Hello, I’m new to the forums so I apologize in advance if I posted in the incorrect category!
I want to either major in artificial intelligence, renewable energy, or biotech and I don’t know which AP classes would benefit my college application the most in junior year.
I’m a freshman in high school, and will be a sophomore next year. I am currently taking AP Human Geography in order to get some experience for AP classes. I will be taking AP Chemistry and AP World History next year, as well as Accelerated Math 3/Pre-calc.
From my limited knowledge, the AP classes available for juniors at my school include: Psychology, U.S. History, U.S. Government, Environmental Science, Physics, Biology, English Literature/Lang., etc.
Should I keep taking history classes? The only reason I want to take it is because I like history, but I’m afraid it will take up too much space in my schedule. If anyone can give me advice, it is much appreciated! Thank you. 
There is nothing wrong in taking AP classes of interest such as History, but if you plan to pursue a STEM major in college, you should take Chemistry/Physics and Biology in HS. They do not have to be all AP courses but having all three will help you as a STEM major. AP Lit or Language is also a good AP since many colleges will give you credit towards your English GE.
@Rozenne IMHO, you should be very careful in planning out your high school curriculum because dropping classes may cause problems for you in the future. Below are the high school courses that three different colleges suggest for applicants - copied directly from their websites.
Georgetown University
- a full program in English, a minimum of two years of social studies, language study, and mathematics and one year of natural science. Students who plan a concentration in mathematics or science should include four years of mathematics and at least three years of science. (There are other suggestions for the other schools, but I won’t list them here)
Cornell University (College of Arts and Sciences)
- 16 units, including 4 of English, 3 of mathematics, 3 of science, and 3 of one foreign language (exceptions to these requirements should be explained in a letter accompanying the application for admission) Also recommended: an additional unit of advanced mathematics and science
Dartmouth College
- 4 years of English, 4 years of mathematics (often through calculus, if available), 4 years of social science, 4 years of laboratory science, 4 years of a foreign language
All three are top universities, but as you can see, the suggestions really vary from school to school. But you can see how dropping a subject may cause anxiety for you in the future. All the top students at my kid’s school took the five core academic subjects - English, Math, Science, Social Studies (aka History), Foreign Language - for all four years. The other 3 classes were gym (mandatory in our state) and two electives.
Lastly, don’t forget that in order for you to get college credit, you need to do well on the exams! Just taking the course is insufficient. Also, some colleges will not give you course credit, but will let you place into higher level courses.
Choose your high school courses to get the base courses expected by colleges:
- 4 years of English
- math through precalculus; calculus preferred if you finish precalculus in 11th grade or earlier
- 3+ years of history and social studies (4 years if applying to the most selective colleges)
- level 3+ of foreign language (level 4+ if applying to the most selective colleges)
- all three of biology, chemistry, and physics
- art and/or music
Even with all of the above, you should have schedule space for additional academic electives (including advanced or AP level courses in these categories, or other academic electives like computer science). In some cases, honors or AP courses may substitute for the regular courses.