I want to be prepared to major in environmental engineering. I do not know what courses should be the most important to take for my major. It seems like there is not enough room in my schedule. Here are the courses I am interested in taking for senior year.
Pre-calculus(unless I can take it over the summer and then I would take AP Calculus BC)
AP Statistics
AP Chem
AP Physics 1(my high school does not offer AP Physics 2 or AP Physics C)
Honors Spanish 3
AP Lit
AP Human Geography
Engineering Design and Development
Here are the courses that I am required to take
SOB(Survey of Business.It is a technology credit and required at my high school to graduate)
Fourth credit of English
Fourth credit of Math
I can only take seven classes in a year.
This year, I have taken Pre-AP Chem last year and did fairly decent in it. I have also taken AP Environmental Science and PLTW Digital Electronics. I do not know if I should take pre-calculus over the summer and double up AP math classes and AP science classes. What I want to know is whether I should take AP Human Geography because it might be related to an environmental engineer’s work and because it will be my fourth social studies credit, or if I take Engineering Design and Development? Could I take SOB over the summer and get it over with? How would I ask my counselor about these options and would I have to pay money to take summer classes
Should I ditch AP Stat or AP Physics 1 if I have to? Should I get rid of Engineering Design and Development and AP Human Geography, leaving me more time for the heavy math and science classes? But then I would desert the fourth credit of social science and I would get rid of an engineering elective? What should I take for my senior year?
Please do not overthink it. First, take your required classes to graduate. I think AP Lit would be perfect for your last English credit.
How did you do in Geometry and Algebra II? I personally do not suggest taking Precalculus over the summer and then jumping into AP Calc BC unless you absorb math very fast. I think you should take Precalculus for your 4th math credit.
I think taking SOB over the summer is a good idea (unless it is hard/very detailed).
I would take Engineering Design/Development over AP Human for sure.
AP Chem and AP Physics I are good choices for science.
Definitely continue your Spanish with Spanish III Honors.
That leaves AP Stat and AP Human but only one class slot. I think they would both be equally helpful for your intended major but I would do your own research.
So:
SOB over summer
AP Lit
Precalculus
Engineering Design/Development
AP Chem
AP Physics I
Honors Spanish 3
AP Stat OR AP Human
In the end, choose classes because you enjoy them and think you can do well! Don’t obsess over your major. You have plenty of time to take classes related to your major in college.
I agree with above. My 11th grader D is taking AP chem and AP physics 1 this year and it is doable… She wants to major in electrical engineering. I also would not recommend taking precal in the summer. Your success in calculus is build on a strong foundation. Absolutely nothing wrong with taking Calculus 1 in freshman year in college. Best of luck to you!
I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate with the responses above. I don’t think there’s much of an issue with taking PreCalc over the summer. I feel that PreCalc didn’t really prepare me much for Calc BC. PreCalc is helpful for trig, if that’s how your school teaches it. However, if you have already been exposed to the unit circle and trig identities, it won’t be that helpful, and a summer course will probably suffice. Even if you havent, as long as you feel you can get a grasp on the trig, the summer course would probably be fine for BC. I feel that PreCalculus is an extended version of Alg2 and that all the skills needed for Calculus (other than trig) were really in Alg2.
However, it might be stressful taking a math class over the summer. Plus, it will take away from other activities and you having fun the summer before your last year of high school! I don’t think PreCalc is a bad idea, but it isn’t necessary.
I think a good schedule would be:
PreCalculus or AP Calculus
SOB
AP Lit
Honors Spanish 3 – colleges want to see about 3 years of the same language.
AP Physics 1 - it’s a good idea to take all 3 sciences (chem, physics, bio) at some point
APHUG
Engineering
This schedule gives you all the core classes but also allows schools to see that you took engineering as an elective and are interested in it.