Only honest helpful tips please.
I’m kind of stressed out on whether I’m digging a trench for myself where I’ll be stuck in. haha. My school is not super easy nor hard. I take track and field during spring seriously so I’m going to be busy during spring.
So there are the classes I plan to take:
AP Calc BC
AP Comp Gov
AP Lang
AP Chemistry
AP Physics C / AP Art History (1 out of these 2, not sure which)
US History
Sophomore year I got straight A’s (no A- 's lol…AP scores are not out yet but I definitely got 4s and/or 5s)
AP Biology
AP Computer Science
AP Spanish
Pre Calc Honors (Calc AB)
English 2
World History
Thanks guys!
AP Chem & Physics C might not be the best idea (I’ve heard they are VERY time consuming) along with your other classes (especially APUSH). Art History and Chem seem like a better combination. I would keep Lang & BC, since the writing will be beneficial to college app essays next year, and 2 years ahead of the standard track is helpful for STEM Majors.
BC and Physics C are probably the 2 hardest AP classes. AP Language will also probably require a lot of writing. Is AP Physics 1 an option? You could always take Physics C next year, and it would probably be much easier after Physics 1
I’ve heard that Physics 1 is way easier than the later ones… your schedule sounds really tough, I would try and take it easy, if I were you. It seems like a lot, and I’ve heard that when you take so many APs you end up sacrificing at least one of them for the benefit of the others. If you have the chance, I would think about maybe dropping at least one of the more difficult ones and saving it for your senior year, and instead taking a more enjoyable and relaxed exploratory class.
If you are in doubt then don’t overload.
How was your life last year? Did you have a good time in school or did you have to constantly work on AP classes and have little time for other activities?
You probably can, and it’s a GPA booster.
@Earthlingo It’s certainly possible to take a lot of APs and do well in them. I took 6 my last semester of high school, and got at least an A- in all of them. My school is also well-regarded in terms of public schools. I purposely took easier ones though with Lit, APES, Psych, Stats, Gov, and Physics 1. At least at my school, Physics C, and BC are both way harder than any I took. Language also require significantly more work than any of those 6, but it might be different at a different school.
Note that Precalc Honors is not the same as Calc AB and colleges don’t really care whether you take AB or BC.
AP Calc BC => or AB
AP Comp Gov
AP Lang
AP Chemistry
AP Physics C / AP Art History (1 out of these 2, not sure which) => Art History
US History
Senior year, what math would you take if you take BC junior year? If your high school does not offer anything beside BC, take AB junior year then dual enroll and take Calc2 at a community College (which gives you “AP Calc” for college admissions AND “initiative and intellectual ability demonstrated by dual enrollment”).
Take Physics Senior Year. Taking BC, AP Chem, and AP Physics together isn’t impressive to adcoms, it’s just hubris. In addition, having Art History qualifies you for universities in California (which require an art course) and shows more balance than your current schedule.
This is an extremely heavy workload as noted above by others. D took 5 APs senior year and it was a crushing workload. You don’t need this much rigor this early and might blow up. However you did already tackle 3 APs sophomore year which is a lot for a sophomore, I would switch either Physics or Chem to an honors level course
Why aren’t you taking APUSH? I think it’s doable, but you should replace regular US History with APUSH and take an easier elective than Physics C or Art History. Chemistry is a difficult science alone—I don’t think you should pair it with Physics C. Otherwise, looks good! We had people take 5 APs this year and turn out okay. They’re taking 6-7 next year. Best of luck!
^As a reminder, top colleges only expect 4-8 APs total (10 if you go to a super-duper competitive high school - but 1 sophomore year, 3 junior year, and 3 senior year is plenty). After that, the law of diminishing returns applies. In addition, if you have a choice, rather than taking every AP under the sun, they’d rather you take the next level as a dual enrolled student.
@PhilipL hey! My school doesn’t have APUSH nor AP Euro nor AP World.
CLARIFICATION: It’ll be Physics C: Mechanics and people say it’s a course load of about 4hrs/week and senior yearh I’d take AP Stats.
Ap stats is either a complement to a math class or a class to take if you can’t/won’t take calculus. In addition, it’s better to take stats in college (ap stats is a bit harder than a regular class but is not what you study in the calculus sequence after calc1/2 nor the sbit equivalent to a college class).
Does your hs offer calc ab junior year and BC senior year, or is it a school where you take either one? If you finish calc BC senior year, s there a cc nearby where you can take diff eqs in the fall and linear algebra in the spring, or only 1 of these two?
@MYOS1634 most people in my case for math take alg 2 h, pre calc h (we learned calc ab), calc bc, and ap stat (concurrent with community college diff eq/linear alg). It’s weird, people all say AP Physics C: Mechanics at my school is fairly straightforward (4 hours/week).
I think 4 hours/week is too optimistic for AP Physics Mechanics. Some people can do in that short time but I guess most people would need more time for problem sets, lab report.
^I agree that 4 hours seem too optimistic, unless you don’t count lab reports.
Will your stats class be concurrent with a cc math class?
Update:
Well I’ve chosen to take the following courses:
AP Calc BC
AP Comp Gov
AP Lang
AP Chemistry
AP Art History
US History
The classes definitely require a lot of studying but totally manageable. What’s not manageable…SATs… I’m so terrible on the SAT (I don’t plan to take the ACT though, I’m just going to test my luck…) and RIP second semester when there are 5 AP tests and 2hr track practices after school 