<p>school has just started and i got my schedule</p>
<p>heres how it goes</p>
<p>Calculus AB AP
Physics IB H
Spanish 4 IB
Statistics AP
Gov/Econ AP
Lang Arts AP</p>
<p>now uh everyone tells me that a senior year is supposed to be relaxing</p>
<p>i thought i should drop some classes but others tell me that having a lot of classes as a senior shows motivation and might look better on a transcript</p>
<p>i dont know what to do</p>
<p>im thinking of dropping statistics and here are the questions i want to ask u guys</p>
<p>is taking 4 years of the same language any good? (in other words would it affect me negatively if i had dropped spanish?)</p>
<p>and does taking a lot of classes your senior year really help? or does it not matter</p>
<p>My senior year was absolute hell, I had 4 APs which required around 2 hours/day each. I would get home, study until 1 AM then fall dead asleep. I think you could drop one or two, having 4 APs plus 2 IBs is challenging enough already.</p>
<p>Most top colleges like seeing students who continue to push themselves senior year to have the hardest course load possible. If you took 5 APs junior year, I personally wouldn't suddenly drop down to three. And top colleges like Harvard and Princeton look favorably upon seeing four years of a language. It wouldn't kill you if you dropped it though. One of my friends who got accepted into Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Columbia never went beyond two years. And senior year, he only had four APs too.</p>
<p>I'm in the same situation you are, taking 5 APs this year, but if you think about it, you're done with SATs and you're pretty much set for extra curricular activities. After college apps are over, you'll have more time than you did in previous years. Being someone who was always slaving away on school, I'm kind of used to the daily routine of not having free time, and I like being kept busy. It's really up to you, but if you really love the subjects you're taking, don't be afraid of a little hard work :)</p>
<p>I honestly dont think it would hurt you to drop a few. you have to make the decision yourself but dont kill yourself your senior year, its just not worth it. </p>
<p>ap statistics would probably be the one to drop or calc AB.
maybe you could take it down to regular spanish and not IB.</p>
<p>I got screwed so badly second semester. My school doesnt have open campus, meaning we cant leave during lunch.
First semester i have like 6 classes with 2 random lunch periods in between.
Second semester i have 3 classes, 4 lunch periods, one class then i leave.</p>
<p>If i would have gotten mu schedule generated any differently i could have left at 11:30</p>
<p>I'd highly suggest you to at least drop 1 AP class. I don't know about your school, but in most schools AP lit is VERY time consuming and can easily take hours of work.</p>
<p>Admissions staff would like to know that you are continuing you challenge yourself, but it's important to maintain your sanity as well. It was really surprising to me how many students overload their senior schedules and then have hard time keeping up with the work. You should be sure that you are balancing the challenge with the workload and giving yourself enough time outside of school work to continue to be an interesting and cool person. </p>
<p>Admissions officers really do get attached to certain applicants (I definately do), but a drop in senior year grades can make it hard to advocate on your behalf irrespective of how much love is present. This was my first year in admissions, and so it was shocking and disappointing to have to put aside cool applications when we saw mid-years well below performance.</p>
<p>All of a sudden, that kid to whom I had grown attached was no longer a viable applicant. This happened a number of times with students I absolutely adored and for whom I was prepared to fight. If you are applying to competitive colleges, balance the workload so that you don't burn out and produce poor (relatively) grades.</p>
<p>It's true that we like students "who continue to push themselves senior year to have the hardest course load possible." But if your grades are going to suffer because of that, or you're going to loose a piece of that spark that makes you who you are, we'd rather you ratchet it down a notch and continue to succeed.</p>
<p>I agree with what danceluvur26 posted. It is virtually impossible to answer that question in general terms, there isn't one size that fits all. Probably better to post that question at some of forums for schools you are planning to apply to or read their official websites to get a sense of what the typical background is of those going there.</p>
<p>Also you mentioned nothing about your academic standing (and it shows this is your first post), we have no idea if you are an A+ student or one who is just barely getting by......So lots of others variables to consider.</p>
<p>I'm taking 6 courses this year (5 if you don't count 0 period), mostly so that I can focus on my extracurriculars and other things outside of school. Plus, I know that I can get really outstanding grades in the courses I'm taking. And none of my courses are Honors or AP (I tried to get into Honors Philosophy but I would've had to drop choir and that wasn't something I was about to do).</p>
