I’m going into junior year next year and am planning to take these classes:
• A.P. Biology
• A.P. Statistics
• A.P. English Language and Composition
• A.P. U.S. History
• A.P. Spanish
• A.P. Latin
What are these particular courses like, would you say? And are 6 A.P. classes a lot in your mind—do you think it’s feasible? How much time does it take?
Also, this summer I’m taking Precalculus (a prerequisite for A.P. Statistics at my school) at my local community college and High School Chemistry (a prerequisite alongside High School Biology for A.P. Biology at my school) at the Virtual High School online (while also self-studying the Honors High School Chemistry textbook to make sure I have the prerequisite knowledge.)
Last year, sophomore year, I took only one A.P. course (I took A.P. European History, Biology, Spanish IV, Latin III, English 10, Algebra II, and Jazz Band.) (At my school, sophomores are only allowed to take history A.P.s. and freshmen can’t take any.)
1 AP to 6 APs is definitely a huge jump. Some students can definitely manage it but I’d take a second thought about the time and effort these classes will require and if you can handle that. Some students can manage the classes and workload during the year but will fare poorly on the AP exams from being burnt out by taking so many tests, so keep that in mind, too.
I would have the same 3 questions as @bopper except that you’re taking pre-Calc now so why not some form of Calc instead of Stats? Unless you’re saving it for 12th which may not be a good idea.
The amount of APs is not really an issue, it’s more a question of the actual classes you are taking.
@ahardboiledegg I’ll keep that in mind—I’ve heard from a couple people that the A.P.s are not terribly bad in comparison to the Honors classes that I’m used to—so hopefully that’ll stand. But in the case that it is, I’ll try to keep prepared. Thanks!
@bopper To answer your questions, I’m taking two foreign languages because I love both and have studied both for years; I took Honors Physics as a freshman (and plan to do A.P. Physics in Grade 12); I’m taking Precalculus this summer at my local community college; and I’m saving Calculus for senior year (because I figured Statistics would be a bit easier and I wanted to put as much in my favor as I could this year.) Is there anything that particularly bad about the classes you suggested be eliminated?
@ProfessorPlum168 The answers to his questions are ︎. And yeah, I was planning to save Calculus for 12th. What’s wrong with these particular courses?
Taking a year break between PreCalc and Calc might not be too beneficial. There are tons of concepts in PreCal (at least at my school) that are even easy to forget in the summer between. I’d swap Stats for Calc and save it for senior year.
The issue is that op has too many APs. Taking calculus isn’t making things easier. I’d s/he wants to keep such a crazy schedule, taking two easier APs would be necessary.
Have you taken both Spanish 4 and Latin4 already?
Replace AP Bio with another science or drop APUSH. Limit yourself to 4 APs.
If you’ve already taken physics, take APES.
It’s not each Cass separately, it’s having six of them! APUSH can be 45-60mn of homework a day plus everything else would mean a minimum of 4 hours of homework a day!
You’re going to die but students do it. You better be prepared to study like it’s a full time job. But if you’re a student who wants to be harvard-bound or the like, this is pretty much what it takes. This is the year that really matters though. I wouldn’t wait until your senior year to take your hardest classes, because it would be somewhat of a waste. Not that you shouldn’t take tough classes senior year, but this is the year to go balls to the wall. The slightest differences in gpa go a long way. .1 or .2 can open and close doors for you. It’s sad but that’s the way it is, and your senior grades won’t reflect on your gpa, only your schedule will be considered and they’ll want you to maintain your gpa. But with only rare exception, your senior grades won’t get you in anywhere, only get you booted from where you’ve already been admitted. Just something to think about. I certainly wish I’d done more my junior year. What I should have done is sacrificed everything, and said hell to social life, free time etc., because you’ll be thanking yourself a year later when you’re admitted to your dream school.
^I disagree with this comment. Is going to your “dream” school really worth it when you’re mentally exhausted and have no social life, sleep, etc? That’s an unhealthy mindset to hold. You don’t have to sacrifice your grades in order to have fun being a teenager and vice versa. Plus, colleges will see your senior year grades as they ask for a mid-year report, it’s all important.
