Hello! I sincerely thank you for your time and input!
Here’s a not-so-brief intro…
As a freshman, I took AP Human Geography. I received an A in the class and a 5 on the AP test. Sophomore year, I took AP World History and, once again, received an A in the class and a 5 on the AP test. My current schedule junior year is as follows: AP Language and Composition, Honors Pre-Calc BC, APUSH, AP Bio, Honors Spanish III. As I sit year pondering which piece of summer homework to tackle first, I realize that this is only a taste of what is to come. I am science-oriented and hope to pursue a career in the medical field. I do not play sports. However, I am involved in numerous service-based organizations and honors societies. In addition, I frequently volunteer at the local hospital. I feel that my schedule may be too challenging, especially given that I will be taking SAT’s junior year. AP Bio requires tons of memorization, and AP Lang is notorious for the time required to be successful in it. I have never received anything but A’s, and I have only taken honors classes in high school. However, I dislike history. So, logically, APUSH is the class I am considering dropping. There is not an honors US history class at my high school. I am debating whether I should risk going insane from trying to maintain a perfect academic record, or whether I should just drop APUSH. I would prefer to focus my memorization on AP Bio rather than APUSH. I’m not sure if I can successfully do both.
My question is… Would college admissions officers look down upon me taking normal U.S. History junior year given that I’ve previously taken AP social studies classes?
APUSH…You know what I would honestly recommend. Ask an upperclass whole did both Lang and APUSH, and see what they said. I actually took the exact same course load as you my Junior year (switch Bio and physics), and I ended with straight A’s, and two A-'s, one in APUSH and one in AP lang. I’m also a stem kid, and I survived?
I do think it’s better to settle for slightly lower grades and keeping your curriculum as rigorous as possible. If you feel like your mental sanity is in jeopardy, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop down. A breakdown is game over in junior year. I know people who have lost it…and it’s ugly.
Push yourself a fair as you can go without breaking. A little bit of failure gradewise will not hurt you. But if you crack mentally, then it’s truly game over.
“A breakdown is game over in junior year. I know people who have lost it…and it’s ugly.”
Absolutely true. We have certainly seen posts about this on CC.
But, straight A’s in a slightly easier course load, which still contains several APs, will get the student into a very good university with a strong premed program.
That being said, in reality us old folks on CC (such as me) are only guessing and giving our opinion.
Thank you very much for your advice… I appreciate it more than you know! My fear stems from the fact that I took AP social studies classes my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I don’t know if colleges will frown upon the fact that I dropped from taking AP social studies classes as an underclassmen to taking normal social studies as a junior.
I don’t think colleges will frown on you not taking all AP courses in a particular area. I would think the opposite actually, that they would like to see that you could perform well in AP classes in both science and humanities. You do want to retain your sanity, and IMO if you are feeling uncomfortable with the course load, then alter it to something you think is more reasonable. Retaining AP Bio, and switching APush makes perfect sense if you are interested in the sciences and a medical profession. Also consider that you did well in you two prior AP courses because your were at your appropriate balance of rigor. Tripling that amount might be completely overwhelming.
What will your senior year schedule look like? Can you bump either the APUSH or AP Lang/Comp to senior year? Our local public school offers APUSH junior year; AP English is offered senior year (combined AP Lit with AP lang/comp class). Just wondering if at your school there is a set sequence? If not perhaps you can still take both classes but spread them out between this year and next?
Hello, thanks for the input!! Senior year schedule (as of now) will be AP Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Micro Economics, AP Chemistry, and Honors Spanish 4. Sadly, I cannot push APLang or APUSH to senior year…
Can you take American History DE? That’s what my son did in 11th grade. It was an on line course through our local CC, much less stressfull than taking APUSH.
Thanks for the advice!! I did not even think of taking an online class… I will definitely look into it. That would open up space to take another STEM elective!
I’m a rising senior who took APUSH and AP Stats sophomore year, 6 APs my junior year along with SAT and ACT (1470 and 33), and 5 APs upcoming senior year.
I got I think an A- and then an A during the 2 semesters and then a 3 on the AP. Personally, I don’t think that not getting a 5 is all that big a of deal, especially since colleges mainly use AP scores for placement and only a little for admissions. honestly, I liked my APUSH experience but I am definitely more math and science based, so it wasn’t much of an issue.
imo, AP Lang didn’t take that much time, although each high school is different. the class was tedious but outside of readings and ~500 word essays roughly every 2-3 weeks, my class didn’t do very much (we only practiced the scantron like 3 times in class) but I still ended up getting a five.
also, you honestly might be putting a little too much thought and stress into keeping an absolutely perfect academic record. I’ve taken a very rigorous course load so far, and I think that’s what counts the most. Every high school year I’ve had one or two A-s or B+s, but I’ve taken the most challenging classes my school offers, and I think that shows better than dropping to lower classes for slightly better grades.
It’s really up to you to decide whether or not you can handle APUSH in your schedule, since everyone is different, but depending on your school and the teacher, I think it might be worth it to take the class. Otherwise, stay sane and relax a bit with the difficult classwork.
As someone posted you want to talk to students who took a similar schedule and see how stressful it was. You have way more than the required AP courses for a STEM applicant, that I’d advise dropping APUSH to have less stress and more time for what you want to do. Also your GC may have an idea as well, if he or she reviewed your schedule, I’m assuming they’re ok with apush. At the local schools, APUSH is a huge time sink.
I was in the same position as you when I was a junior in high school! I had a very intense schedule with AP classes and extracurricular activities and APUSH was the class that I dropped to lessen my work load and save my sanity. I did have to think a lot about dropping because I felt pressure from my friends and family about “not being able to handle an AP class” while other students were doing it, but ultimately I knew it would be better for my mental health and academi record. It took a regular history class and got a B in it (as opposed to a possibly failing grade since I could not keep up with the daily quizzes at all) and I still got into my top choice UCLA as an English major. I didn’t even really explain why I dropped the class in my application, and I was fine. Changing a class type to help make your schedule more reasonable is not a bad thing and I’m pretty sure that admission officers won’t frown when they see that you do have other things going on in your life.
If you’re not into history and you’re into stem, drop APUSH. AP Bio requires a large time investment and I took both APUSH and AP Bio (not in the same year), and they both take a lot of time. In my opinion, good grades are better than course rigor. Obviously, I could be very wrong on this, so I’ll let other people decide that.
Ask yourself this: “Do I need APUSH for what I plan to pursue in college? Can I handle three AP’s on top whatever else I have?”
Remember, there’s no right or wrong in this situation. Both of your options have their pros and cons. Think about it, and see what happens when you make your choice.
If you are going to drop APUSH, I would not take regular US History. Take another honors or AP course that is more interesting to you and which will be less stressful. Have you considered AP Stats? My son actually found that helpful for his standardized tests outside of the AP Stats test.