I am a freshman. I would like to be a comp science major in a top US school.
My current courses are - hons eng 1, hons spanish 2, hons precalc, ap physics, hons biology, ap human geo, hons comp science, orchestra
My plan for next 3 years are -
10th grade - hons eng2, hons spanish 3, ap calc bc, ap physics c, hons chemistry, ap world history, ap comp science a , orchestra
11th grade - ap eng lang, ap spanish lang, ap stat, ap seminar, ap chem, ap us history, adv comp science,orchestra
12th grade - ap eng lit, ap music theory/ap spanish lit, calc III (CC), ap research, ap bio, ap govt & ap macro eco, earth and space science, orchestra
I am quite strong in maths & programming and have done lot of self studies in physics. I am fairly confident with my sophomore year plan.
Need advice on -
junior year - is it doable? Any change advice
Math track - acceptable?
Should I do music theory or spanish lit in senior year? My personal preference is music theory - pros/cons
For the math track, assuming you go to a CC that is semester based, I would pretty much finish off the math courses by taking Calc III, then Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, the Discrete Math. AP Stats will be useless to you, and from what I can tell most CCs do not teach calculus-based stats. If your CC does, tou can replace the Discrete Math or even the Differential Equations with a Calc-based Stats course.
Thanks for the response. Problem is, I live in Texas and these CC courses do not get added to GPA calculation. I will see how I am doing GPA wise and if I have a good buffer, I will absolutely do the advance math courses in CC.
Unfortunately our CC does not have calc based stats.
You should take AP physics 1 Sophomore year, and save AP physics c for junior or senior. Going Physics C->chem-> Bio is the opposite order of rigor level. Also, out don’t need ALL AP science classes.
I agree with Professorplum wrt your math sequence. Only take AP stats as a fun elective. Discrete math will be important for a future Cs major.
Junior year you’re overdoing it on AP classes - is that required for your top 6% rank? Because no university would expect that many.
If possible, drop AP stats, seminar.
Senior year, drop ap bio for ap Physics C, deopap research, and choose a fun elective.
Does your school offer AP Multivariable Calculus? If so, I would drop AP Stats and AP Seminar in favor of that plus a study hall - if you think you can handle the APMVC.
OR… drop AP Stats and AP Seminar in favor of Calc III. If you need a math senior year, then take AP Stats. It’s an easier course and you will have time to work on college applications. Taking a year break between two classes of calculus may make it harder on yourself.
Discrete Mathmatics will be helpful in CS, but if you aren’t getting a weighted grade for it, you might as well wait for college. It is more applicable to CS than calculus, but your GPA and class rank are more important as far as getting in to college.
Edited to add: DD has to take four years of Spanish before she can take it at the AP level (5th year). You are lucky you can get it done as a junior. Take the AP exam and you might place out of a language requirement in college. Spanish Lit or Music Theory senior year are both excellent choices. You can’t go wrong with either.
AP MVC doesn’t exist. MVC is only offered if the school can or through dual enrollment.
Spanish Lit is very specialized - it’s like AP English Lit but in Spanish. Unless you plan on to majoring or minoring in Spanish in college, I’d pick AP Music THeory. Beware, it’s one of the more difficult AP’s and assumes previous music and music theory knowledge.