I’m currently a freshman in high school. I want to fill my lunch period with AP Stat or Psych. I’ll be taking AP Bio, Honors Algebra 2/Trig, Honors English, Regents French, and Global 2.
Is AP Stat difficult without Algebra 2? I think I’m pretty strong in math. And has anyone taken AP Psych. I think it’s interesting and I want to take it sometime, but is it time-consuming?
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with no lunch and no free periods? Also, I want to go into business and I know colleges look at junior year a lot. So should I take Stat Junior year? Or should I keep my lunch and take AP Stat and Psych Junior year. I want to take one of them during sophomore year so that I could have more time Junior year to complete the more rigorous courses. What do you think?
If you want to get into Business, then AP Psych might be unrelated unless you want to pursue a path in psychology/social work/sociology (some aspects) as well. But if it interests you, then read what the course is about in order to make a decision.
You’re barely a freshman, build up fundamentals for your mathematics and take AP Stats junior year so you’ll be able to be prepared to challenge yourself in the class mentally.
Keep your lunch. Take AP Psychology and Stats junior year. Colleges don’t JUST look at Junior Year the most. They look at all years, so get good grades freshman year and sophomore year and don’t worry about it now until junior year! Get the basic classes over with so you won’t have to worry about them later.
@reallypanicked@cxprus Thank you for your input! I want to make room for Junior year so that I can have lunch Junior year so I can have time to work on the more difficult classes. I know I’m not as strong in math right now but I was thinking I would work on these courses over the summer. Also, I only have one honor class this year and the people in my school have crazy amounts of advanced classes, math team, and extracurriculars. So, I’m kind really behind. But thanks!
Keep lunch this year as well as junior year. You don’t need to pile up APs. That’s not what colleges expect. They do expect rigor, but that means 6-8 APs over the course of high school. You could take AP world instead of Global 2 and it’s be considered more rigorous then simply tacking on AP stats or AP psych.
What would your Jr and Sr years look like?
I agree that you should not drop lunch in any school year. It’s very important you eat three healthy meals a day, and not having one would impact your health negatively. I’m very surprised you’re allowed to drop lunch as it is important, and it is a part of the day at my school which all students get no matter what.
I recommend saving AP Statistics and/or AP Psychology for future years. You have a lot of time left in high school, and I am very sure there will be space for the classes in the future. Also, AP Statistics requires skills from Algebra 2, so even if you had space, it would not be in your best interest to take it this year. I recommend saving both AP Stats and AP Psych junior year. I haven’t taken either AP Statistics or AP Psychology, but I know about AP Statistics because at our school, Algebra 2 is a prerequisite. While I’m not in AP Psych, I’m taking it next year, and from what I’ve heard from people at my school, it’s a lot of homework and classwork, but it’s mostly memorizing vocab. It seems that this is the case for most schools, but I recommend checking with people at your school. It always varies depending on where you are.
Please let me know if you have any more questions. Best of luck and have a good day!
@juliaa99 I’m shocked that you have the option to drop your lunch period. Keep your lunch period, your body and mind will thank you later. Take AP Stat and Psych in junior or senior year. Your schedule is already too rigorous.
@MrElonMusk@anthonytheboy@MYOS1634 That’s the thing. I only have one honors this year. So far I have one AP next year. The only other AP I can take is AP Euro and people rarely pass BIO and EURO in the same year. With this, I only have one AP. But I think I might stick w/ 1 AP and 2 Honors and do well so save stat and psych for Jr and Sr year. My school allows us to drop lunch if parents and students sign off.
Also, is 6-8 APs over the course of high school including senior year?
Thanks!
Yes, that’s 6-8 APs including senior year.
They like to see AP English language and 2-3 from AP foreign language, AP lit, AP calculus, AP chem, AP Bio, AP Physics1, AP Physics2, AP physics C, AP euro, AP world, APUSH. Then you add whatever makes sense wrt your academic interests.
My older daughter (a senior) had that same kind of sophomore year - she doubled up on honors science, did a few more honors classes, and had no lunch or study hall.
She HATED it. She didn’t have a break to catch her breath during the school day, and was also slammed with homework at night. She ended up having to eat in Spanish class. It just wasn’t a good year, needlessly stressful, and she regrets filling up her schedule like that.
1 AP +2 honors would be ok, but ideally you’d have 1 AP and 3-4 honors covering all core subjects if your school offers them.
You could possibly take physics honors sophomore year AP euro, English honors, math honors, and foreign language honors. Then AP Bio Jr year along with apush, AP Lang, and senior year whatever you want.
Neither. Dropping lunch for an extra AP is just ridiculous and unnecessary, especially since the AP is either an elective or a core class you already have covered. Taking Algebra 2 alone, without AP Stats, as a freshman is fine. I obviously can’t speak for anybody else, but I took Algebra 2 Honors as a junior and I got into a top 20 university. Also, you need completion of Algebra 2 before AP Stats, not concurrent enrollment, so I would not take AP Stats if I were you.
I took AP Psych junior year and earned a 5 on the exam; it is definitely interesting, but there’s no reason that you have to take it now. Save it for a later year. Or, you could just not take it at all in high school in favor of taking courses that colleges actually look for (such as AP English Language, APUSH, the core sciences at any level, high level foreign language, or their dual enrollment/IB counterparts). In the context of an otherwise sufficiently rigorous (or not sufficiently rigorous) schedule, taking/not taking AP Psych does little to nothing in terms of adding to course rigor.
@KristenDR: the most elite colleges - top 25 universities&LACs. If you’re aiming for a top 50 university/LAC (or even top 75), 3-4AP’s would be plenty.
