<p>Hi. I'm a Freshman right now taking about every honors course possible. I'm planning to take four AP's next year. AP US History & Gov, AP Enviro, AP Bio, and AP Music Theory. Is four AP's a lot of tedious work and will I have free time for sports, friends, and clubs? Also, rate the class on a scale from 1-10 (1= easiest, 10= hardest). Thanks.</p>
<p>AP US History and AP US Gov are two different APs (not sure what you mean by AP US History and Gov).</p>
<p>AP US History - haven’t taken it, but heard it’s not the easiest class; just a LOT of reading/taking notes/studying</p>
<p>AP US Gov - taking it now, joke of a class, heard the AP exam is a piece of cake</p>
<p>AP Enviro - have a few friends taking it; they say it’s a joke and others have said the exam is easy</p>
<p>AP Bio - have heard it’s not easy, just a lot of studying and reading</p>
<p>AP Music Theory - have no idea</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore taking 5 APs (and are way harder than yours js) and I still have time for everything you mentioned. You just have to have time management. :)</p>
<p>I’m a junior and I’m taking my first AP this year because my school has three total. Um.</p>
<p>^ In a way, you people who go to schools who don’t offer many AP classes are lucky since you’re taking the most rigorous course available to you, while many others cannot handle (even for overachievers) the most rigorous course available to them (like me). </p>
<p>Plus, community college classes are easier than the AP class at many times.</p>
<p>@OP: What prior music experience do you have?</p>
<p>Those four APs shouldn’t be too bad. Gov. & Env. Sci. are fairly easy, and the Gov. exam was the easiest of the 8 exams I’ve taken so far (including Psych. and Env. Sci.). The Env. Sci. exam is also fairly easy, but it takes some preparation, as the test is mostly memorization.</p>
<p>As for history, it was quite an easy class for me (I say “for me” as there were two teachers teaching it, and one made it his mission to make his students’ lives a living hell, and he admits it). I barely read the book, instead reading online outlines and summaries and such. But if you really enjoy history (I detest it), do read the book.</p>
<p>I’m currently taking Bio (along with Physics B and Chem), and I find it to be the least interesting of the three. The abundance of memorization really ruins it for me. Plus, I just don’t much care for squishy science. </p>
<p>I have no idea about Music Theory.</p>
<p>So, my ratings for the difficulty/required work (my experience) of these classes, not the exams:</p>
<p>Gov.: 3 (fairly little homework, mostly classroom discussion, occasional notes)</p>
<p>History: 6 (reading was homework, but I found it a little unnecessary-still a 4 on the exam, but it was my first AP, so I didn’t really know how to prepare)</p>
<p>Env. Sci.: Not offered at my school, but it sounds like an easy class: 4</p>
<p>Music Theory: n/a</p>
<p>Bio: 7 (depends on how much you enjoy it; keeping a high grade isn’t tough for most people, but I just lament going to class every day, as I do the homework)</p>
<p>Verdict: Don’t worry about this schedule too much. If you put most of your effort into Bio, History, and (perhaps) Music Theory, you’ll still have time for non-school life.</p>
<p>4 APs sophomore year could be quite a lot but it really depends on your school. As for your particular classes I only know about APUSH and AP Gov- APUSH is a decent amount of work but I’m a history person so I found the material pretty easy (there’s a lot of reading involved though). I never took the class for AP Gov but I follow politics pretty closely so I skimmed a review book for vocab the week before the test and got a 5. Not sure about the class as it depends on your school, but the test is a complete joke.</p>
<p>I must say, AP us is supposed to be much easier than AP world. I’m taking AP world right now, and honestly, I want to shoot myself before attempting to read that book again for AP testing. I am a great lover of history, English, math, science, and every subject, but AP world is very hard to get through unless you specifically like that branch of history. </p>
<p>AP environmental, don’t underestimate it, its harder than it looks. A bunch of my friends are taking it, who are extremely smart, but struggle for a low A. Admittedly, my school is harder than most with AP environmental, and its much easier than say, AP calculus bc, but as I said, don’t underestimate it. </p>
<p>AP gov. No idea at all.</p>
<p>AP music theory. Of the 6 kids I’ve known who’ve taken it, all are very smart, passionate, and dedicated but failed to make straight A’s in the course and get a 5 on the AP test. </p>
<p>Try taking AP human geo, even if you have to take it online. It’s super easy and not a lot of work. It’s all conceptual and the AP test is cake. </p>
<p>If you can, AP calculus, ab at least, is very easy if you like math. I heard the AP test is easy.
My genius senior friend received a 5 on his AP cal test and a 3 on AP world. And this guy probably has an iq of 155. Stay away from world, us should be fun 
try AP human, think about AP cal, reconsider AP music, and above all - don’t kill yourself good luck!!!</p>
<p>While I can’t speak about any of the exams, the toughness of the class is all relative to the school. From what I’ve gathered from this thread, AP Gov is generally easy. Well, in my school, it is widely considered the hardest class in the school. I don’t know how the exam is, but the class is pretty freakin hard. I’m taking AP Calc AB now and it’s not terrible, but not easy. My teacher said the class average is usually an 83, but 80% of his students get 5s on the exam. He even complains that the AP exam is too easy. Like I said, the classes are all different depending on the teacher.</p>
<p>From the content of it, AP Music Theory seems to be pretty hard (from someone who’s been in music since 2nd grade).
I would look at <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;
<p>Thanks for the feedback! And sorry, I meant AP US history. (But I might take AP US Gov Junior Year) About my music experience, I’ve played the violin since I was 5. And I checked out the college board website for Music Theory. It seems kind of tough but overall, no problem for me. So generally from all the comments, AP Bio and AP US History have lots of reading and notes. And Environmental is pretty easy as long as you don’t become overconfident and don’t study. And my schedule should all work out. Thanks again, and I’m now really leaning towards taking all of the 4 APs.</p>
<p>At our school AP Courses vary</p>
<p>AP US History- Very hard, rigorous with tons of homework. The grades vary from 30 to 98. So its hit or miss.</p>
<p>AP US Gov- Crazy hard, the teacher is hard with just straight essay tests. Grades vary from 30 to 75. (Even for the top students)</p>
<p>AP Env. Science- Easy as f**k. Everyone makes a 100.</p>
<p>AP Music Theory- Don’t know</p>
<p>AP Biology- A lot of work but there are big curves and test journals. Almost all of the 80 students have an 85 or above</p>
<p>Like some above posters mentioned, I would be wary of AP Music Theory. It is notorious for being an extremely tough class. If it’s not absolutely necessary to take it (as in it can’t be replaced with something else) I wouldn’t. I too know some very intelligent and musically inclined people who worked very hard in the class yet failed to attain an A or a 5. </p>
<p>And don’t blow this off like “Oh, they don’t know how smart I am, I can handle it”:
I’m ranked 10 in a class of 370</p>
<p>I’ve taken more science classes (both in number and rigor) than anyone in my class</p>
<p>I’m currently taking AP US History, the first quiz at our school is notoriously hard and kids rarely get above a 75, our valedictorian got a 70, I got a 100</p>
<p>All that considered, i would never take AP Music Theory</p>
<p>Well, I’ve decided to take AP US history next year, cuz it’s either that or regular. And my teacher already recommended me, so… to late to change my mind now. But as for AP Music Theory… I guess now I might not take it if the class is really that difficult.</p>