<p>My son went to first two days of senior year and came home totally demoralized by AP English but loving everything else. The AP English course is being taught by a new teacher who assigned two 15 page papers, one on Beloved and one on Blindness, (Beloved was read early last year and most likely forgotten, Blindness was read over the summer) due Tuesday. In addition, they have to find a poem and analyze it also by Tuesday. Well, it's Friday and he is looking forward to a weekend in front of the computer. I suspect she would like to cut the number of students in her class but for the first time I just looked at my son when he wished he could drop to honors and said - uncle - drop it. I am tired of seeing my kid up til 1:00 a.m. and working every Saturday and Sunday on school work. The disparity between the amount of homework/stuff that the honors/AP kids have at our school compared with the next level down is incredible. So, would one honors class over an AP be so awful? I learned somewhere (sorry, cannot cite) that the average college student has over 11 hours of unscheduled time/day outside of 8 hours for sleeping. Where is the paralell re: college admissions? What is this madness of expecting our high schoolers to be so active and cram in so much when the average college student clearly doesn't? Rant, rant - </p>
<p>Anyway, if I may ask a question (because of course I still care!) - would he be better off picking up another AP (we don't have too many but Statistcs or MacroEconomics might work) or continuing with year 5 of a language (which he does not presently have in his schedule) instead? He wants to major in engineering/physics and has AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Psych, honors International Relations and something else, can't remember. I guess I feel like he has had enough of this madness - I want him to be able to go to the football games on Saturday afternoon with his friends, not sit for two days in front of the computer (and I hate football). If he cannot find another AP that fits into his schedule what do schools think of the online AP courses?</p>
<p>Rileydog -- Before you do anything, make sure that the colleges to which your S is applying do not require an English class every year throughout high school. If he is stuck taking English, could he move out of AP and into honors or a specialty class, such as Shakespeare, if your hs has one?</p>
<p>I'm a senior in high school and I started school 2 days ago. So far I've switched my schedule a few times, and I've come out with something I really like---with the exception of my calculus class. The teacher I have is awful and even though I'm good at math I absolutely dread it. I have it last block and it would be so amazing to actually be taking something I'm interested in.</p>
<p>I'm thinking about switching out, but my only reserve is what colleges will think. I'd be switching courses and I'd take something else in the english/social studies area probably, so it wouldn't even show up that I switched out, but I'm already not taking a science this year and I feel like not taking calc too might be a bad idea. I am definitely taking challenging courses, but granted they're all humanities (and Spanish and marketing), and I don't know if focusing so much on one aspect of academics makes me seem not well-rounded.</p>
<p>There are a few other things to consider in this decision: I've already taken 5 credits (equivalent to 5 years) of math, and I've taken 4 credits of science. So I've definitely filled the graduation requirements and everything. Plus, my possible majors are english, communications, film, or philosophy. I just really don't see how calc is necessary for these.</p>
<p>I am planning on applying to some very selective schools (baby Ivys). Does anyone have any advice on whether or not I can drop this course?</p>
<p>Is this an AP Calculus class you're taking? I wouldn't advise dropping it if you plan to apply to very selective colleges and you haven't taken an AP Calculus class by the end of your Sr year. However, if this is AP Calculus BC and you already took AB, the you should be fine. You need to meet with your GC to see what he/she thinks. What classes did other students who were accepted at those colleges take?</p>
<p>CCSurfer - he would drop to honors English. He had elected to take AP English specifically because the admissions officers we saw recently on our visits both said it was important to take the highest level class of regular subjects (English, Math, etc.). I was wondering if he should take another AP to keep his # of APs up to at least 4. I think he will if he can find one that will fit into his schedule. </p>
<p>ShayO - As I noted above, two admissions officers clearly thought taking the highest level course (AP) in the regular subjects was important. However, I did read something by the Dean of Admissions at, I think BC, or maybe Georgetown, stating that not every kid needs to take AP Calc! I would also suggest that you call some of the schools and ask how important it is. It seems like you should have a math or a science, however. I think omitting both could be a problem.</p>