I don’t have anyone to ask for advice so I’m turning to college board
Question: Should I drop AP United States History or AP Chemistry
I’m not sure whether I should drop APUSH or AP Chem. The reason is because these are supposedly two of the hardest classes at my school aside from AP Calc BC. I want to have a good GPA but still want to challenge myself but not to the point where I’m burned out !
Things to note :
I’m planning on having a STEM career
I currently have a 3.8 cumulative GPA
*Going to be a junior in high school
*Have been working in a lab for the past 2 years
*Need at least 7 hours of sleeP TO FUNCTION
*I want to keep my GPA up
Classes I forecasted for during my junior year
*AP Calc AB
*AP United States History
*AP Language and Composition
*AP Chemistry
*Ceramics
*Spanish 3
Drop APUSH- if you are interested in STEM, AP Chemistry would be much more relevant to you. Many ppl at my school struggled a lot with AP US so you should drop that class and take chemistry.
but AP Chem is supposed to be a harder class. Getting a 3 on the exam (60-70%) is supposed to be good. And the teacher that teaches AP Chem at my school is known to be bad. Ahh I don’t know what to do. I have summer assignments for both classes and I’m freaking out.
My son skipped the AP English classes because they are very time consuming at his school and writing is not his strong point. He just took regular English instead in order to have time for APUSH, Calc AB and AP Chem. Is AP Language and Composition a lot of work at your school? Is it a course you are likely to be very good at?
In general, I don’t think it is a good idea to have a junior year with no math course. I guess you should consider how competitive the colleges are that you plan to apply to, and what courses kids at your school took who got into them.
Tbh both AP Chem and AP USH are considered very hard APs so no matter which you take it’s not like you’re really dropping in rigor. And even disregarding good/bad teachers, both subjects are inherently difficult so neither of them will be an easier A. That being said, if you’re really interested in STEM you should go for AP Chem.
However, maybe you can try to do both? I’m a rising senior. As a junior I took 4 APs which were English Language, Chem, Bio, and APUSH. I was able to manage it along with everything else I do so I know that 4 APs with Chem + APUSH is possible. I believe in you!!!
I know my advice will run counter to the CC “take all the APs you can” mindset.
It seems to me that if you want a STEM major, it might be more productive to actually take your college Chem classes in college, as opposed to AP. That way, you’re getting the in depth, actual college version, not the high school cram-it-in-for-the-AP-exam version.
I recommend dropping APUSH if you want a STEM career. If the teacher is horrible and you have the time, take an online course on edx or a similar site or find a study group (trust me, they helped a lot with my math class this past year).
It is smart to seek balance. If you are really overloaded or have one class that’s really a struggle, you may find it difficult to do well in anything. I would skip APUSH. If you think you want to be a STEM major, AP Chem could be something of a litmus test for that. I have known kids who rethought that decision after a few AP or IB classes. And if you like it, it will help to have that background for college.
Take AP Chem since you’re considering to major in STEM. If you’re teacher is horrible, there’s always lectures online you can access. If you’re teacher is the type to load you with busy work, not even teach, and then not even finish teaching the course by the time AP testing season comes, drop the class and take it online. It’s insanely frustrating to take an AP test in May with only 80% of the actual course done because your teacher couldn’t pace the class properly.
I took AP Chem, APUSH, and AP Calc BC my Junior year. To be honest, if I had to choose two, I would go with Chem and Calc. I’m taking Lang my senior year instead.
I had the same schedule as OP only instead of ceramics I took adv choir. My school has a notoriously bad chem teacher and this was her first year teaching AP chem. I think that semi-self stuffing is definitely doable. I got a 5 using the Barron’s prep book and the “national science institute notes/videos” (not 100% sure on the name but I posted it yesterday so…) I would recommend dropping APUSH and keeping chem. BUT, if you think that you can handle APUSH too, I’d take it because that’ll help with GE’s in college.
FWIW: I stayed up till 12( more like till 12:30) for the first time under this course load and got at the very least 5hrs of sleep. On the other hand, had I not taken this course load, I’d of probably been bored.
