To preface:
My district does not have middle school, but rather junior high. Junior high is 7-9, whereas middle school is 6-8.
I consider myself to be better than average in academia. I tried the SAT and got a 1400 (600 read/write, 800 math), and got a 100 in the amc10a 2018
My classes are listed below (all prerequisites have been taken):
AP Calc AB/BC
AP Physics 1
AP Comp Sci
Band 4
Acc. English 9
Acc. US9*
Spanish 2
I am thinking about skipping US9 through summer school, and replacing it with AP hug, because the high school AP Hug teacher doesn’t teach that well, according to numerous high school acquaintances. Our junior high teacher has a much better reputation.
If I wait until high school to take it, I might potentially have to self study the majority of its information
Some problems I may need to consider:
-This will be the first time in years (6-7) that our junior high teacher will teach this AP class. Even though she teaches her other classes very well, her teaching ability for Hug might be rusty.
-4 AP classes as a freshman is obviously a lot, and I don’t know if I want to put myself under that stress. I also want to try to qualify for AIME soon, and this many AP classes may interfere with that goal.
If I skip US9 and don’t take AP Hug, I can always use the extra period as a study hall for my other AP classes
What do you all think?
(Sorry for the formating, im a first time poster)
I would agree that you are taking many advanced classes as a freshman. If I didn’t read through the post title, I would have expected you to be junior or senior in high school. My biggest advice for you would be that it’s okay to slow down. You’re well ahead of most high schoolers coming in, as many schools don’t even allow freshman to take AP classes.
Key questions that you would want to answer: Do you really want to to take English over the summer? I know I personally wouldn’t. Part of what makes English fun and/or interesting in my opinion is that you get to hear and interact with the ideas of your peers. Also you might find that you want to be doing other things during the summer, like volunteering/finding a job/exploring other interests/preparing for the competition you were talking about.
Also Human Geography may not end up being your most time consuming course if you also have courses like Physics, Computer Science, and Calculus to contend with.
Our HS offers APHUG as a year long freshman AP course. I have heard that it was originally designed as a 11th grade semester course. It is not nearly as rigorous as the other history AP courses. Depending on your HS graduation requirements, you may only need 3 years of history (9-12) and you would probably want to take AP USH and AP WORLD in addition to AP GOVT/AP ECON. So, technically you can skip 9th grade history and still cover your requirements. Also note- APHUG credits don’t transfer as readily as APUSH and APWorld to colleges.
That said, I think tyou could handle the workload of APHUG- but you have to ask yourself if you really want to take on so much your Freshman year with everything else in your schedule? You have enough on your plate.
I just checked my graduation requirements, and you’re right! I don’t need US9 at all
That said, I am still debating about whether or not I am willing to take on so many AP classes
Take US9 over the summer if you think you can easily handle it alongside fun summer experiences including time outside, social time, family vacation, and AIME prep.
Then, during the year, take either AP Human Geography (which is a ‘gateway to ap’ course so much easier than a ‘real’ AP, since it’s designed to introduce freshmen and sophomores to the methods and rigor of AP) or a study hall. Ask your GC, if you find AP hug too hard with the other APs, will you be allowed to drop it and replace it with a study hall?
AP Human is the easiest class I’ve taken so far in high school, and I have taken many regular classes. It was very easy to me and it seemed much like common sense. Take it.
I took AP human 9th grade and our teacher was pretty new and inexperienced, making the class unbearable. But, it definitely is one of the easier AP classes, but I wouldn’t take it just to take an AP. Take AP classes that you’re interested in