Concerns over courses that I have taken in high school

Applying to College
1

I am about to become a junior in high school and I want to go to college, and go for a STEM degree (probably engineering or physics along with mathematics, I am not 100% sure though). I will list out the courses I have taken/will take/hope to take. I would like to note that I have a perfect unweighted gpa so far, and out school uses a half block schedule, so 1st, 4th, and 5th periods are year longs and 2nd and 3rd are semester classes. Ours school also did not allow for APs freshman year, though my school is now changing that.

Freshman Year:

  1. Honors Math III
    2A) Honors English I
    2B) Health and PE
    3A) Biology
    3B) Honors World History
  2. Jazz Band Beginners
  3. Freshman Academy

Now, my school tried to bring back Freshman Academy, but they then realized that it was not working and cut it the next year. Also I did not choose normal Biology, our school was experimenting with putting freshman in biology instead of Honors Earth Science.

Sophomore Year:

  1. AP US History
    2A) Honors Computer Science Principles
    2B) Honors English II
    3A) AP Calculus AB
    3B) AP Calculus BC
  2. Honors Chemistry
  3. Marching/Concert Band Intermediate

Now Intermediate Band counts as normal course and not an honors. I had self studied Pre-Calc over the summer before I took BC as that is what my Math III Teacher recommended for me.

Junior Year:

  1. (taking a Calculus III sequence through NCSSM here)
    2A) English III Honors
    2B) Psychology (online though the local community college)
    3A) Spanish 1
    3B) Honors Civics and Economics
  2. AP Physics 1
  3. Marching and Concert Band Advanced Honors

This is where it doesn’t really seem too great. Junior year has not started for me yet though. The good news is that Calculus III and Psychology are counted as honors. I would want to take AP Chem but that is not offered this year, but will be my senior year. I also need to take APES, but that would force out AP physics, Calculus 3, or Band, and I really want all of these. So this year i guess the most efficient thing I can do is knock out the remaining Social Studies credits that I need. Also if I put it AP English it would have the same problem as APES, though with either of those courses, if I did not give up any of my others, it would likely push psychology out of my schedule, so I would have to do it senior year. This makes me nervous as this is where I have heard colleges look at the most.

This is the senior schedule that I want:

  1. AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
    2A&B) AP Chemistry
    3A) English lll Honors
    3B) Spanish II
  2. AP Environmental Science
  3. Marching and Concert Band Advanced Honors

This is where it gets really sketchy. The way our school does AP Chem and AP Bio is that they take up 2 semester blocks, but they also put in honors Chem II labs or something like that because 2 classes should be there. They do it because the labs take 90 minutes and 2nd and 3rd period are the only ones with a 90 min class period. I also am having difficulty that provides AP Physics C where I could get credit for both at a reasonable price. I also have to take Environmental science since I did not take it freshman year, but it is a graduation requirement. I also might try and take one or two of those 3rd pperiod classes before school starts so I could put some math in there, I would just have to find an online program that goes beyond Calculus 3. Also, the normal online providers that our school uses like NCVPS don’t offer AP Physics C, of any kind.

What i am nervous about is that if colleges see my transcript they might think my schedule was really rigorous until my senior year, which probably won’t help me. I know admissions also take in account extracurricular activities, but this post is not about that. So what are your thoughts on my academic standing, and also if there are any online providers for AP Physics C (both of them) and/or online providers where I could take courses beyond Calculus III. Thank you.

2

I think you should worry less and write shorter posts. Seriously, you are doing very well and you cannot individually supersede your school system. Just do your best for the rest of high school and don’t obsess about taking every science class. Top schools often want STEM majors with some educational balance. Besides, you have plenty of rigor in your schedule as is. You only go to high school once so don’t treat it like grad school. Just my opinion.

3

No college will think you are not taking rigorous courses with those AP classes. I think that senior schedule should say English IV and not English III again? I think only taking Spanish II may be a disadvantage at some schools. Chill

4

Thanks and yes I did mean to write English IV Honors. I do see what you mean in only taking Spanish II, but I think trying to force in Spanish III would seriously overload my schedule, and I am not really interested in language so I probably would not do as well as I would want to. Though I was worried about that educational balance that was mentioned. I personally don’t want to take the AP Englishes for a few reasons. First of all it is not my strongest subject and from my understanding, most good college only accept a 4 or 5 on those courses to get out of Freshman English, so I feel that for me it would be a waste of time, as I feel like it is unlikely for me to get those scores in English. Also i would just be bored out of my mind as I am really not interested in Language. On the other hand I realize colleges would want to see me take those harder courses to see a well rounded student. So I really do not know if not taking AP English will hurt me in the admissions process as I would assume a lot of other student I will be up against will have taken those courses. Thanks again! @WISdad23 @“Erin’s Dad”