<p>I just keep on freaking out. I'm a freshman and in my school you're allowed to take certain APs. I signed up for AP bio but the spot got filled and now I realized that my math class isn't honors. So instead of taking trigonometry next year and calculus in 10th grade I'll be taking precalc in 10th. And I know I'm advanced but I'm still behind. And my friend doesn't even like math and she has that class. And then I found out you could take AP psychology online and I really wanted to take psych but that's $300. And I just feel so behind everyone. My counselor says I'm not but I can't help this feeling. What do you guys think. I'm trying to get into Harvard and MIT. Not because of prestige but simply because I like the feel I get from there. Should I take classes online or somewhere else?</p>
<p>Stop stressing or the next 4 years will really suck. Believe your counselor. You’re fine.</p>
<p>You are completely overreacting. Most high schoolers do not take APs until junior year, maybe 1 or 2 sophomore year. You will be reaching calculus pretty early. You are not behind, you are ahead. Some people may be “more ahead” than you, but it does not matter. Calm down, watch this video to get some perspective (you’ll notice a little something from MIT):<a href=“Why taking choir kept me from being a Valedictorian: Austin Channell at TEDxColumbus - YouTube”>Why taking choir kept me from being a Valedictorian: Austin Channell at TEDxColumbus - YouTube; It may not be your exact situation, but the message still applies, stop and smell the roses- be a teenager. </p>
<p>Even where I went to high school, which has consistently ranked within the top 5 high schools in the nation, the max APs you could take as a freshman was 2 and you didn’t have a choice on those because they were predetermined tracks (math and foreign lang). Sophomore year, you could potentially take 4 APs, but again placement is involved (math, foreign lang) and it also involves taking a summer course that many people fail. Overachievers typically would take 3. Junior year, is when people would stack the APs (max is 6, but most people take 3-5 because there are also post-APs), senior year had max 5. These are not set maximums as in the school won’t let you take more, but as in there are only 7 periods in the day and there are required classes that are honors level. </p>
<p>Do not forget that there are courses that are not AP that may be as rigorous or more rigorous than APs. Don’t fall into the counting APs trap. Colleges want you to take the most rigorous schedule possible, but you need to take what interests you and what you can do well in. Never take a course just because its an AP</p>
<p>I thought the schools judged in the context of your school?</p>
<p>Yes, but they don’t look at every single course and say “gasp, they didn’t take this course as AP or honors when it was available”. Your guidance counselor will mark on your college applications if your schedule is most rigorous (which may be APs, honors, IBs, or other classes such as post-APs at the high school I went to, depending on your high school), so listen to your counselor. Rigor is your course load as a whole and colleges won’t necessarily know the ins and outs of what is rigorous or not at your school. So in reality, your course rigor is judged by your counselor, not the college. This is what they mean by in context of your school. If your school offers 6 APs, they don’t expect you to take 8, depending on which APs they are and the requirements to take them (example foreign languages and maybe having both calculus classes), the maximum you could take is 2 APs. If you take 2 APs in that case, you’re golden- 1 AP, still rigorous. No APs?- well that depends on your other classes and whether you have honors or not. </p>
<p>Most people don’t take AP Bio until sophomore year and up 
Don’t worry! And Calculus in 11th grade is still really early, remember that it’s college-level. You’ll be years ahead of some upperclassmen in math at whichever university you go to :)</p>
<p>You could have taken 25 AP’s and still not get into Harvard or MIT.</p>
<p>You aren’t behind. Everyone on this site is super far ahead. My school doesn’t allow APs until junior year and I can’t take calculus until senior year. You are not behind by any means.</p>
<p>yea wow omg you are so behind, how are you ever going to catch up smh</p>
<p>You’re FINE! Like the other person said, you can take all the AP classes collegeboard has to offer and still get rejected by the ivy leagues. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself; it can be unhealthy and is totally unnecessary at this point in high school. It’s always good to have a plan, but you also want to enjoy what your high schools days have to offer.</p>
<p>Don’t freak out that you’re not taking AP Calc as a sophomore. Most kids don’t even take that class till junior or senior year, so just relax. Colleges aren’t going to go “oh wow she didn’t take AP Bio as a freshman? HAH, REJECTED!” Do the best you can do without overbearing yourself. Take on challenges, but don’t go absolutely nuts over it. Otherwise, you’ll have these high expectations and might end up disappointing yourself.</p>
<p>Good luck! :-bd </p>
<p>Lol, you’re perfectly fine! Schools compare you to other students at your school, but use your head. They don’t get every single student’s transcript, they get information from guidance to find out how rigorous the courses are relative to the rest, and (mainly) look at class rank to compare you, although this is just one small component of admissions</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore and I’m one of 4 sophomores at my school taking (the brand new) precalc, and there are only like 3 APs here, which underclassmen can’t take. This genius guy at my school who will probably go to MIT in a few years is in the same boat. Point being, there’s plenty of people at the same academic level as you and we’re perfectly fine, and ahead of the pack. As are you. You’re only comparing yourself to a select few people, and ignoring the big picture. Those select few don’t really matter; you still have great chances at getting into top schools, assuming all other factors are satisfactory. </p>
<p>Relax. You’re fine. I would, however, recommend taking classes over the summer if you can so that you can still be in calculus by 10th grade. That’s important not because of getting into college, but because having a solid math foundation in high school will help you a lot in college, no matter where you end up going. </p>
<p>If you’re really concerned, you could also self-study AP Psychology - pick up a $20 prep book, read that and use materials on-line, and you’ll probably still be able to do well on the exam. AP Psych is probably the easiest AP exam to self-study. You might want to wait until later, though, because self-studying an AP as a freshman can be pretty rough.</p>
<p>The fact that you’re not in AP Bio, honors math, etc. just means that you should have a little more free time to pursue your own interests and ECs, or even start preparing early for the SAT. Basically, think of not being in those classes as an opportunity to get ahead in other areas. (Side note: but this really isn’t a race or about college admissions. Getting into a great college is awesome, of course, but no matter what college you end up going to, having pursued your interests in high school and really challenged yourself will make you a stronger, more well-rounded, and hopefully happier person in four years. And that’s awesome for life, not just college admissions.)</p>