I’m a current freshman in high school who is aiming for valedictorian of my class and AP State Scholar in the future. At my school, freshmen are not allowed to take AP classes (with a few exceptions for math students that took Pre-Calc in middle school and for students who test out of Earth Systems Science- they have the option of doing AP Physics 1 or Chemistry/Advanced Chemistry).
Currently my schedule is this:
Pre-Calculus (APPATH)
PreAP World History
Advanced Chemistry
PreAP Biology
Spanish Level 3
PreAP English 9
Introduction to Business (1st Semester) & Design: Foundations of Art (2nd Semester)
Sophomore year I want to take these classes:
PreAP World Literature and Composition
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry
AP Human Geography
Marketing/Business Economics
With the two remaining class slots I have left, I have five options:
Introduction to Computer Science/AP Computer Science A
AP Statistics (the teacher is apparently not good; are the class & test easy enough to still pass with an A?)
AP Physics 1 (I was told to not take this class with AP Chem in the same year)
AP Music Theory (which eliminates two grad reqs; seems like a hard class- I’ve played piano for 9 years so maybe that helps a bit?)
Spanish Level 4 (as a fluent Chinese speaker I plan to take the AP Chinese Language & Culture test; is that good enough to “replace” the fourth year of language needed for selective colleges?)
Thanks for all your help! Feel free to ask clarifying questions.
I would lean towards taking foreign language because I think I’ve heard colleges want you to actually take the classes. I’m pretty sure being bilingual won’t substitute for that. Might want to have someone verify that though.
I agree that you shouldn’t take AP Physics with AP Chem. It’s difficult to take 2 AP sciences as a junior or senior and you are only going to be a sophomore. AP Chem is also considered one of the hardest AP’s.
I hear that AP Stats is one of the easiest APs. Don’t know that much about AP Music Theory or APCS though.
Don’t take two AP science classes you will regret it, especially because one of them is AP Chem.
Does your school have PE requirements? You might want to get that out of the way if you are not particularly interested in athletics.
With regards to piano I’ve played about 8 years but I only ever did good on playing tests, not theory. So unless you actually did good on theory I wouldn’t expect it to help a whole lot. I had a friend who took Music Theory last year, she said it wasn’t too hard though.
For Chinese, I took the test and got a 4. The university I’m going to (which imo is pretty selective) will give me 3 credits and is the equivalent of CHIN 222. So take that for what you will.
You’ll need to look up the specifics for each college. Different institutions have different policies.
What do you LIKE- what interests you other than collecting as many AP classes as possible? Comp Sci? Music? Languages? Are there other non-AP classes in your school that interest you?
I think its funny that your school calls Honors courses “PreAP”.
suzyQ7 like your reply. Too many students are clueless about the point of education. It isn’t to get the most A’s or the highest grades. It is to learn and to build an adult who is competent. Many of the most elite schools prefer students without perfect grades who took academic risks to those with perfect grades who did not. I don’t think the goal of beating out peers with respect to grades is a worthwhile goal.
My daughter is an accomplished musician and was National AP Scholar in Junior year. She is taking AP Music theory as a senior and it is the most difficult class she has ever taken. Hands down! My kids take AP Comp Sci as freshman, I know that’s not an option for you but they consider that an easy class.
Its funny because its a College Board gimmick. There are standard courses, honors courses, and AP courses. PreAP is just Honors, but the school is making it sound like more than it is so it can impress high school kids and their parents who are chasing the AP game. Pretty soon, there will be some Pre-AP test the College Board can charge for, and test obsessed kids can take.
Look, even the College Board doesn’t like the term pre-AP:
"The College Board does not officially endorse locally designed courses labeled “Pre-AP.” Courses labeled “Pre-AP” that inappropriately restrict access to AP and other college-level work are inconsistent with the fundamental purpose of the Pre-AP initiatives of the College Board. "
I think you’re blowing this out of proportion. Not once have I ever been compelled to “chase the AP game” because of these classes, nor have my parents, or any of peers’ parents.
I don’t know what schools you’ve been to, but here it literally just signifies a slightly more rigorous course load, which if I recall is exactly what honors is.
No one I know thinks to themselves: “I am better prepared for AP classes because of this course!!! I love AP!!!”
Most students I know just refer to preAP as more work. No one actually associates it with AP. No one cares.
Good question. I’m one of those super weird, super indecisive students who doesn’t know what they want to do and happens to like every subject almost equally. I think that high school is an opportunity to try everything you can without having to pay hundreds of dollars (like college).
Having said that, I’m trying to figure out the best combination of classes that best suits my interests and my goals. The last thing I want to do is to focus on the two letters in front of the course instead of the content and difficulty of the actual course itself.
I would suggest Spanish 4 and AP Comp Sci to fill up the slots!
Foreign language is important…I got a 5 on AP Chinese but my school has a 3 year language requirement…I’m taking Spanish and being at a high Spanish level is still impressive.
AP Stats and Calc is a common combo at my school for seniors and everyone complains that it is super hard…Stats isn’t a bad class but doubling on math is challenging. Physics is also challenging…and so is AP Chem is I definitely say no to that unless you want to die or have your GPA in jeopardy. Also, AP Music Theory has so many components that aren’t even related to music…there’s like sound waves and physics components and then like crazy listening and transpositions and what not. I’ve played two instruments for 9 years and I borrowed the Barrons book and realized that I knew like none of it…you can try, but it won’t really help you choose an interest like Comp Sci might.
I’d go with Spanish 4 - if you can score high on AP Chinese and on Spanish SAT Subject, that would be a differentiator for you, something really valuable to colleges because it’s rare and it means you went “above and beyond”.
For the second possibility, you should go with what you like best. Generally speaking though, I’d say go with the class that has the best teacher. A good teacher can make anything worth learning, a bad teacher can make stones cry with boredom about anything.
Please aim instead for a good high school experience which challenges you, supports your interests, and lets you have a little fun. Honestly no one cares about state AP scholars and valedictorians. You won’t believe me on this but try asking on the parents forum.
I’ve done some thinking and research with the upperclassmen at my high school and I think my sophomore year schedule will look something like this:
PreAP World Literature & Composition
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry
AP Physics 1 (at my school multiple people have done both chem and physics)
AP Human Geography
Spanish Level 4
Business Economics/STEM Survey
