Advice on taking APs as a junior/senior

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hello!
I attend a small, rural high school in Virginia that unfortunately doesn’t offer much. Recently, we have gotten two new online programs: Edgenuity and Virtual Virginia, which allow us to take courses that aren’t offered!!! So awesome
Anyways, I’m currently a sophomore enrolled in these courses:

Algebra II
Biology
PE 10/Driver’s Ed
World History Pt. II
Honors English 10
Honors Geometry
Honors Spanish III

My freshman schedule looked like this:
Earth Science
Spanish 2
Dual Credit IT Fundamentals
Honors English 9
Honors Algebra 1
PE/H 9
Sociology

Obviously, by my schedules, the rigor has been limited. We don’t have any AP courses and Honors are only offered in Spanish, English, and math. However, these new programs have opened up opportunities for me!
My question is, what APs should I enroll in as a junior and senior that are right for me based on my classes so far? Am I suitable to take APs online? I am also pursuing to take Calculus and Physics by the time I graduate.

Thank you :slight_smile:

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Hello @beatlesprincess

I’d say you should take the AP classes that interest you. For example: you said you wanted to do Calculus and Physics, then you should definitely take AP Physics 1, 2, B, or C (or all of them…) and AP Calculus AB or BC.

Have you considered what you want to major in after high school? If it is science-related, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, and AP Physics should be on your list. If it is humanities related, the two AP English classes, AP History classes, and AP Language classes is suggested. Etc.

You seem willing to put in the time and effort an AP class requires, so as long as you study hard, do your homework, and balance your out-of-school activities with school, you should be fine.

As far as getting to do AP Calculus and AP Physics:

During Junior year, take Precalculus (or whatever the prerequisite for your AP Calculus class is) and Chemistry. Chemistry is essential to your high school curriculum, so unless if you’ve already taken it in middle school, you should definitely take Chemistry. I know for my school, the prerequisite for AP Physics, is getting an A or B in Algebra II and Chemistry, so that’s another reason why (Unless if there are no prerequisites…in which then Chemistry would just be good background information for AP Physics).

During Senior year, you can take AP Calculus AB or BC (depending on what you feel like you’re ready for) and Physics 1, 2, B, or C, since you are able to take any of them, unless if your school has specific prerequisites.

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Thank you so much @raventhemage!!! That was awesome info! :slight_smile: That’s most likely what I’m going to do.