I am a rising junior and am applying for courses next year. I am beginning to look at colleges, and so far I really like Northwestern. From my practice ACT and SAT, I think I’ll get good scores on the actual tests but am looking for APs to take to help. My school is a little weird and only lets me take 3 AP’s at most per year, but there are also a few AP exams I can sit without having actually taken the class.
I am definitely going to take AP US History but am debating what AP Science and Math courses to take. History and English are my strong suits, but since there are no AP English classes, I’m going to take an AP Science. I am in honors math and science currently but just find them that interesting.
I’m deciding between AP AB Calculus and AP Stats for Math. I know AP Stats is a relatively easy AP but since I am taking APUSH (infamously hard at my school) and also want to sit the AP English Literature exam, I don’t know what to do! For Science, I want to do APES but know it’s easy, and Bio, Chem, and Physics at the AP level are also available to me.
So, basically, would the course load I would have to do next year (along with 3 clubs and 2 sports and all the other typical Junior year stuff) outweigh what would look good on the transcript?
Here’s how my schedule looks at the moment:
-regular English (no higher available)
-honors Spanish
-AP AB Calculus
-AP Environmental Science
-AP US History
-3 quarters of undecided electives
-art
This is my preferred schedule, does it look good? Could AP Stats take the place of AP AB Calc and still look fine on the transcipt? Should I swap APES for a “harder” AP Science?
(Bonus: based on the schedule and APs, would science electives make me look better in the science category if I just take APES?)
Personally, I think your schedule looks manageable.
I haven’t taken either AP AB Calculus or AP Stats yet, but from what I’ve heard from older friends, AP Stats is easier, so if you wanted to hold off to take Calculus until your senior year (or take AP BC Calc your senior year if that is an option), you could do that. Though if you’ve already taken the required prerequisites, which I assume you have, personally I’d go with the schedule you have planned but of course it’s ultimately your decision.
Also if your AP physics class is calculus-based and you want to take that as a senior, you should probably have completed Calculus your junior year if possible.
I see no problem with taking APES as a junior as long as you’re interested in the material.
Good luck with your scheduling!
Your schedule is good. But unless your school is known to have an excellent English program, I’d try to take a more rigorpus English course, perhaps at the community college, either junior or senior year. The level expected in a traditional English regular level class wouldn’t prepare you well for the level of writing expected at the college level and to write your application essays.