<p>Can someone tell me if these college prep courses look good to colleges? If you feel like replacing a course tell me. I am about to be a 12th grader next year, so my 12th grade courses i have labeled are the ones I plan to sign up for next year when we do registration unless it has online next to it. can someone tell me how this looks?</p>
<p>Biology I Honors (10th Grade)
Chemistry I Honors (11th Grade)
Integrated Science I (9th Grade)
AP Biology (11th Grade)
AP Physics C (12th Grade)
AP Chemistry or AP Environmental Science? (12th Grade)</p>
<p>Algebra I (9th Grade)
Geometry Honors (9th Grade)
Algebra II Honors (10th Grade)
Pre-Calculus (11th Grade)
AP Statistics (12th grade)
AP Calculus AB (12th Grade online)</p>
<p>English I (9th grade)
English II Honors (10th Grade)
AP English Language & Composition (11th Grade)
AP English Literature & Composition (12th Grade)</p>
<p>World History Honors (10th Grade)
AP U.S History (11th Grade)
AP U.S. Government & Politics (12th Grade online)
AP European History (12th Grade)
AP Microeconomics (10th grade online)
AP Macroeconomics (12th Grade online)
AP Psychology (11th Grade)</p>
<p>Under my science courses, should I do AP Chem, AP Env Sci since I have taken Chem hon and Integrated science? I am in AP bio now and had Bio hon last year. SO they would all match up:
Integrated Science I---> AP Environmental Science
Biology I Honors-------> AP Biology
Chemistry I Honors----> AP Chemistry</p>
<p>Or should I take AP Physics C, even though I have no Physics experience?</p>
<p>Physics is usually a core requirement by many schools with three years of core sciences, and you are taking Calculus. Thus you should take the corresponding Physics C course. You may have to study elementary differential equations in the process.</p>
<p>Here's what worries me, and I've seen this with a lot with kids I'm on the math team with. (And I've told them the same thing)
1. Are you keeping a respectable unwieghted GPA?
2. Do you have any extracurriculars? Do you have time to breath? Do you have time to have a life? Colleges look at this too. While it's great to be ambitious, (oh trust me, I am too), you want to make sure that you aren't "stuffing your transcript" just like one might "stuff an application" just to look good to admissions officers. If you can keep up a good grade in all of those classes, fantastic. I'm not saying it can't be done either- because I've taken all core AP's and still have a 4.0 unweighted- but you need to make sure that you're doing some things in high school simply because you love it and want to do it. For example, my big thing is band. I devote half of my life to band, and I've done the section leader drum major thing too. I suppose I would take all these AP classes above and beyond my core curriculum, but to do that I would have to fill up every slot in my schedule and take classes out at the University every day of the week. I can't see how you can possibly do everything and have time for anything else. And admissions officers aren't going to look at your transcript, say if you took one or two less AP courses, and say, "Oh, they didn't apply themselves. They only took 5 AP's they obviously should have taken 7." There's nothing wrong with doing it; I know some people (ok, one or two people) who have done it and still maintained that top level of performance. These one or two people don't have a life outside of academics for the most part- they still get into the best colleges in the country if they want to- just don't sacrifice your life for the sake of taking as many AP courses as you can. Like I said, I only took four AP classes next year and I'm taking six next year, and a college councilor was looking at my transcript yesterday and was in absolute awe of what I had... and it wasn't nearly as much as you're subjecting yourself to. So the point is, you don't have to take every AP course availiable to get into a good school. There are far more important things.</p>
<p>I dont get it...I mean thanks for that and I agree with you, but its not that many AP classes....my other honors classes are probably making it look like more calsses up there tha are AP than there are...there are only 13 AP classes up there. Some people take 20 and stuff. I am in the band. I do have a life, but my problem is that I wait until the last minute to do my homework and then I dont even always get it done, because I am always too busy trying to talk to my friends online or watch TV and stuff. I don't think that is too many AP courses. Bu I agre with what you said. And we go by weighted GPA's at my school, which is exactly a 4.0 which I know for weighted that's not so great. I mean I am one of those people who can take AP classes without stressing myself, they are just like any other class to me, or at least thats how I treat them.</p>
<p>AP Art HIstory is not hard, the homework is just very time consuming. You also have to really be focused on art in order to describe a painting and compare it to paintings before it and what may have influenced it. I have a teacher who acts like the students, so I can't really tell you much. Overall it is not hard. It was harder than AP U.S. History though. I got an A in AP US History, and i Am making A/B in AP Art History.</p>
<p>Well I'm not sure how much of a time comittment marching/concert band is for you, but for me and my school your schedule would be suicide. It all depends on the school. BUT, since you have all the band stuff too then as long as you feel like you can handle eight AP classes your senior year then that's great. What bothers me is the kids who take all the AP classes and everything, and that's ALL they do (and I know a few kids like that). You might want to consider, though, if 4.0 is your weighted GPA, I've seen a few schools and scholarship programs that ask for your unweighted GPA. It may be worth your while to cut a few of the AP classes that aren't as important to you and do better in those and not end up keeping your GPA from being what you could probably have it be.</p>
<p>So how are you taking all these classes and doing band anyways??? Is your school on block schedule, or do you not have an band period during school?</p>
<p>And AP classes don't stress me out either... I hardly ever study (because I'm always at band practice... lol)... but while I would take more AP classes if I could I'm sure, I've got a class period filled with band, one with math team, and I've taken a foreign language the past three years so I just haven't been able to. So the reason I suppose I don't get how you can take so many is that at my school it's basically impossible to take everything and still have extracurriculars etc, because most of them require a class period, and we have a 2-year foreign language requirement for graduation and colleges look for 3-4 years of foreign language...</p>