I am currently a Sophomore in High School, and deciding what classes to take next year. Right now my plan is to take five: AP Lang, AP US History, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, and AP Spanish 5. But with my sports schedule and extra curricular I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle all these APs. Before this, I took AP Human Geography freshmen year and am currently taking AP European History and AP Statistics and have gotten A’s. I am definitely planning on taking four APs next year, but I am wondering if skipping Spanish 4 (I am in Spanish 3 right now) and going to AP Spanish 5 is a good idea, or if I should just continue on to Spanish 4.
Skipping Spanish 4 and going straight to AP isn’t a good idea, especially since you’ll have the chance to take AP span your senior year. AP lang is pretty easy at least at my school. Its similar to an honors class just with lots of rhetorical analysis essays. APUSH is a decently challenging class but its manageable especially if you like history or can memorize things easily. Haven’t taken AP Calc but I have friend who are and they say its very challenging. Most of them have calc tutors and are still making a C in the class. However since you’ve taken stats before calc that could be a huge benefit. Also haven’t taken AP bio but iv’e heard its not too hard, just a lot of memorizing.
Assess how you feel about your time rn. Yes, you’ve gotten A’s, but are you stressed? Pressing for time each day?
I didn’t take any APs fresh yr but took euro, calc ab, & psych my soph yr and was overwhelmed- crying, depression, anxiety, etc… Also I took Spanish 4 and it was my hardest class that year. It made me realize I couldn’t handle AP Spanish.
Even though I took 6 aps in 11th grade: physics, apush, apes, lang, calc bc, art history, I felt much healthier and could handle the workload. I think it’s bc I learned how to study and manage my time better. I quit swimming 3hr/day, only focused on a few clubs, and joined xc (1hr practice). When I dropped swimming, I felt less stressed and I loved my xc team so much more. Warning though- I had more time after school, but I soon realized that time dissolved into nothing because I quickly got used to free space and wasted it. Anyways, the skills I learned soph yr (studying, confidence to ask questions, writing essays in 30min, reading the txtbk, staying back with teachers for help, etc) all helped me confidently complete my AP work.
Just like how you have grown since fresh yr, you will fall into a routine and learn to handle your APs. But you need to know what you’re capable of. Idk why a school would let you skip an advanced year of spanish (my school only considers lvls 1-2 as intro/skippable) bc they are usually teaching necessary grammar at that point. Are you a native speaker or just have a talent for foreign language? I would say try out AP spanish, if they let you, for a week or 2 (as long as they still let you transfer out). If it’s too much, consider either quitting an ec or dropping a class.
At my school Spanish 4 is basically the same as Spanish 3, and since I currently have over 100% I thought I might be able to handle AP Spanish. I am good with the tests and somewhat with the writing, but I really need work on speaking, and I’ve heard that is what AP Spanish is mostly about. Spanish 4 (at my school at least) does the same thing that Spanish 3 is doing, learning the same topics at the same time and taking the same tests, it just has a little bit more writing. I don’t want to be bored next year taking a class I have basically already done well in. But would it be better to take Spanish 4 (since it is still a high level class) to make my junior year schedule easier? Keep in mind this would only make the 4 APs I am planning to take senior year 5, so is it better to take 5 APs junior or senior year?
I would take Spanish 4 anyways. AP is definitely on a whole new level and it involves much more listening and speaking… But you should ask upperclassmen who’ve already taken AP spanish to assess how hard it is at your school. Colleges can see that you’re still taking a full schedule and continuing with a language is only beneficial. One AP will not make a difference unless you’re trying to compete for class rank. If that’s the issue, then again, use your best judgment or consider dropping spanish and taking a different AP altogether… (*class rank isn’t everything tho! I rly wish I had continued with spanish and learned how to speak it better.)
Take Spanish 4 and AP Spanish senior year. Colleges won’t know that spnaish 4 is similar to Spanish 3 and the progression will make sense while giving you aneed easier period - learning how to balance your schedule will come on handy.
Take the four APs junior year. It’ll be a very rigorous schedule so it’ll be 100% fine for all colleges regardless of how selective.
The only thing is then I would be taking 5 APs senior year and I really don’t want to do that. Would it look bad if I took Spanish 4 Junior Year but didn’t take a language senior year? Or should I just take AP Spanish Junior year (with the four other APs I’m going to take)?
What would you other 4 aps be? AP Foreign language is one of the ‘hard’ APs and not many students take it so it has a lot of differential value.
Re AP Spanish
- Most colleges want you take to the 4th year of Spanish. I would do that, unless…
- Are you planning to major in anything that AP Spanish would be helpful (e.g., international studies)
- Do your colleges of interest have foreign language requirements and would doing well on the AP Spanish test get you out of those requirements?
Re: science
Why take AP Bio as a junior? Have you taken bio and chem already? When will you take Physics?
I think 5 APs junior year is a bit much… what is your future major? Maybe concentrate your APs on STEM or Humanities…unless you are a HS superstar, but then why would you ask us?
APUSH isn’t too hard if you do the coursework and pay attention in class. At my school, we rarely have homework so I definitely think you could handle it. I would just be concerned about skipping Spanish 4
The four others would be: AP Lang, AP US History, AP Bio, and AP Calc AB
@bopper Juniors at my school usually take AP Bio or Physio, and I would rather take the AP Class. Regarding Spanish, I don’t want to do anything regarding spanish after high school, and for the college foreign language requirement I can take the Spanish SAT Subject test or the college’s placement exam to test out of language.
Regarding testing out, it really depends on the college.
Wrt to which APs I meant senior year.
Anyway, I think you should take your 4 aps and Spanish 4, then senior year your 4 aps, norhzr academic non AP class, and and elective you’ve always been interested in just for fun.
If you are not 90% confident / fluent in Spanish (all tenses / listening to different accents and really fast / analyzing and reading very fast / creating 30 min essays really fast) I highly recommend NOT to take it. If you are confident - go for it! I’m currently in it, very simple, but I am fluent in Spanish.