Hi! I’m a rising junior and trying to figure out my schedule for next year. So far these are my classes:
AP English Lang
APUSH
AP Spanish Lang
AP Calc AB
AP Chem
I need another class but I’m not sure what to take. My main options are study hall or another AP (probably environmental?)
Last year (as a sophomore) I took bio and human geography and got 5s on both but I’m just wondering if 6 will be too many? I don’t want to sabotage my GPA by taking too many but I also want to make sure I challenge myself. Thoughts? Is environmental really hard or not?
APUSH is like the easiest AP because most people know a lot of the content and you could probably take the test right now and while people say in my school AP Eng Lang is the hardest AP due to the teacher, I thought it was for sure the easiest class and test because it’s just writing well and reading books (of which you can just look up online). However, the other AP classes on your list are extremely time-consuming and often cited as being the hardest AP classes. I personally don’t think adding another AP class would really even benefit you. Honestly, you’ve proven that you can handle a heavy course load, perhaps you could take a study hall and study for the ACT/SAT and get that done super early or have more time to improve. Or perhaps you could take an elective on something you actually care about? Either way, taking another AP class is just cruel, AP Spanish, Chem, and Calc are gonna be a lot already. Everyone needs to take some time and focus on other things than tests and homework.
Why not take an elective? Step out of your comfort zone…
Many people do not find APUSH to be the easiest AP at all! I would not take any more APs.
Make sure you fit in physics next year if you haven’t taken it .
Environmental is incredibly easy. Speaking as someone who took APUSH and Lang, those classes are somewhat easy, but they’re a load of paperwork, so make you’re on top of your schedule when you do them. I would say you should take a study hall, because those other courses, especially Spanish and Chem, are incredibly tough, and you’ll need plenty of time to study for all of them, or just to decompress.
Based on the fact that you only took 2 APs last year, and that you’ll have to prepare for the SATs this year, along with the level of rigor and work required for all of the APs you’ve listed so far, I would strongly advise against taking another additional AP. 6 is overkill IMO for junior year; I wouldn’t even recommend taking 5 to most people. I would max out at 5, ideally 4. Just make sure you aren’t taking 6 APs and getting Bs in all of them instead of taking 4 APs and getting straight As.
Top universities don’t expect more than 3 or 4 APs (max).
- can you take us history honors?
- can you take AP chem senior year, and take Honors physics junior year?
Why does the 6th class need to be an AP. Why not take an honors class for something you enjoy or want to explore that isn’t offered as an AP such as a business or engineering class or something fun like art, music, cooking etc.
Do you have any graduation requirements you need to get out of the way? It not, I am with the folks who are advising you to take an elective. With whatever APs you fit in junior year, you’ll have plenty (assuming you do well in all of them). The third option is to take a class in the area in which you would like to study in college.
We had a discussion going in the Parents Forum, and it was amazing how the workload in AP classes vary from school to school. So your decision to add another one shouldn’t be based on how much work people on these boards said they had to do in the class. Talk to kids from your own school who have taken the class, talk to the teachers who teach those classes to get a sense of what the expectations are, and even talk to your guidance counselors to find out how kids with similar stats as you did in those classes.
“Top universities don’t expect more than 3 or 4 APs (max).”
This doesn’t seem correct to me. Top colleges expect the student to take the most rigorous course load offered by your high school and many HS’s most challenging course load would inclulde AP classes. For example, if your HS offered 25 AP classes and you only took 3 or 4, you will be at a disadvantage as your peers will have many more, probably 8-12 APs or more.
@MYOS1634 can correct me, but I believe she was referring to the OP’s proposed current year’s schedule. Although, I’ve always been of the opinion that if the GC marks the schedule as “most demanding” the AO is not going to microanalyze the schedule year by year.
In any event, over the course of a HS career, I am also of the opinion that the law of diminishing returns kicks in after a student has 6-8 APs completed/in progress. There may be valid reasons for taking more, but more APs won’t appreciable strengthen an application.
That’s probably valid, but OP already has 2, is planning 5ish for junior year, and presumably another few for senior year, so s/he won’t be in the 3-4 range.
But getting back to the OP, 6 APs in a year won’t do you any favors if it causes your GPA to tank, particularly in a year where you’re also prepping for standardized tests. Take a fun elective instead.