<p>Next year my son will be a senior, and is planning to take:</p>
<p>AP Bio
AP Calc
AP Physics
English (Shakespeare) - only choices are AP English or regular courses - no honors</p>
<p>For the 4th course, he is deciding between Social Science (counts as a History, but not AP or Honors) and AP Music. Which would be better?</p>
<p>He took AP Latin Junior Year. He has no interest in AP English or AP History (is that a real mistake?).</p>
<p>If he cannot take AP History, then definitely take AP Music Theory. Just check how the teacher grades the theory class as well as your son’s experience with music. I took the class sophomore year and it was definitely my most challenging music class.</p>
<p>Do colleges view AP Music Theory as an academic subject?</p>
<p>If your son is going to major in music or related areas then go and take AP music.</p>
<p>If your son just take music as an interest then see if he could handle so many courses at one time.</p>
<p>But for me, AP music is not hard, no need to pay as much attention as I paid on those science courses.(I’ve been studying music theory for years before)</p>
<p>If I have to choose from music and history, I’d choose history, because social science is VERY important. But you may look special if you have a music.</p>
<p>he will not be a music major, but is very interested in music on the side (long-term piano, viola, and composing, and very recently guitar). his academic interests are comp sci, science & math, but he wants to go to a liberal arts college (not a technical school).</p>
<p>by the way, my son did take an AP US History class this year (Jr year)</p>
<p>I would go with the AP Music. It’s clear that your son has an interest in music. Colleges want to see passion, not just someone doing what they think looks best. 3 years of history with AP History is more than enough for even the most selective colleges.</p>
<p>If the school does not consider AP Music Theory to be an “academic” subject, does his senior year course selection seem unbalanced (too heavy on the sciences) for a liberal arts school?</p>
<p>I’d go with AP Music Theory… and as for the last question: 1. you should stop overanalyzing this, 2. AP music would still be considered a humanities course and it will balance out the sciences</p>
<p>I think he’s better off with a 4th year of history. However, if he truly enjoys music, then AP Music Theory might be a better option. He should get a better grade in the class (since he enjoys the subject), and it is an AP after all.</p>
<p>This is a great online study guide for AP Music Theory.
[AP</a> Music Theory Study Guide](<a href=“http://www.scribd.com/doc/3468010/AP-Music-Theory-Study-Guide]AP”>http://www.scribd.com/doc/3468010/AP-Music-Theory-Study-Guide)</p>
<p>Tell him to go for whatever he wants, not what he thinks will look good.
For me, it was a choice between AP Music Theory and AP Physics C - I went for music theory, because it looks fun and I want to learn it now, and advanced physics is something that can wait until college.</p>