I will be starting my Junior Year in a little over a month now. My course selection stands as follows:
AP Calc AB
APUSH
AP Lang
APES
AP Physics 1
AP Spanish
Band
I really wanted to take AP Bio this year but my school would have made me give up AP Lang and APUSH for the normal equivalents.
Is this schedule okay for Junior Year? Many juniors at my school take a similar number of AP classes but tend to have “easier” ones. I only took one WHAP last year (because that’s all my school allowed me to take). I did well in the class and expect a good score on the AP exam. I’ve been taking the hardest classes available to me (Honors/Advanced) but still think I may be in over my head.
Self studying doesn’t help. Take the class or wait till college.
Highly selective colleges expect 6-8 AP 's total. You’re going way overboard with your junior schedule. At a minimum, drop apes. It won’t add anything to course rigor but will add homework. Save it for senior year.
What do you want to major in ?
Can you take honors us history instead of apush?
I (respectfully) disagree with @MYOS1634; Highly selective colleges expect a high number of AP’s, yes, but they are supposed to be highly selective. You are supposed to make yourself stand out from the sea of applicants - more AP’s give you a competitive edge. Of course, there is marginal difference - 6 AP’s is barely a difference from 7.
Are you sure you can handle your course load? 6 AP’s is an extreme amount and jumping from 1 to 6 AP’s is enormous, even if you do want to have a good app. Are there any courses you are taking just to impress colleges? If so, drop that course and add something that will be worthwhile.
I say drop APES and AP Physics 1. APES is literally a common sense course and will be a waste of your time and energy - many people self-study the weekend before and get a 5 on the exam. The only reason you should take APES is if you want to go into that field of study (if you are looking to go into science, take some other science/math course - this course does not have any appeal to colleges except that it is just another AP course). AP Physics 1 has a second year to it that is part of the curriculum. This course takes two years to complete when you can take 4 AP courses in the same time frame. Unless you really want to take these classes, I suggest you drop them. 4 AP classes in your schedule seems digestible. Make sure you have time for ECs and any scholar/internships - I doubt that 6 AP classes will allow for that.
I will be self-studying AP Comparative this year as well I have heard that as long as you stay up to par with current events and have time to study, AP Comparative is a good course to self-study. I will be using Ethel Wood’s book along with the cleverly named app “AP Comparative Gov. & Politics” by ImpTrax Corporation (I don’t know if this is on Apple - I have Android).
@MYOS1634 My school offers very little. It would either be normal (no advanced or honors) US History or AP.
I am seriously undecided on major which is its own problem. I am best at science (bio/chem) and that’s how my mind is oriented. However, I’m also passionate about International Relations/Policy. Comparative is not offered at my school but I genuinely find the information fascinating and feel it will benefit me in Model UN as well.
I really don’t care about APES (it was the course my counselor gave me because she couldn’t give be bio) but I’m concerned not taking another AP will lower my class rank and GPA since only AP classes are weighted at my school. Will these significantly impact me?
@pinklinks There’s an program I’m looking at that requires a year of physics but thanks for the heads up. My school doesn’t offer much outside of the basic core subjects except AP and not a lot of them. My only other option would be AP Psychology and that seems incredibly boring to me.
I’ve spoken with students from my school who have taken the classes I’m entering and aside from Spanish, the consensus was the work load did not increase significantly. The way my school restricts things most higher level students jump from 1 to 4-7 APs.
@jrstress18 Hey, fellow rising junior. I just took a look at your schedule and it really looks like an awful lot. I would take out 1 or 2 of your APs. Maybe try taking one of your Science classes out and maybe decide which one you really want to take: APUSH or AP Lang. I think you shouldn’t be so concerned about your rank so much. If you get all As with 4-5 AP classes and 2-3 regular classes, you won’t have to work as hard in 6 APs and one regular class. I think what a lot of students do is they take certain AP classes as “GPA Boosters” thinking they can get at least a B in them in order to have a really high Weighted GPA. By the way, what is your rank? Even if you drop down in the rankings, it won’t likely be by that much. I think it would be a lot better to get As in 4 APs than As and Bs in 6 APs.
In picking which classes to drop, if wanted, I’d highly recommend writing a list of pros and cons
for each course. In your case, I’d compare APUSH vs. AP Lang and AP Physics vs. AP APES. If I were you, I’d choose AP Lang and AP Physics right off the bat.
Based on the information you gave about yourself, it seems to me that like have a passion for both science and social studies. I would highly recommend figuring out which one you fascinates you the most. While you may be best at science, you may not always be. I would say go with the career that interests you and that you think will interest you for a long time and try and be the best at that. That way, you know you’re doing something that interests you and know you’re good at.
I also think you should drop APES as it really is an easy-A AP class. I’m pretty sure UCs will care much more about the kinds of classes you take, rather than your GPA or ranking. Remember what previous posters have said, don’t take classes just to impress colleges. Take them either as a challenge or as an interesting class. Don’t treat APs as GPA Boosters. Also drop APUSH, if you want, as it won’t really help you with learning about your interest.
I had a similar schedule junior year, and I survived… so It’s possible to handle.
If you are decent at math and science, and willing to spend 40 hours a week outside of class on school stuffs (band, homework, clubs etc.), it’s very possible to get A on most, if not all, classes and get 4s and 5s on all AP Exams. However, you will not have time to study any subjects in-deepth and truly understand them (Many times you can “fake” an 100% on teacher’s exam or a 5 on AP Exam while still not fully understand the contents, if you know what I’m talking about)
So my real question for you is do you rather take less(3 or 4) AP classes that you really interested in and truly master the material (which I think will benefit you in the long run), or do you rather scrambling 7 AP exams to impress the college and make your family proud?
I have heard that as long as you stay up to par with current events and have time to study, AP Comparative is a good course to self-study. I will be using Ethel Wood’s book along with the cleverly named app “AP Comparative Gov. & Politics” by ImpTrax Corporation (I don’t know if this is on Apple - I have Android).