is 6 ap classes too much. I plan on taking
physics
macro
comp gov
calc
lit
spanish lang
It is impossible for anyone else to say. It depends completely on you and how the courses are taught at your school.
There are lots of questions. Isn’t Macroeconomics just a single semester course? Are you planning to take Calc AB or BC? If, for example, you have already taken AB, BC should be a lot easier. Which Physics course? Is Spanish tough for you, or on the easier side? And so forth.
Which Calculus? Which physics? Is macro stretched out over the whole year? My older son thought it was very easy - it was only the equivalent of one semester of a college course. How talented are you at languages? Will you be able to do the reading required for a language AP? Back when I took AP French my French really wasn’t good enough to handle the reading load. What’s the literature teacher like. My kids both decided to opt out of AP English because they felt that the way it was structured would make them miserable. They both took English electives in which they got A+ grades for the first time in their lives in English - and they really enjoyed the reading. It made such a difference to their senior year to have fun in English for the first time. They are both huge readers and younger son now spends a lot of time on line reading author blogs about writing.
If you have to ask … it probably is.
For my D, I asked her to consider taking 4, 5 in her senior year. She insisted on 6 and she did fine.
FWIW, my S took these APs senior year: Chem, Physics (the more basic one, whichever that is), Calc BC (encompassing both AB and BC in one year), Spanish Lang, French Lit, and the HS’s equivalent of AP Lit, plus a couple of semester electives I can’t recall. He seemed to have no problem with it.
Update:
Physics 1 I have heard that the teacher is very good and definitely teaches the students very well. There is not too much work for this class, maybe about 30 minutes a night and then studying for test and quizzes.
AP Macroeconomics is taken for a full year and the teacher is also very good.
AP Comp Gov I have heard is more on the easy side and the teacher assigns a reasonable amount of homework where you dont have to do too much work.
I’m taking AP Calculus AB.
I am very good at spanish so think i can do well in AP spanish lang.
AP lit is a hard class and I am having some mixed feelings.
What my thinking was, was that i would take 7 classes in total and then maybe drop one of them by the end of the first quarter if it proves to be too much work since i play baseball in the spring and want to have free time.
I truly appreciate all of the great responses that I have been getting, and I thank all of you.
From your description it doesn’t sound like a terribly difficult schedule for you. Are you thinking of taking these courses because they interest you, because you are actually hoping to get college credit, so your GC will check the “most difficult” box on your Common App, or for some other reason?
Are you planning to take the AP exams for all six classes? D has a very similar AP class schedule this year, but she’s only taking four or five actual AP exams. She hasn’t found the day-to-day demands of the courses overly hard, but I do think that if she were taking all six exams, it would have made for a hard couple of weeks in May.
I agree that it doesn’t sound too bad. Physics 1 covers less material than Physics B used to or our honors Physics class. Good teachers are always worth going after IMO. So the only question mark in my mind is the English Lit class. Double check if you can drop down a level if it proves too onerous. Otherwise good luck!
I had a similar load during my senior year. I can’t even remember how many I took or which ones; however, it was doable.
I say go for it if you believe you can handle it. From what it sounds, you have knowledge about their class and wouldn’t hurt to talk to them about their class. Just have a back up plan and you’re set.
If you can keep all your grades at above A-, it is not too much. Never overwhelm with AP and suffer in GPA.
AP LIt. is very hard and very time consuming. In fact, I never saw my D. doing math or Spanish homework at home, it was done at school, she spent all of her time doing AP Lit. and college US history. Do not get me wrong - she has always been a very strong writer with awards and school paper Editor. College Honors English was nothing for her in comparison to AP Lit, while it was opposite for other classes. I guess, it may depend on a teahcer. However, it was her only “4” on AP exam.
How many APs are you taking this year? How is it going?
Before I turned it up rigor several notches, I would be evaluating how I am handling what I am doing right now. My son’s plan involves one the current year (freshman), 2 APs 10th grade, 5 11th grade and 5 12th grade. But we would have to reevaluate certainly if at any point it becomes more than he can handle.