<p>I am entering high school next year as a freshman and just today I have received my mock class recommendations. Below I will list the classes I am not considering changing.</p>
<p>Spanish 2 H
9th Lit/Comp H
Biology H
Accelerated Analytic Geometry H</p>
<p>Four more semesters are available in my schedule after the aforementioned classes.</p>
<p>Through talking to some of the counselors at my school, I was able to snag AP Computer Science A for next year(normally offered 10-12). This is due to my prior experience with and love for programming that I have developed the past few years. Two other classes I am considering are AP U.S. Government & Politics and AP Human Geography. However, I spoke with my sister, a senior in high school on her way to valedictorian in a class of 550, stated that I shouldn't take too difficult of classes my freshman year; after all, she didn't take any AP courses her freshman year. She said I should take a maximum of one because I need time to adapt to high school life, and honors classes are still challenging as is. Contrary to her beliefs, I'd prefer to take AP Computer Science and either AP U.S. Government & Politics or AP Human Geography as I want to challenge myself significantly.</p>
<p>Taking AP U.S. Government & Politics completes a graduation requirements, but I imagine I'd enjoy AP Human Geography more.</p>
<p>I am a hardworking, motivated student wanting to challenge himself and apply to top S.T.E.M. schools in the future.</p>
<p>Please leave any insightful thoughts you have on my situation, as anything will help in this decision.</p>
<p>Our school requires algebra2 at minimum for AP computer science. My daughter took it and felt that the more mathematical sophistication you have, the better. I’m not saying you can’t do it, but just something to consider.</p>
<p>Do you live in Georgia? The georgia math classes are called that (you know, coordinate algebra, analytic geometry, etc) or are there other states that adapted the same title?</p>
<p>My pathway for math courses doesn’t consist of an Algebra 2 course as I am taking my first year of full Algebra, and next year I will be taking Geometry. Also, the only prerequisite for APCS is Algebra, which I am taking, and I assume Geometry won’t help abundantly with CS algorithms.</p>
<p>AP Human Geography is widely regarded as one of the easiest APs. I can’t speak to it myself as my kids have not taken it. But I know it’s often taken by freshmen and that the AP scores come out not so well, probably because there are a lot of freshmen taking it. AP government is also considered one of the easier APs although my daughter who is in it this year has been spending a fair amount of time on it. Their class does a lot of things which I suspect are above and beyond the basic AP curriculum. A lot of fun but somewhat timeconsuming simulations, eg. running elections, model congress. Yours may differ. </p>
<p>I agree with your sister. However, if you end up taking a 2nd, I would say AP Govt & Politics because it knocks out a graduation requirement and most top colleges do not give credit for AP Human Geo.</p>
<p>@brysonpm Great! Haha. You and I are in the same boat because I’m also an eight grader in Coordinate Algebra. The only difference is probably that I moved and my new school didn’t offer accelerated math so I had to basically “be the only one enrolled” in it. I hated it, but I’m over with that now Currently, I’m on the Geometry course now</p>
<p>Hey, guess what? I’m a freshman taking AP Human Geography right now! I’m sure how it is taught is different at every school, but at my school it is a lot of work but the actual subject matter isn’t that hard. </p>
<p>Next year, I’m also taking AP Human Geography. It’s the only one allowed to Freshmen though at my school. People also say it’s very difficult for them, but I wouldn’t know.</p>
<p>I’ve talked to a few programming colleagues, and I’ve decided to take APCS next year, as I’ve been told I have most subject matter except the algorithms already under my belt.</p>
<p>I’m still debating between AP HG, AP GOPO, or simply taking on-level Government(Honors isn’t offered).</p>
<p>I’ve decided to take on-level American Government/Civics as to not overwhelm myself. It’s not my first choice, but I may be blinded from the truth with my mindset. The main worry I have is being in a class with absolutely unmotivated students.</p>
<p>I’d take 1 if you are REALLY MOTIVATED, because most likely one of those AP classes is pretty difficult, and for freshmen year, you don’t want to ruin your GPA.</p>
<p>Isn’t taking two or more APs your freshman year becoming more and more common? Middle schools lowball the Honors/AP requirements for rising 9th graders; it’s really quite ridiculous.</p>
<p>@brysonpm You’re in a great spot! I wish my school let me take APCS and AP HuG as a freshman. I took AP HuG my sophomore year, and it was extremely easy. Not any harder than the honors classes I took my freshman year. </p>
<p>Now, you say you have “prior experience with” and a “love for programming.” How well-versed in Java are you? I went into the class knowing HTML/JS/some Python/some C++, and found that I could adopt my skillset; however, my friends in my class who came in after years of Java could’ve taken the AP exam on the first day and gotten 5’s. </p>
<p>@Vctory Thanks! I may or may not take APHG after I think about some more. Java is the only programming language I am widely accustomed to. I feel confident in syntactical aspects of the language as well as object-oriented conceptual thinking and abstraction. I have looked over the Java subset and feel confident in knowing the material already. However, I am not wildly prodigious at math and am expecting to have to learn algorithmic sequences in the class.</p>
<p>I do not know of the fact that taking 2 AP’s as a freshmen is becoming more common; heck, it is impressive if you take 2 AP’s as a sophomore… you could start of with 1 freshmen year, 2-3 sophomore year, 4-5 junior year, and 5-6 senior year, depending on your school’s offerings.</p>
<p>I also live in GA. IMO take AP Gov over AP HUG, since it counts for your social studies credit. Be prepared for it though, since AP Gov is hell…</p>
<p>Next year I’m taking AP World and AP Compsci.</p>
<p>Also, what you could do is, in deciding how many AP courses to take and rigor, check with your sibling who you said was valedictorian… How many AP courses did she take in 4 years? What were her lowest “unweighted” grades?</p>
<p>@College123college My sister said she took 11 or 12 APs throughout high school, and the hardest APs were Chem, Physics, World, and Lit, though she doesn’t know about lowest grades(I’m pretty sure she has an unweighted 4.0).</p>
Currently, I’m on the Geometry course now</p>