Hey, any big CC people out there who’ve taken AP chemistry, AP Physics, AP Calculus AB, AP Stats, and AP English Literature in the same year and what was it like? Even if you’ve had something relatively like this schedule I/future students would appreciate if you guys shared experiences. What’s the work load like? Time for extracurriculars/exercise/social life? EVEN if you’ve taken like 2 of the 4 at once - what was that like? Would you guys discourage/encourage to take a course load like this?
BTW - I’m willing to take an excessive schedule like this because I love math and science. I’ve done a weird schedule finishing lots of humanities electives, thus saving most math and science ones for last. Also, this is not meant to be a braggart type of post. THANK YOU for any responses!
AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Calculus AB, AP Stats - Same year: what's it like?Personal experiences?
Grade? Also, which Physics: C or 1/2? Any prior experience with APs?
Why on earth would you want to do this?
Take one math and one science.
Even if you’re going into STEM, taking four STEM APs in one year is totally unnecessary. I would keep AP Calculus if I were you, but you should drop one of your sciences. If you’ve taken one of each of the three main sciences already (biology, chemistry, and physics), then take whichever one of the two sciences you like the most. If you haven’t taken physics, take AP Physics 1. If you haven’t taken chemistry, take regular or Honors Chemistry. Don’t try to take AP without chemistry first.
personal rankings high to low, assuming you are doing all the homework/studying/reading you are supposed to and work hard
overall difficulty of course
AP Chemistry
AP Physics
AP Calculus AB
AP English Literature (easy if you read what you are supposed to )
AP Stats
Homework time(not including studying)
AP English Literature
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus AB
AP Stats
AP Physics
Studying time for tests
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus AB
AP Physics
AP Stats
AP English Literature
Difficulty to get an A
AP English Literature
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus AB
AP Stats
AP Physics ( at least at my school, the course itself is very hard so to compensate there is always a heavy curve and tests are graded leniently)
Difficulty to get a 5 on the exam
AP Physics
AP English Literature
AP Chemistry
AP Calculus AB
AP Stats
I would be a senior the year of this schedule
@hjulk7 I would be doing this in grade 12. No prior experience with physics, I would take AP physics 1, and planning on studying foundations over summer. - The physics teacher told me I was not required to take a prerequisite of physics, but I probably should review.
@bopper I currently have 6 AP’s and 1 honors achieving A’s. I think I could handle a cutdown of 2 periods for a more intense 5 period schedule. But still, this doesn’t answer my question, I was asking how the class intensity is like. And like I said, I love math and science.
@r2v2018 I have taken chemistry before, took a gap year from it and going back into AP Chem, but I’m going to review all the topics over summer
@TimexRosegold I really appreciate the difficulty chart, I’m assuming it’s built from your experience? Could you go more in depth on how each class routine is like? for example, work given, tests/studying, advice on juggling a schedule like this, what did you personally do to time manage?
I’m thinking I might drop AP statistics for something else to make it easier on myself. Though I now have a follow up question: would this be a bad idea in senior year? I know there’s college and scholarship applications, which I’ve heard take up a lot of time. I don’t think I can catch a case of senioritis, but life changes man. Any hard workers who burned themselves out from school? Advice to refrain from that happening?
My son is taking AP Bio, AP Stats, AP English Lit, and Multivariable Calc his senior year with no trouble. He took AP Physics his junior year - said it was heavy math, but since he had taken AP Calc sophomore year he found it “easy”.
Senior year is busy - the first semester you’ve got a lot of essays to write for applications, testing if needed, and scholarship applications (we also toured a few more schools). My son was pretty busy August - October and actually decided to drop a fall sport to make it more manageable. Second semester has been much easier, although still getting great grades, he doesn’t seem to be working as hard. He got into his top choice school in December, so that may have made an impact too. I think it’s great that he has been able to “relax” a bit more this semester - still has a tough course load, but it’s not unmanageable and he is still able to do activities after school with friends and doesn’t seem to be studying too much on weekends:)
If I was going over this with my son and he was concerned about the course load, I would suggest to drop either one of the science courses or the stats class…what are you thinking for a major in college? If science related, keep the science, if business keep the stats…
I would take two of the four at most. Taking all 4 is a recipe for disaster.
Absolutely no!. AP chem and AP calc are one of the hardest APs. I suggest you take 2 and months before begin a indepth study of both to really understand the material
My daughter took AP chem, AP physics C, and AP Calc this year. She also took H orgo, H/Dual credit gov, and then dropped down to regular British Lit instead of AP lit. She had a ton of work and every free second not doing ECs was spent on HW. AP physics averaged 16-20 hours/week of work on its own. Lots of time management required along with working ahead every weekend but she actually had blast and really enjoyed her classes. She took AP stats last year and felt that was the easiest of all her AP courses.
My daughter originally wanted a schedule almost exactly like this. Everyone we talked to recommended against AP Chem and AP Physics in the same year. She will also be taking AP Calc, AP Econ, AP Lang. So she decided to drop down to regular physics. She will need a physics class in college to satisfy pre-med requirements but is not intending to major in physics or engineering so the extra AP was really overkill.
Hey people, any students who are reading this, I will update this thread in about 6 months to let everyone know if it’s possible or not. I’ve decided on switching my schedule up a little because there’s no point doing this many classes if I’m not happy, have time to be me, or sports. To any students thinking of taking a course heavy schedule like this, be advised, do not take 6 AP classes. 5 MAX. I can personally tell you that you will temporarily lose your humanity and freedom.
Students, colleges do NOT care about 30 extracurriculars. PERIOD. They care about a single thing you deeply care about. If you like building robots, stick to that. Don’t join 50 clubs or try to be president of 4 for the sake of looking good because you are wasting your time doing crap you don’t care about. You serve your early life better discovering and learning things you care about (read, or build and launch rockets) Remember to enjoy life, do not take more than 5 APs at once. 5 is the max that is humanly possible.
As for anyone who cares about what I will be undertaking next year, I think my final schedule will have 5 classes with space for 1 online so I can be flexible. Maybe AP Compsci/stats. However, this could change depending on if I realize I need some credits elsewhere or whatever.
Anyway, I will re-update this thread in 6 months. If you have questions or need advice, I’d love to give input, send away. Take care, work hard, and smell the roses.
Please remember that even if you go into stem colleges will expect you to be enrolled in English and social science senior year.
If you are going into STEM, get rid of AP Lit and AP Stats. Take regular or honors senior English or maybe even a college Freshman English Composition class (if you don’t have comp credit already from AP Lang) and a regular social studies class.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
OP has made a decision. Since OP’s original mission with this thread has been achieved, I am closing.