I am a sophomore taking AP US History at the moment. Next year I can take AP Lit & Composition or AP Lang & Composition, AP G&P, AP Biology, and/or AP Psychology. I will also be taking Pre-Calculus and Trigonometry for sure. I was wondering if I should take AP Lit, AP G&P, AP Biology, and AP Psychology. I’m also taking Spanish 3 next year and Spanish 4 my senior year. If I do that then my senior year, I’ll take AP Lang, Anatomy, and AP Calculus. Should I wait to take AP Psych my senior year or take it my junior year? I plan to major in English education, so I don’t need most of the classes, but I’d like to take them. What do you think?
AP Lang is generally considered a junior class and AP Lit for seniors I believe, although I’m not positive. I think it is because AP Lit is generally considered harder, but I guess you can take them in any order. I know nothing about AP Gov and Politics (I’m assuming this is what you are referring to). AP Bio is stereotypically hard and AP Psych stereotypically easy. The best way to know though, is to ask people at your school that have already taken these classes as the rigor varies from school to school.
Remember that it’s not a matter of stockpiling APs (unless your dream school is your state flagship, which will count them at face value in their GPAXtestscore formula).
SO, 11th grade
AP Lang
AP Bio
AP Gov/Comp
Precalculus
Spanish III
- one elective (I would suggest Art or Current Events, rather than AP Psych - you don’t want to overdo it junior year and going from 1 AP to 3 is already a jump; otherwise, an extra English elective?)
12th grade
AP Lit
Anatomy (a step down from AP bio = good if you’re looking for an easier science. APES is another easy science, check if you’d get credit for it at the colleges you’re aiming for.)
… <- social science (AP Psych? AP Euro? AP Psych would give you a background for all the required psych classes you’ll take in college. AP EUro would provide you with context for a lot of literature you’ll be reading.)
AP Calc
Spanish IV
…<- elective (Economics and Financial Literacy may be good)
For a future major in English education, any seminar or electives involving comparative literature, the history of other countries or of the US, art history, media culture, or American Studies, would be relevant.
In addition, there’s an oversupply of English education graduates, so plan on an added certificate: bilingual education (Spanish), special education, ESL are all possibilities for you in college. See if, as an extra period, you could be an ESL’s teacher aide senior year (or even starting junior year), but it should not remove one of your 6 academic periods.
I want to take the AP classes because I like to challenge myself. I’m also interested in all different kinds of subjects. I do have to take Econ my senior year though. I think I am going to wait to take AP Psych. I would like to minor in Spanish (possibly because I enjoy the class). I have wanted to be an English teacher for a couple years now. If I decide to change my mind for some reason, I’d like to have the extra classes. Is there an oversupply of Social Studies teachers?
Alas, yes, there is… but with a Spanish Minor, if you could take ELL Social Studies, you’d be golden since it’s in demand.
As a freshman, you can perfectly apply undecided/Spanish, for instance.