My daughter did 5 and it was ugly. She kept her GPA but was pretty stressed and spent every Sunday morning til night playing catch up…especially with APUSH…very labor intensive. Are you planning any college tours? You miss school days for these which caused a lot of stress here. Are you also studying for SAT or ACT? You may need time for that. Personally I don’t think there is a big advantage. For a top student a total of 9 or 10 APs is plenty even for the most elite schools. Looking back I wish she had taken less. I am certain the outcome would have been the same.
The right question is whether or not all waking hours will be enough time to keep up with the work.
The answer to this question probably depends upon how strong you are at each of the subjects where you are planning to take AP classes. Are you very strong at Spanish and Latin and English? Stat’s can be a bit of an odd math class. Among students who are strong at math some people take to it and some don’t. Are you a very fast reader with strong retention of details (for US History)?
Is going to your “dream” school really worth it when you’re mentally exhausted and have no social life, sleep, etc?
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Yes. I certainly regret not doing so. I’m just giving him the reality and it’s his decision to decide if it’s what he wants. You can’t tell someone they’re wrong if they want to sacrifice to get what they want. One year of your youth life is overrated. That’s exactly how I rationalized staying lazy in high school. I couldn’t stand the idea of losing my free time during my “golden years.” Fast forward 4-5 years and I wish I sacrificed one or two semesters. It’s 1 year of your life to go somewhere you’re going to love for 4-5 years, may impact where you go to graduate school, and that will impact the rest of your life.
It certainly all depends on what op wants. But at this point he probably can’t have that kind of conviction about his career path. There’s certain paths that your education will matter more than others. Once I started over after two years at a crappy state school and knew what I wanted to do (work in academia/research), I had no problem working myself into the ground for a year or two at a JC to put myself in a good position to get into some of my dream schools this fall.
Is going to your “dream” school really worth it when you’re mentally exhausted and have no social life, sleep, etc?
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Yes. I certainly regret not doing so. I’m just giving him the reality and it’s his decision to decide if it’s what he wants. You can’t tell someone they’re wrong if they want to sacrifice to get what they want. One year of your youth life is overrated. That’s exactly how I rationalized staying lazy in high school. I couldn’t stand the idea of losing my free time during my “golden years.” Fast forward 4-5 years and I wish I sacrificed one or two semesters. It’s 1 year of your life to go somewhere you’re going to love for 4-5 years, may impact where you go to graduate school, and that will impact the rest of your life.
It certainly all depends on what op wants. But at this point he probably can’t have that kind of conviction about his career path. There’s certain paths that your education will matter more than others. Once I started over after two years at a crappy state school and knew what I wanted to do (work in academia/research), I had no problem working myself into the ground for a year or two at a JC to put myself in a good position to get into some of my dream schools this fall.
Whether its too much for you depends on how much time you already spend studying. It all depends on the student and how quickly you grasp and can complete the material. What works for one student may not for the next. US History-can be time consuming depending on how many projects they assign as this varies among teachers. AP stats is one of the easier AP’s.
Stanford:
We expect applicants to pursue a reasonably challenging curriculum, choosing courses from among the most demanding courses available at your school. We ask you to exercise good judgment and to consult with your counselor, teachers and parents as you construct a curriculum that is right for you. Our hope is that your curriculum will inspire you to develop your intellectual passions, not suffer from unnecessary stress. The students who thrive at Stanford are those who are genuinely excited about learning, not necessarily those who take every single AP or IB, Honors or Accelerated class just because it has that designation.
@NoahPM There’s a difference between balancing school and a social life and completely slacking off. Top colleges do not expect you to take 6 APs a year and that certainly does not guarantee admission- people with 5s on a dozen APs have still been denied from Ivy Leagues. Swamping yourself in schoolwork for a year is not a sacrifice to make in order to succeed, it’s an unnecessary sacrifice of your mental health and stability. And implying that you won’t get into a good school unless you do so is simply unhealthy. I’m sorry that you’re unhappy with your first two years of college, but that is just not good advice.
Top colleges are very clear they do NOT want students to take “every AP under the sun” and in fact disapprove of it. Once you’ve proved your ability to handle rigor (which means 4-8 APs, total) they look at your other achievements.
Beside making relevant ECs impossible, taking so many APs is a sure way to tank a GPA as it’s impossible to do well in them.
Read Cal Newport’s How to be a high school superstar.
“It’s not a game of who has the most APs, wins” as Stanford says.
︎. And yeah, I was planning to save Calculus for 12th. What’s wrong with these particular courses?