I went back and forth for a week, and decided not to take APUSH. My other classes will be Honors 10 Lit/Comp, Hon Pre-Calc, Hon Span 3, Chem 1, Health/IntroToBusiness (Health is a requirement and ITB is a filler), Regular U.S. History, and a Study Hall.
How big of a deal will not taking this class make in the long run? I decided to focus on Pre-Calc next year and I PLAN to take AP Stats, Calc AB, Calc BC, Chemistry, Bio, and maybe some others after I look into the APs more. My school offers no AP Physics.
I’m only a freshman, so I don’t expect anyone to chance me haha… The in-state colleges I am aiming for are Ohio State, Miami, and Case Western (the to be ‘reach’ for me a couple years from now). My intended major is Computer Science , so will AP US really make that big a difference between my schedule being rigorous vs. semi-rigorous?
No, it won’t. You’re a freshman. Nobody reading your application is gonna be like, “He didn’t take APUSH, guess we can’t admit him!” Especially if you are aiming for state schools.
In my opinion, it’s better for you to take classes that actually interest you because they will be the ones you do your best in. Therefore, you seem like you’re very interested in the sciences, especially since you want to pursue a career in computer science, so I feel like that should be emphasized more in your classes. Also, you seem to have a pretty good idea on some rigorous classes that you want to take in the future years of high school, especially your junior year which is notably the most important year. You shouldn’t feel bad for not taking it, especially since you are a sophomore taking precalc which is pretty impressive on its own. (I’m a junior over here taking precalc and its one of my hardest classes thus far).
I didn’t take APUSH (even though my school offered it), and I’m currently majoring in math w/ CS.
Selective colleges expect you to have taken a rigorous courseload, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to “take all the AP’s.” Especially since you want to major in CS, you probably won’t gain much more from APUSH than from taking a regular US history course (except possibly elective credit if you do well on the AP test).
@CaliCash@littlet4lks@MITer94 Thank you! That takes a lot of tension away, especially hearing that many sophomores take it. I honestly have no interest in History and regular history classes are easy (Not sounding pretentious). My Junior year will definitely be challenging, which you said was important.
@southernbelle16 I might be able to turn in a late application, and I’m pretty sure I would get accepted for the class, but I don’t want to read and write about history. I’m not that great at analyzing historical pieces as oppose to books in an Honors English class, which is more creative in my opinion. Thank you though!
