Hi! I’m a sophomore and we’re going to be asked to choose our classes soon. I have a couple dilemmas… For starters my high school is very rigorous, it’s currently one of the top ten in the nation. As such, our guidance counselors rarely let us take more than 5 APs in one year. My sophomore schedule looks like:
AP Art History
AP Statistics
Hon Precalculus
Hon Chem I
Hon French II
Hon Modern World History
Hon English II
Focus (we have a mandatory study hall every year)
I have a few classes I must take next year
AP or Honors US History
Honors French III
Focus
Theory of Knowledge (We complete a thesis our Junior and Senior year, this class prepares us for that)
My ideal class schedule would look like:
Focus
TOK
AP Chem
AP BC Calculus
Honors? US History
French III
AP Lang
So I’m not sure if I should take AP or honors USH, I’m not the best at history, I want to be a science major anyways, and our APUSH teacher has an awful reputation. Leaning towards honors obviously, but how bad is APUSH anyways? I don’t think honors will be much better…
Now my AP chem class will take up two blocks, I could take AP Physics and AP Psych instead, I do really like chem though; I have a 99 in honors. However, the latter might be better for my gpa and I find those to subjects fascinating as well.
AP calc is my biggest issue. I love math and have been excelling at precal so my teacher recommended me for BC (the equivalent of calc I & II). Ideally that’s the class I would take. However that means my senior year the only math class left for me to take is Honors Multivariate Calculus. A course that sounds really fun, but I would not get college credit for. I could take AP AB Calculus (just calc I) and then BC senior year, and get two AP credits, which would really help my GPA.
Also we have the option of dropping focus for another class, but our guidance counselors strongly advise against it, especially junior year because thesis research takes up a lot of time.
I have a 96 or above in all my classes now so I guess I could succeed with a harder schedule. But I also have track, science club, math club, speech and debate club, and key club to deal with. What would be a good balance of classes for me to take without overbearing myself, but that will still give me a competitive application?
None of us here know your abilities. Only you and your parents/GC can answer that question.
So?
It sounds like AB would move too slowly for you. If your teachers recommend BC, go for it. BTW, many students retake classes in college for many reasons, so I would not avoid a class just because you would no get credit for it. Colleges want you to challenge yourself.
Then take chem.
You could always take Psych your senior year, or you could take it next year and push AP Chem to senior year. Either way does not really matter. I also would not get caught up in the potential 0.01 drop in your GPA. You might end up with an A, and even if you did not, it will not be the difference between college acceptance and rejection.
The depends on your teachers. Ask current students. If the workload is similar, take APUSH. However, if you choose not to, there really is no difference in course rigor between 3 and 4 AP’s. With your EC’s, 3 AP’s might be more than enough. Again, either way will make no difference in the long-term.