Hi Everyone!
During Junior Year I am thinking about taking the following classes:
AP Chemistry
US History (Regular)
AP English Lang
AP Seminar or AP Environmental Science (or Both)
AP Calculus BC
Speech and Debate - I’m going to spend a lot of time on this to win State/National Awards, etc.
I am aiming for top schools (Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, etc.).
I am just concerned about AP Chemistry because the teacher at our school is said to be horrible and doesn’t teach anything. Someone said that he spends 1-2 hours a day on AP Chemistry alone. I have close to all A+'s this semester and had 3-4 A-'s last semester (Straight A’s). I am going to get a private tutor that will come frequently.
I have to take AP Chemistry because I need to take a science subject test and Physics 1 is only half the year and doesn’t prepare you for the SAT Subject Test. I’m taking Chemistry this year, so it will carry over to next year.
btw, AP Lang is easy at my school, however I need a 5 on the AP Test so I can skip out of the college courses (the teacher doesnt teach anything). AP Seminar, AP Environmental Science, and Reg US history are easy too.
I wouldn’t take APES, but that’s just my opinion.
My son took a similar schedule as a junior, AP US History, AP English, AP Calculus AB, AP Physics and AP Chemistry. Block schedule. A great deal of homework and no private tutor. He also had two leadership positions. It was a work really hard year, but he was willing to work for his goals. He finished as valedictorian. It required A LOT of work, but he made those decisions. Ask yourself: Are you well organized? Do you manage your time? Do you LIKE chemistry? If the answer is yes, then you should be fine, but don’t blame the teacher if you are not fine. Instead, put in extra time studying on your own.
Much depends on how well your teacher covers the material, but technically, you do not need AP Chem to perform well on the SAT subject test; intro chem is sufficient.
Also, and again, it depends on the teacher, but many AP classes have ~ 1 hour of HW per night. AP Chem has the added complexity of all the lab reports that need to be written. The schedule is doable, but personally, I would not do AP Seminar; it seems that colleges can’t figure out what this course is all about.
Don’t forget you will also be taking the PSAT, ACT and SAT as a junior. It is a very busy year. Many students take the SAT and ACT more than once.
In our school, many juniors take 5 APs at a time but it is a lot of work.
I decided to take these AP’s
AP Physics 1
Regular USH - Free A
AP English Language - Free A in our school
AP Calculus BC - Very hard teacher
AP Statistics
AP Seminar - It’s a new course, but I heard that it was supposed to be easy
I also have private tutoring and group tutoring for many of the harder subjects.
I would definitely take AP Chemistry if you’re looking at top colleges and looking at a science major. It’s not as bad as everyone says in my opinion, and whether you do well or not on the test you’ll definitely come out of the class seeing a huge difference between the knowledge you started and ended with. I’ve never seen such a big difference in a class before in my life. I took it without chemistry background too but it’s still doable. Good luck! If anything I would do AP Chem and take out environmental science or self study environmental science at home
Thanks, I might drop AP Seminar (i heard rumors of it being extremely easy) and add AP USH instead. I do not want to take a zero period, that scarred me this year.
APUSH is vile and although it can be a simple class it requires a good memory and A LOT of reading, I’m sure you’ve heard all this before but just a warning as someone with an A who regrets taking the class, unless you want to major in a related field it really isn’t worth it. I’d suggest taking subjects that are related to a major that interests you because honestly otherwise APs are a waste of time.
Guess its too late to change now. My classes are pretty fine this year actually. I’m just extremely worried about what I will get in AP Physics 1st semester. My grade before the final was 90.77 and I will get one percent extra credit. But the last FRQ was hella hard.
Thanks to my unrelated APs I never have to take a history class again. They can be useful.