Classes I am Taking Next Year and How it Affects College Admissions

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I am currently a junior, deciding what classes to take next year. Right now, I am taking Multivar Calc, IB Eng, IB Bio, AP World, AP CS, AP Stat, and Microcomputer Tech. I have taken 11 AP/IB classes till now. I have been doing research in connectomics since 9th grade after school and over summer.

Here’s why deciding classes for next year is challenging: I don’t have a math class I can take at school but my county requires 4 whole years of math. I would also like to focus on research more and publish a few more papers before college.

My school has a program where you can take the last 3 periods off for an internship. I am contemplating doing that so I can leave school around 11 and take a Linear Algebra class at UMD where I also do research. This way I’ll have more time for everything.

But the drawback to this is that I can only take 4 classes at school- AP Physics C E&M, IB Bio, IB English, Health(required).

Should I do the 4 period option or the full day option and then take a math class and do research(which I realize will be very challenging)? Which is better for college applications?

2

I would recommend doing the internship and Linear Algebra at UMD BUT I would not take both AP Physics C and IB Bio. Two sciences would be redundant and would unbalance your schedule. Hopefully you’ve reached level 3 or 4 in a foreign language, otherwise take it at UMD too to be done in one semester. But you have to take a social science/history instead of IB Bio, colleges will not appreciate your having only 3 core classes out of 5 (math, English, science).