I’ll be taking:
AP Capstone - before school
AP Macroeconomics
AP Statistics
AP Physics 1
Math 11 honours ( have to take two math courses-compulsory)
Socials 11 honours
English 11 honours
Bio 11 honours
Chem 11 honours
Acting Intensive -afterschool
Leadership afterschool
Sign Language - online
I’ll also be taking another before school class but it’s extremely easy.
Do you think i can manage this schedule ( 13 courses including 5 honours and 4 APs) and get straight As?
Everyone has been telling me that i’m crazy and i’ll fail and now i’m having second thoughts but i really want to get into Harvard/ Stanford and tbh all i want is for someone to tell me its possible. Don’t worry about my ECs thats all sorted out. These are the only APs my school allows in junior year, i’ll be taking 7 in senior year.
Thanks but i don’t think it can be harder. Also it is is in no way ordinary. No one in my grade is taking more than 1 AP lest alone 4 + 5 honours.
Thanks anyway. What did you take junior year? What university are you planning to go to/ are you in?
Sign language? Yeah, drop that.
You are taking biology, chemistry, AND physics… Why? Do you know how difficult and intense these sciences can be?
This is NOT how you get into to a top school. You get into a top school by showing serious interest and talent in an outside activity, or by going “one step further” in an acedemic class; for example, succeeding in the ACS Olympiad program for chemistry or the AMC / AIME for math, or by taking an internship (if possible), or by doing further research into a certain topic.
First, think about what would be shown on the school transcript. It would be fine if you have too much time, but with this schedule, it is not likely you can achieve anything else even IF you can handle them well. Course rigor is just one of the parameter the adcom will consider. But by course rigor alone would not get you into any top school.
Also, no one knows if you can get straight A with all of these. Some people may, most would suffer in GPA.
The thing is my ECs and internships are all in order it is incredibly easy to manage them and they seem pretty impressive. I am not concerned about signing up for easy classes primarily to get As just so i seem like a great candidate. My primary priority is to challenge myself. I’m doing two APs and 3 honours this year and i keep slacking off because they’re really easy.
Junior year is known as the bane of most good students. In junior year is where everything falls apart. You say that you’re having an easy time now, and slacking off. With this schedule you’ll have 9 classes plus leadership roles. I doubt you’ll be able to fulfill all of these. Are you sure you want to go to school then go home and do your homework for the rest of the night? Tbh, most likely you’ll end up copying your friends, and that’s pretty bad if you could have cut back on your schedule.
Drop some of the unnecessary classes. They will have almost 0 impact on your admissions to top schools regardless if you get A’s in them. I hope you understand that you will have on an average, good day, 6+ hours of HW. I’m currently a junior and I tried to take 3 AP’s but double up on Bio Honors and AP Chem, and I dropped AP Chem after the 1st day because it was so much work. Good luck though!
Course rigor barely matters as long as it’s adequate. Don’t go above and beyond. This was my mistake (I ran into a very hard ap Lang grader who rekt my GPA), and I’m paying for it dearly now (already been rejected EA from Stanford; my top choice). I too had outstanding ECs and achievements and recs. And near perfect testing (800s on 5 subject tests and 780 on bio, 2360 sat only attempt).
Drop the HARDER classes you have; where for whatever reason you think there’s a greater chance your gpa will be lowered.
Gpa and leadership are the biggest factor in admissions (after your background which is out of your control). Protect them.
Also be aware that you have it MUCH tougher as an international student and even doing everything right will still likely end up in a rejection unless your ECs are out of this world.
I’m a current junior with a similar course load to yours (fewer (10) but more rigorous classes). My suggestion would be to drop the classes like sing language, AP Capstone, and others that really aren’t central to an education. Unless you feel that you can manage A’s and EC"s while taking these classes, they will only hurt you in the long run.
I would suggest talking to upperclassman in terms of workload. Nobody here can tell you whether you can handle it because it varies greatly from school to school. There may be a lot of HW, a lot of studying, or just a chill class. How many classes do people around your area normally take? The teachers will take how much other loads you have into account, whether it is actually possible. Also, if you have the time, I would advice studying ahead of time before the school year begins so that you can chill through most of the time and focus on the subjects you would have trouble with. But overall, if you want to get into Harvard/Stanford, I like your challenge ) (I’m taking 5 APs + 2 post-aps next year, out of 8 classes)
I understand people want to get into these a GREAT schools, but what is the point in taking 13 courses? Do you even have free time or time to take a deep breathe? Reminds me of the kid in Alabama with a 10.?? GPA; he constantly took online courses in all his free time even if they weren’t important at all… Is it really worth it in the end (yes, that’s a genuine question)?
A school like HYPS will expect, over the course of all 4 years, the following classes (in total, NOT per year):
4-8 APs, and perhaps a couple “post AP” classes in a subject you really like and are really good at. This typically is a “sequential” class where you’ve been accelerated, ie., taking a math class further than Calc BC or a Foreign Language class further than AP foreign language or a 2nd semester-level science class or 2nd year level other class or philosophy…
each year, 5 of your classes should be either Honors or AP (ie, 2 APs+ 3 honors + 2 electives/unweighted = perfectly fine).
