might want to do when you are older. Take classes that reflect your interests.

  4. Stop loading your summer up with classes. Volunteer, participate in a sport, etc. Colleges do not want someone who is overwhelmed academically; they prefer an involved student. Use your summer as an opportunity for that.

  5. Lastly, your schedule is too rigorous for time for extracirriculars. You need time to participate in clubs and activities, sleep, and study.

26

I think PLTW classes are really worth it to continue. I’ve taken IED and I’m finishing up CEA and that are great.