I don’t consider myself naturally gifted in history at all. I’m currently in AP World History and hate it, but am still doing well and ended last semester with an A. I dedicated a lot of time to bettering my skills needed for the course and my mental health has been suffering because of the class. Stress from the amount of information I’m forced to retain and no enthusiasm makes me not want to continue taking classes like these. I’m not looking to get into history whatsoever after high school, and have no interest in U.S. History. I’ve been told to take it because colleges will see an inconsistency with my beginning AP history classes and then giving up on them, and the possibility of knocking out a possible U.S. history requirement. I personally do not want to continue with my current path of stress and chill out in high school a bit. I am looking to take other AP classes, but none in the history field.
That’s fine. Don’t take AP US history. If you are aiming really high, however, I do suggest taking some high level social studies or history course, for example, AP Economics.
If you are required to take a US history class (not sure which state you are in) I would at least consider and honors history class. Top colleges like rigor. Assuming you have a lot of course rigor overall, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t take APUSH. I strongly feel you shouldn’t take it, given all you have said above. It is not worth risking your mental health.
Take US History Honors and senior year AP Economics/Government (or AP Psychology if you’re interested, but it’s considered an easier AP.)
You’ll be fine.
What other classes would you be taking?
You sound really stressed-out and unhappy with your AP choice. APUSH has a reputation for being the hardest (and certainly the most time consuming) non-STEM AP there is. Torturing yourself for another year over your perception of what top colleges would consider desirable makes no sense, both from your mental health perspective, and just as importantly, from the “college desirability” perspective. There are so many things that make up a good candidate and skipping one AP won’t make a difference.
A personal anecdote: our daughter couldn’t take APUSH because of a schedule conflict, and tortured herself with the thought that it would sink her chances. She was admitted ED-1 to her dream school with a single-digit acceptance rate.
Congrats on the A.
Yes, APUSH has a reputation. But imo, you make decisions based, in part, on goals. We don’t know yours. We don’t know what year you are or whether any goals are even clear to you yet.
Eg, will you be aiming for a top tier college?
If so, that’s where the stick-to-it attitude pays off. The determination and resilience. This carried you to an A for the semester. You need to decide what the context is. Not just that you hate this class.
Plus, if you do apply to top colleges, it’s good to show you’ve been open to various fields of study, including rigor. If it won’t be that level of college, sure, it matters less.
We don’t want you to suffer. Maybe another social sci course would be a better fit. Or inspire you.
But can you think about this in that wider “context?”