4 years each of English, Math, Science, Social Science, Foreign Language. In FL, level reached “works”, ie., taking the class at AP level means you’ve reached the desired level. (If you plan to major in a humanities/social science, it can be good to see if your local college would accomodate one more semester. Note that at HYPS, the “default” is that you took AP classes in at least 4 of these, so you won’t get credit, you’ll just start off in the regular class for everyone, a regular class that assumes AP preparation and level. Most students in Calc1, for example, have taken Calculus AB. Most students in Biology 1 have taken AP Bio…etc. This is different at flagship universities such as UWashington.)
one each of Physics, Bio, and Chem, plus one AP science class.
for your electives, choices that reflect subjects interesting to you, be they robotics or ceramics or home economics. That’s where you can make your difference. Class level doesn’t matter - consistency with your profile does, in particular is those classes tie in with an interest you pursue outside of class or if it’s related to something non-school.
In short, 7 classes = perfectly fine. It’s much more important for you to get A’s in all of them. I understand that some of these classes are mandatory in Canada, so you’d have to set these aside as long as they meet the requirements above, even if there are more than 5. But overloading yourself to the breaking point isn’t going to work in the long run. Remember you’ll have a quasi-extra class in preparing for standardized tests - SAT or ACT plus subject tests, plus preparing your college list (with 2 safeties, probably in Canada; 3-5 match schools you like, that your parents can afford after you’ve shown them the NPC results, and that admit at least 40% applicants; then you’ll add your reach schools, such as Stanford or Harvard.)
Piling up classes doesn’t work. If you can “do the work”, they’ll want to know how interesting you are; do they want you for their class discussions? do you fill an institutional need that no one else does? (ie., you play the clarinet at concert level or wrote a play that was actually performed outside of your family circle or have been managing an ethical investment fund from your bedroom…)
Drop the “other online class”. AP Capstone = how about you keep it for senior year, as the name indicates, it’s a capstone class, ie., for seniors. Why are you taking ASL - are you volunteering with deaf students at your school, translating community events, have a deaf sibling? Or is it just to “pile up one more class”?
Urgent task for you: read How to be a high school superstar by Cal Newport.
I can’t drop Sign language and Acting cause i still need them for grad credits. Most people in my area take about 11 classes (i’ll be taking 12 instead of 13 since im doing AP macro in the summer) , it’s mandatory to have 8.
I don’t plan on dropping Acting, Leadership or Sign Language since i legitimately enjoy them, they’re easy classes and i don’t want to be a drone who only takes academic classes ( kind of a contradiction,i guess, since i have 8 academics).
AP Capstone at my school is a two year program and cannot be done in only one year. I’m doing it because it allows more freedom and self studying which i excel at. I’m going to be preparing for the SAT in the summer and winter of grade 11.
It’d be insane if i get a great SAT mark, adding to what i hope will be a great application, and get to go to any of my dream schools which provide more opportunities in my field of interest than in Canada but even if i took regular courses(extremely easy to get As in), maybe some easy APs like Psych or Stats, alright ECs, a provincial mark of over 70% etc.(just a regular easy high school schedule and experience) i’d get into every major university in Canada( UBC/ McGill/ U of T). The competition here is not as intense as the USA, most kids just go to neighboring colleges and don’t apply to universities making a straight A student in average courses+ maybe one challenging one a considerable applicant. Not saying we don’t have kids that have started organizations, interned in government offices,created campaigns but they tend to get lots of scholarship money and either cover their entire undergrad at these universities or go down south ( 80% of the time).
I’ve read How to be a High School Superstar i found it be very interesting and full of advice which i heeded to and applied.
I don’t want to take the normal route ( a tad bit of a contradiction, again) and fill my life up with academic courses and model UN meetings. I’m taking courses that i’m either genuinely interested and excelling in OR need for graduation. I have not mentioned my ECs but they sound/ look great, are interesting and consume very little time. Acting/Leadership/ Sign are things i’m genuinely interested( I’ve implemented this phrase too many times in one rant) i’m not going to drop them for academic courses or join Band/French/ computer science like every other kid in my grade i’m going to see where they lead me and if they warrant a few extra hours of my sleep OR cost me my dream schools SO BE IT.
THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE ADVICE. I’VE ASKED FOR ADVICE FROM SENIOR STUDENTS WHO’VE DONE THESE COURSE AND THEY’VE SAID IT’S NOT AS INSANE AS IT SOUNDS. THANKS AGAIN.
I personally think you should limit the AP courses to about half of what you’re doing. While you may be told Harvard or Stanford want you to take every AP class possible, they would rather you take a manageable amount and get good grades than to fail them all because you have too much on your plate. AP courses typically will have similar workloads, about 45 minutes to an hour each night, plus all your honors courses. But it is your decision. Do what you feel is right and maybe limit your APs to a specific part to concentrate on, like math and science, or history, but not both.
) (I’m taking 5 APs + 2 post-aps next year, out of 8 classes)