Hi! As it says in the title, I am unsure about my classes next year and I would love to hear someone else’s opinion. Also, I just joined this site and I’m still attempting to figure out how to use it, sorry!
I’m currently a sophomore in high school and taking these classes:
Algebra 2 honors(A average)
Spanish 2 (B average)
Chemistry Honors(B/A average)
Advanced Band(A average)
English Honors(A/B average)
AP world history(A average)
AP psychology(A average)
I feel very comfortable with my current course load this year. I’m also on my schools rowing(crew) team and we practice 6 days a week after school for 3 hours. So I don’t typically get home until 6:30-7 PM. In the fall, I have marching band practices as well and on Mondays I go straight from crew to band practice(6-8 pm). I have been juggling this well so far. I struggled a bit more this year than last, I had straight As all last year. I’m taking precalculus over the summer via virtual school.
Next year in planning on taking these classes:
AP calculus AB
AP English Language
AP Seminar(capstone program)
AP environmental science
AP music theory
Advanced band
AP study hall OR AP microeconomics/ AP macroeconomics(both .5 credits)
I’m also self studying AP US history and taking the exam in May as I would’ve if I had taken it in an in-class setting. So, is the 7th AP class worth it? Or is study hall the better road to take? I’m going to continue with crew and band during the year(band settles down after football season ends). Are these courses rigorous enough for colleges? The plan is to be a pre-med student and I’ve already attained over 100 community service hours, and will earn more within the next year and a half. I’m also in NHS and Tri-M(music honor society). I have been in band since 6th grade and will continue to row for the next 2 years. I’m looking to earn some leadership roles either in band or crew next year. Do I have what colleges are looking for? Am I missing anything important? I plan on taking the SAT and ACT both 3 times, but haven’t taken either quite yet, I will take them September/October of next year(my junior year). I also plan on taking these classes senior year:
AP biology
AP research(AP capstone)
AP English literature
Advanced band
AP calculus AB
AP statistics
(Unsure about a 7th class)
If I don’t take AP macro/ micro I will take them senior year. I will self study AP government and politics as well.
Other AP classes that I’m interested in include AP art history and AP human geography(I might self study these). Thank you for reading this!
My recommendation is will all your ECs would to be to opt for a study hall. With that amount of AP classes you’re sure to have a lot of homework (depending on teachers) so that extra time would be needed. I would hold off on Micro/macro Econ until senior year, although that would add more stress to that year. Also do you mean you’re going to take Calc BC senior year (you have it listed under junior too)? I think the schedule looks fine; the only improvement I could think of would be the addition of a third year of a foreign language.
wow… You should definitely limit the amount of AP classes you’re in. Some AP classes aren’t very much work outside of class, but some are, and the ones that are time consuming may affect your grades in your other classes. Those classes may just make you feel tired. For me AP Econ isn’t much work outside of class, possibly because I have a good teacher and he makes it easy, but it may be for you if you find it confusing or something. You’ll definitely feel very stressed this time next year during AP Exams. I would just ask people currently in those classes what the work load is for each class, and then ask yourself if you can handle it all. You might want the study hall if there is a lot of homework.
study hall
I took 7 AP tests this year. I definitely think it is doable. However, I was very interested in these classes; I rarely ever regretted deciding to take on this much work because I genuinely loved what I was learning. Doing math problems while jamming to music was my thing.
I finished Calc AB by myself in a month (self-studied it), and jumped into Calc BC mid-year. AP Biology was a breeze, though I’m a bit biased since I did very well in USABO. Just love what you’re reading. I can’t comment on AP Research, but I did do research (science). AP Lit will depend on your school; I had so much fun in that class. I’d quote movies in socratic seminars and essays and still would get 8’s and 9’s. This took a lot of skill, though… AP Statistics is also easy if you did well in algebra and are good at rote memorization. In general, AP Micro and Macro are the easiest APs (perhaps behind Psychology or Human Geography). If you’re logical, it’ll be easy. I self-studied Micro my sophomore year and got a 5 on Micro/Macro in 2 different years with barely any studying for both. I can’t give feedback on AP government. AP Human Geography is also easy if you keep up with the readings. I had last year’s APUSH, so I don’t know… I did get 95% on the practice AP exam, but meh… New version is different.
However, when I read AP Art History, I’m starting to doubt whether or not you really like these classes. I really don’t see a theme in these AP classes. What’s your true motivation for doing these classes? You WILL fall asleep on textbooks and panic at 7:00 AM when you wake up if you’re going against what you truly want to do.
Getting into college is not good motivation. So… my recommendation? Study hall!
Study hall, and like the previous comment stated, why isn’t there a theme in the ap classes you’re taking?