AP Classes and Dual Credit

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Okay, so I'm not the typical genius that you would see on this thread, so bare with me. </p>

<p>Through out my first two years of high school I slacked off super hard and usually played Halo 3 or Call of Duty all day after school. Starting my junior year, I realized my rank was 171/423. I was pretty disappointed, seeing as how my older brother was 4/4-- in his class, and was typically classified as a genius at my school. This year I tried more than I have before, and now my rank is about 145/423. I took Pre-Cal H and have managed about a 96 the whole year. I also took Chemistry I H and managed about a 92/93 all year. By saying this, I am asking if taking AP Chemistry and AP Calc next year would be suitable for me? I asked my brother, and he said both were simple, but his feedback wasn't much help as he was the only one to get a 5 on his AP Chem exam(he also got a 5 on his AP Calc). He also said that he put more effort into his AP Chem class than he has in any of his classes his freshman year at Clemson University. That bothers me somewhat.</p>

<p>Now I'm hearing that you aren't aloud to use a calculator on most parts of the AP Chem exam, which also makes this situation a bit more messy.</p>

<p>My other issue is I really need to raise my GPA. The only AP courses at my school are Bio, Chem, Calc, and Lit. I am currently signed up for Dual Credit Eng 101 and 102, Government, and Economics, and AP Chem and AP Calc with Spanish III H.</p>

<p>I actually enjoy doing math, and my PreCal teacher is the AP Calc teacher and had 6 out of 20 5s on the exam. He's an awesome teacher. So I presume that AP Calc wouldn't be to bad. My brother summed it up as learning integrals, limits, and derivatives. I have no idea what those are, but he said they were easy(typical..). </p>

<p>Am I making my workload to much? I haven't experienced an AP course or a dual credit course before. Yet I am not participating in many curricular activities, giving more time at home to do studying.</p>

<p>So the questions are:</p>

<p>Should I take AP Calc and Chem?
Are Dual Credit courses worth doing for the credit and for the GPA boosting?
Is my schedule next year going to be to much?
And finally, are dual credit courses difficult? I know that work must be inputted to be successful, but are they easier, harder, or the same difficulty as AP courses?</p>

<p>Much feedback would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>I would take both AP’s if I were you. I currently have two AP classes and it’s really not too bad if you just stay focused. Granted, I’m in AP English Comp and APUSH, so two completely different subjects. But honestly as long as you dedicate yourself and don’t slack off, two AP’s is completely doable.</p>

<p>I have no idea what a dual credit course is, my school doesn’t offer those, sorry :(</p>

<p>Your schedule won’t be too much, unless you let it be, if that makes sense. If you let the stress get to you, then you won’t have much of a fun year. But if you’re involved in extra curriculars and motivate yourself to stay on top of things you will be fine.</p>

<p>But, are the classes there all the ones you will have? Or will you have some electives along with those classes? Because that’s crazy if your school doesn’t give you any electives senior year.</p>

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<p>Dual Credit courses are ones that are an option to some who want them. Lets say I could take Economics H, it is just a normal honors course at my school. I’m taking Dual Credit Eco, which is a college course taught at my school by a technical college professor, and weighs the same on the GPA scale as AP courses. My grades in my dual credit classes I’m taking(eng 101+102, eco + gov) will also be counted on my college GPA. And the PLTW - EDD course I’m taking is also weighted as an AP course, and counts as an engineering credit at the college I’m looking forward to go to. EDD also takes the class time of two periods, so it’s 3 hours per class. So basically, Dual credit is harder than normal high school honors classes, but I’m not sure if it’ll be difficult because it’s just a technical college course.</p>

<p>It will be</p>

<p>AP Calc
AP Calc Lab
AP Chem
AP Chem Lab
Spanish III H
Eng 101 (fall)
Dual Credit Eco(fall)
Eng 102(spring)
Dual Credit Gov(spring
PLTW - EDD(Engineering Design and Development)</p>

<p>And with this schedule, I won’t have any electives.</p>

<p>And also, have you taken AP Calc or Chem? I really want to know what makes them hard/easy.</p>