MIT accepts AP Lit, but, as is common with schools of that tier, the credit can only be applied as a free elective; it fulfills no distribution requirements. Not that anybody should base course selections on what credit us given by a university with single digit acceptance rates
I’d add the stats simply because you’re intending to be a CS major. This department is notoriously difficult to get into in recent years. Colleges will look at your major for admissions and CS is one that’s got massive numbers of interested students.
Hopefully you have some programming extracurriculars but so tough to get into this department.
I would think this is the most important!
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My Kid has both AP Lit and AP Stats in his schedule now but will not take AP Stats exam(he will still take the class).
I left the decision to him as he knows better about his subjects.
Most colleges require 4 years of English for admission. Make sure you have that covered.
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AP Stat is the easy answer to drop.
Just out of curiosity, which AP courses (and the test as well, I presume) gave 27 required credits?
I’m guessing it’s a college that gives 3 credits per class, as opposed to 1.
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Yes, that makes sense. I’m wondering in which subjects (ie. which AP courses/tests, in this case, were the more helpful to have taken).
AP Lang (gave 6 credits)
APUSH (gave 6 credits)
AP Calc AB, BC (gave 6 credits)
AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Physics C
It is dependent on school as well. You need to look at what school accepts and if there are any overlaps. State schools usually give more credit.
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So, I talked to my counselor and concluded that it’d be best to see how the classes go for a few days. Neither class seems especially bad at a glance, but I think I should still drop one.
The way AP Lit works at my school is that we have to read a book, take notes, and write a literary analysis essay each quarter. There’s a list of books to choose from for each time period, and I could read some of the easier (more recent) ones first: The Hobbit, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Utopia. Essays can be revised repeatedly for full credit, and most other readings are classwork. Seems better than I expected, or would this be too much work?
My school doesn’t have honors courses for grade levels where AP ones are available, so I’d have to replace AP Lit with a regular English class. My preferred replacement doesn’t work with the rest of my schedule and I’m still waiting on details for an alternative class.
I like that your counselor is open to you taking it all. It sounds like there are many high schools that cap a student’s AP load, yet at other schools there are students who maintain good grades and life balance with 6 APs. My kid took 6 AP classes sophomore year and it worked out fine. She’s also had the experience of doubling up in AP math (stats and calc in one year) and that was also fine. All with 2 seasons per year of varsity sports. Depends on the kid. I’d say drop stats if things get too heavy - you’d need some kind of English and the grading structure and flexibility of your AP Lit is great. Sounds like you’re leaning that way anyhow. Good luck!
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Based on that information, stay in both. One paper on one book per quarter is exceedingly easy compared with Honors /AP english courses here, even compared to 10th grade english. Kids commonly do 5-6 books a semester here, each with a paper. Getting unlimited revisions to improve the grade is very surprising to me, as it would lead to everyone getting an A.
Quality analytical writing skills are very important for college: the AP course as you describe it is far less intense than college but should still be the type of writing college expects at a slower pace . The regular English would most likely be even easier and not likely to prepare you well.
Bottom line: do both APs if you can, but if not then drop Stats not Lit.
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Honestly, I’m still trying to decide what to do before my school’s deadline tomorrow. Tempted to keep both, but I’m also worried that it might end up being a mistake later in the year.
How I felt about the 4 APs I took last year:
- APUSH: tedious, but got a 5 (Pageant textbook made the readings a lot worse)
- Physics 1: hard, got a 4 (didn’t spend enough time on review, and teacher wasn’t that great)
- Calc AB: considered relatively hard (?) but easy for me, got a 5
- Lang: easy, got a 4 (most likely bad pacing on essays)
And correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve heard, this is what I’m expecting this year:
- Calc BC: easy
- German: easy
- Gov: easy (AMSCO textbook + easier teacher, should be much better than APUSH)
- Stats: easy
- Physics 2: moderate (good teacher, should help)
- Lit: hard (but not bad compared to other schools)
So maybe it’s not much of an issue compared to last year? It’s completely fine so far and I have a free period which helps too, but I’m slightly worried about spikes in workload come quarter/semester end and I want to make sure I have ample time left for ECs, college apps, and essays without falling to senioritis. I don’t think I’d still be considering dropping AP Lit if it weren’t for the outside reading.
Also looked at the AP credit policy for a lot more colleges, and it looks like Stats would be more useful for credit because my Lang score does the job for most of them.
I see 3 ways forward:
- Keep both
- Drop Lit and replace it with regular English, which does seem like less work but maybe not by as much as I’d hoped. This might not actually work due to schedule conflicts. (waiting for confirmation)
- Drop Stats, replace with TA period
None of them seem like bad choices per se, but I’m finding it really hard to pick one. Pretty sure none of them would pose an issue in terms of rigor, so I’m mainly contended on how much better the replacements would be. Any final thoughts with all this in mind?
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It sounds like you may do fine. Pace yourself. And remember to enjoy the year.
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Keep them. It’s not unheard of to have that number of APs. Sounds like the quantitative stuff comes easily to you, which will help.
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Well, seeing posts like this on CC makes me worry about having 6:
I just don’t want to end up regretting it in a month or two. I haven’t finished my Common App essay yet…
I would drop lit. If you have extra time read some books (rec based on your intended major and my love of reading but hate of structured reading). Good luck on your admissions and enjoy your senior year.