AP Environmental
AP Comp Goc
AP Stat
AP Art History
Honors Calculus
Honors English
Honors Modern World
I plan on majoring in environmental science and minoring in policy analysis and management. I also plan on applying to Cornell in the ED round, not expecting much though. My school offers most APs and is highly competitive. Im currently taking AP Biology and AP psychology and have an A in both.
Q: Is APES, Stat, or Art History hard to do well in? Are they fun? Which is the most time consuming?
Will not taking AP Calc look bad? I’m bad at that kinda math.
Has anyone ever taken two math classes in the same year? How was it?
Am I taking too many APs? Most kids at my school who take more than 3 APs have very low GPAs.
Background info: avid varsity soccer player, 29 ACT(will retake), great ECs, URM, upward trend ,GPA, and some other strong hooks
I’m afraid next soccer season will make school very difficult for me. My GPA during soccer season was a 2.8 this year but after that it was a consistent 3.8
Also I couldn’t care less about getting credit for APs as mist have nothing to do with my major, except ES, and Stat, I just wanna look good lol
OP - Everybody’s different. And schools and teachers are different. So, with all those variables out there, it makes it difficult to answer your questions. Obvious general answer - Do the best you can with the most difficult courses you can handle. Good Luck.
Your courseload is as challenging as it gets. Two math courses could be tough especially if math is not your favorite. Not taking AP Calc is fine… you don’t need all AP classes to get into top colleges and you already have 4.
^^^ No, the courseload is not as challenging as it gets if it does not include AP Calc. Adcoms know that AP Stat and APES are much less challenging than Calc BC or even AB.
Ok maybe in some cases taking Stat and APES will hurt a student who is applying into a heavy math field, but otherwise they will be fine taking 4 AP classes and 3 honors classes their junior year. First of all, the OP has a direct interest in environmental science and wants to major in it in college, so therefore taking the class is vital to understanding how much they like the major and what it is about. I don’t understand how taking 4 AP’s and 3 honors could be not challenging… having an interest in a class and enjoying it while receiving high grades is far more important than just trying to impress adcoms.
^^^ Not bad points overall, but if the goal is a school at the level of Cornell, they will look to see if you’ve taken the most rigorous course load available, no matter what the major. Not taking calc (when it is available) means not taking the most rigorous course load.
AP Calc is just one class, I doubt I will be rejected for not taking it (this is OP btw)
PS: CALS (the college i’m applying to within Cornell) says they look for FIT for your major more than anything. It would make the least sense for me to take Calc over EnvSci. If i take calc i’ll likely have to cut out 2 APs because i’m truly bad at calc, I rather enjoy my senior year with a decent challenge. Thanks @nugraddad@SternBusiness
Does anyone have anything to say about Art History?
Art history is generally perceived as one of the more challenging and work intensive AP elective type classes. It is probably comparable to AP Euro. All I know is that at my school, the kids in Euro complain about how much work they have and how hard the class is. Basically, unless you are very interested in Art history, I would not take the class.
OP WANTS to major in environmental science so I don’t follow the flow of the tide, saying to forget AP Environmental Science because it is considered a light, easy AP. Obviously, OP, it’s your passion to study environmental science so I wouldn’t compromise that just because colleges might look down on it. Passion over prestige any day of the week!
Your courseload currently looks good. I’m not sure about the difficulties behind APES, Stats, or Art History but I don’t know how fun AP Stats would be. It doesn’t look entirely bad if you don’t take AP Calc if you’re not good at that kind of math; however, you are going into a relatively science-related field (not to mention the policy/business minor you’re contemplating) and calculus will be needed.
Never taken two math classes however, depending on the types of math you’re taking, it shouldn’t be too bad. You could do AP Stats and Honors Calculus if possible so you can at least have that background so you’re not going into college calculus cold.
The last question about you taking too many AP’s is very subjective. It seems like you’re doing good in your current AP’s so it SEEMS like you won’t have a problem going into senior year but that’s one of those variables where you don’t really know. As long as you are confident in what you can handle and diligent in studying, you’ll be fine.
AP is over-rated. There are still many kids who take the regular. Art history should be easy. I’d never advise 2 math classes in general unless you are left-brained.