Classes for high school

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I’m currently 4th in class rank in my Freshmen class, and I want to move up. So it’s time for course selections, and I’m not sure what to do. I’ve planned out 3 possible paths I can take.

  1. Take Pre Cal and AP Statistics sophomore year but drop Orchestra and join Orchestra 2 junior year. This allows me to take both AP calculuses even though I don’t need both but it helps my GPA.
    Or
  2. Take just Pre Cal next year and take AP Statistics senior year. Then I’ll be able to continue and go into Strings 3 Honors junior year. But I only take Calculus BC cause I only need one AP Calculus, the other would be for my GPA.
    Or
  3. Take Pre Cal and AP Statistics but continue in Orchestra by dropping Physics. Then I’d go into AP Physics junior year. I don’t like this option cause we only have one Physics teacher and everyone says he’s terrible and I want to do normal Physics to get a background to AP Physics and get used to the teacher.

This is all due to being one period short of having all the classes I want so I just want the best class to drop and which way I should rearrange my schedule for the next three years.

Any advice is appreciated.

2

Well, do you truly love orchestra, or is it something you do just because? I’m pretty sure college admissions officers would rather see you doing something you’re interested instead of taking redundant classes to boost your class rank. Unless your school offers AB and BC as a sequence, or you struggle with math, taking both is a waste of time, and many colleges don’t even accept credit for AP stats because it is nothing like college stats. If you want to continue orchestra, I’d say go with option 3. AP physics 1 doesn’t require a background in physics, honestly it’s not that much different from a HS honors physics class and it will be easy for you if you’re good at math. If you want to take AP physics C, however, it’s a different story.

3

Thanks so much. But yeah I love doing orchestra and I’m great in math. Unfortunately, it’s AP Physics C Mech.

4

You will only stress yourself out by worrying about how you are placing in the top 5 in your school. Your main goal is to be in the top 5-10% of your class. Take what you like (e.g., some people drop classes like orchestra because they are not weighted, but I think that is ridiculous).