I am a highschool sophomore and go to a pretty competitive private high school. We have a block schedule, so we have every class every other day except on Wednesdays where we have everything. This year I will be taking 6 core classes and will have 1 free period. The classes I am taking are:
AP World
AP Computer Science (little to no prior programming experience)
Acc. Algebra II/Pre-Calc
Acc. Chemistry
English II
Spanish IV
I have never taken an AP class before, but am really excited to learn AP Comp Sci. I also dance after school 3-5 days a week and am a video editor for my schools publications. I also want to join a club in my school that includes programming and coding to learn more about that.
I realize that this is a lot of stuff I will have to do, so my question is, is it manageable to do all these things, and still have a life, and hopefully sleep a little? Out of all my classes, the only thing I would change is swapping AP World for normal Modern World History. I am planning on starting off in AP World though and seeing how it goes.
Do you think that I would be able to all of these things and still maintain solid A’s in all my classes?
I think it should be doable considering I will be sophomore too and am taking a similar schedule just with AP physics instead of AP computer science and pre calc/data analysis instead of alg 2/pre calc. I also know a good bit of people who will be doing this too.
This past year I was a soph and I took AP classes as well, such as AP Human Geo and AP World, so forth and so on. I would suggest keeping at least AP World, you’ll probably discover that it will be one of the best classes you ever take. AP classes like that really helped me in my decision as to what I might want to study in college. I would consider balancing some of your ECs; please don’t overwhelm yourself. I participate in varsity sports as well as volunteering, and I don’t think it is too bad. Some of my other friends struggled in the classes, and their grades were affected. It all depends on how you are as a student. And trust me, it isn’t hard to achieve high grades in those classes. As long as you pay attention and really put forth the work, you should do fine. It will be a struggle the first few weeks, but you could probably get a hold of it. As for Comp Sci, I would suggest maybe taking just a basic Comp Sci course first, seeing as you said you have a little bit of experience. That’s what I did; I never took the AP course but the intro course really helped. But like you said, joining a club would help as well. I would say Spanish, English, and AP World shouldn’t be too hard (you just have to think a little more in AP World, the concepts are different than being in just a reg. class). Chemistry should be alright; personally I’m not a math person so I can’t say anything about math, sorry! But remember, AP classes affect your GPA, so aim for B’s and A’s. Solid A’s are nice, yes, but maintaining a B as a sophomore is good too. You should like a bright student, so I believe you will do fine! Best of luck to you!
But remember, AP classes affect your GPA, so aim for B’s and A’s. Solid A’s are nice, yes, but maintaining a B as a sophomore is good too. You should like a bright student, so I believe you will do fine! Best of luck to you!