Here is my schedule from freshman to soon-to be senior year:
Freshman: Most Rigorous classes
HN Geometry, HN bo, HN english 9, Hn history, Chinese 1, Marketing, Gym
Sophomore: Most rigorous
HN Algebra, HN English, HN Chem, AP World, Chinese 2, Econ/Finance, Gym
Junior year:
AP Lang, AP Psych, HN History, Physics, PreCalc/Trig, Chinese 3, Peer Helping (looks good on college app)
Senior Year:
AP Chinese, AP Econ, AP Calc AB, AP Envtl/AP Phys, AP Stat, HN Govt, HN Eng 12
For someone applying to many top universities, would it look like i have a rigorous schedule? The reason why I am not taking many AP’s is because I had a 3.35 freshman year and a 3.1 gpa sophomore year (really bad, I know). I know this seems far fetched, but I hope to get at least a 3.8 in junior year, and a 3.9 for senior year because I have requested many “easy” teachers and took the easiest APs in my school.
If you are taking most of the APs that your school offers, than your schedule looks rigorous enough.
I would like to add, though, considering your lower GPAs in freshman and sophomore year, to make sure that you are not taking on too much. Be aware that for the AP classes, it is strongly recommended that you score a 4 or a 5 on the actual AP Test, and not just get an A. Colleges Reps do have knowledge of the general rigor of the courses at your high school. Getting a 4 or 5 will validate that you actually know the material and didn’t just get an easy A.
Try to take AP Calc BC. It is much more preferred than AP Calc AB.
If you are Chinese and get an A for AP Chinese and score well on the AP test, it won’t do much for you. Yes, it may boost up your GPA, but it won’t be particularly impressive to admissions officers.
As of now, getting a higher GPA is more important that taking on a lot of APs. Don’t overburden yourself.
Also remember that taking APs during Junior year is very significant. Yes, keeping up the rigor of classes during senior year is important, but your senior year schedule isn’t very important for ED, and only 1st semester grades are important for regular decision.
It would be better to beef up your Junior year rather than your senior year.
@kychung4650 thanks for the advice. But there is one thing: a Guilford college admissions officer told me that beefing up senior year is much more important than junior year, because colleges want to see how much u challenge urself and only can see one semester of senior year
Definitely keep your gpa in check - don’t slip due to pressure and end up with a 3.0.
Senior year schedule probably does matter. Also, having your schedule filled with independent study, departmental aid, gym/health, and EMPTYx5 is pretty good for college.
That’s a decent schedule, but honestly, not all that many AP’s. You’re obviously taking on a lot your senior year. And that’s awesome, keep at it. But I’m with the other people here, your junior year is your more important year. Taking 6 AP’s your senior year is going to be a little tough. My suggestion, as someone who has taken 4 of the fairly challenging AP’s in one year, is to spread out your AP’s, maybe do 5 a year or so, depending on what you feel like you are capable of. I would also definitely recommend taking BC over AB, for a lot of reasons. It looks a lot better to colleges, the AP test itself is easier, and it’s honestly not that much harder than AB. About another term of stuff at the end. I’ve heard about people complaining that BC is too fast, but I disagree, I think AB is too slow. As far as Physics goes, it’s a mixed bag. Physics 1 and 2 are really not that bad, and I honestly didn’t think Mechanics was that bad either. But if you’re taking a two part course that covers Mechanics and E&M, the math becomes a bit more intense. Also, your senior year, take AP Lit if possible. Overall, not a bad schedule.