APs to get into a UC

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - GENERAL
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<p>So this is my first time posting something, and I hope that you guys can help me with this.</p>

<p>I’m going to be a junior next year, and as I already have my classes, there’s one class that’s very very iffy for me. </p>

<p>My schedule for next year is:</p>

<p>Photo 1
AP Bio
French 3
Precalc Honors
AP U.S. History
AP English</p>

<p>The class I’m iffy about is APUSH, because honestly, I really hate history. :\ Last year, I took AP Euro and hated it, and worked really hard to get an A-. However, I only had one AP class last year, and now I’m going to have AP Bio and AP English. Learning from last year of how much I hated history just because of AP Euro, I’m dreading APUSH, because I’ve heard how tough the course is, and I really don’t want to do it.</p>

<p>However, I talked to my counselor, and she told me that if I’m not going to major in Social Studies, then dropping the class wouldn’t matter (I plan on majoring in Biological Sciences, hopefully). But the con is that it would lower my chances of getting into a UC. This basically means that I’m in a rut.</p>

<p>My hatred of history is not the only reason of why I do not want to take APUSH. It is also because of my busy schedule. Next year, I will be in 4 clubs:</p>

<p>National Honor Society (historian)
CSF
Operation Smile (treasurer)
KIWIN’s (conventions chair)</p>

<p>and I will also be a teacher assistant at my local church, I take Tae Kwon Do Classes, and I will be working during the school year at a retail store.</p>

<p>So I’m wondering what I should do, because I don’t know if my extracurriculars are enough to balance out dropping out of APUSH, or what the Universities might think, or what. I’m in a big rut right now, because I heard that Universities and colleges look at junior year the most. So should I take APUSH? :\ Would not taking it affect my chances of getting into a UC?</p>

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<p>Some impact depends on how selective the other non-UC schools are that you are contemplating. If you’re aiming for the most selective schools in the country, they ask if you’ve taken the most challenging schedule possible at your HS. Which will be a “no”. What, BTW, does your counselor mean by telling you that dropping the class wouldn’t matter if it lowers your chances of getting into a UC?</p>

<p>Since you’ve asked for advice, my personal opinion is that you should take the class. You’re going to have to take plenty of classes you aren’t really interested in while in college to satisfy breadth requirements and possibly some required by your major. But rather than doing the same thing you did last year, ask yourself why it was so hard for you and figure out how to change things. There are a number of web sites with study skills hints; one is [url=&lt;a href=“History | Howtostudy.org - When you hit the books - and they hit back.”&gt;History | Howtostudy.org - When you hit the books - and they hit back.]Howtostudy.org[/url</a>] And there’s a book you should get now rather than waiting for college, called “What Smart Students Know”. Written by the co-founder of the Princeton Review prep service, it explains what the top students have figured out about studying all different kinds of material successfully. What happened last year probably wasn’t that you weren’t working hard, its that you weren’t working effectively. 11th grade is a perfect time to work on fixing that.</p>

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<p>No, she meant that if I’m planning on majoring in Biology, then not taking APUSH wouldn’t matter as much to the Universities if that was my major? But that it would slightly lower my chances of getting into a University. Not lower by a whole lot, but still lower a bit. I really want to go to a UC, however, but I don’t want to take it if it won’t make a large difference and the fact that I really dislike the class. </p>

<p>And I’m guessing AP Euro last year was hard because I also didn’t like the class and the teacher, because the teacher was just horrible at teaching. It gave me a grudge against history class, so that’s also maybe why I had to push myself so hard last year.</p>

4

<p>

If that is what she meant for the UC schools then run, don’t walk, from any “advice” she gives you. Because she’s just making it up!</p>

<p>Go to any UC campus you are considering. Most majors are in the College of Letters and Science (L&S). Biology, Math, Chem, Sociology, History, etc. A list of the majors in L&S at UCLA, for example, is at [Majors</a> - College of Letters & Science](<a href=“http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Majors/lsmajor.htm]Majors”>http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/Prospect/Majors/lsmajor.htm) Big deal, you say? Well right on the admissions page they say

</p>

<p>In other words she is telling you the UC schools will look at your major and if you’re intending to major in Bio they won’t care “as much” about History. Bull!! The UC schools themselves tell you that they don’t even consider your major when deciding.</p>

<p>Can you get yourself another counselor, perhaps better informed? Or at least talk to one if you don’t want to p*ss this one off?</p>