Help me decide what I should take?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hi. This is going to be a very long description.
Background info:
Im an incoming sophomore, I take rather rigorous classes, I plan on majoring in the Computer Science field, my current GPA is 4.2 and here is my schedule for my sophomore year:
Eng Hon II
Alg II/ Trig
World History
Sport
Chemistry
Spanish III
During the fall semester of my sophomore year, I am planning on taking Introduction to Java and Intro to Python.
JUNIOR YEAR:
AP Literature
AP Environmental Science
AP US History
Spanish IV
AP Stats
AP Computer Science Principles
During the summer I will be taking Int to calc at a lcoal college.
SENIOR YEAR:
Ap Eng
AP Calculus BC
Virtual Enterprise II
AP Psychology
AP Government
AP Comp Science
Here are all of my problems. I’m honestly very indecisive.

  1. I want to advance in math faster than my peers, no just because of competition, but because it is something I am strong in and that my major is surrounded by. I was thinking of taking precalculus at a local college during my spring or summer semester. That way, I would be able to take AP stats and AP Comp Sci Principles as a Junior and AP Calc B/C.
  2. Should I take 5 AP’s during my junior year? Since I will be taking my SAT and ACT’s this year, is it really reasonable to take these? I know I am capable of taking them, but I will crack under pressure. Also, keep in mind, that i may take classes at my local college as well and participate in 5 clubs/extracurriculars. I’ve heard from upperclassmen that Env Sci is relatively easy compared to other classes.
  3. Classes at the local college do not affect my high school gpa and do not go towards my graduation credit. However, they do trasfer to UC’s, and I would like to get as many credits done as possible, but are they really worth it?
  4. Should I take 4 years of science? I really wanted to take AP Psychology, but it counts as a social study. Should I do only 3 years of Science?
    I know that, during high school, even if you want to accelerate in your subjects, enjoying this time is crucial. This is on of the reasons why I’m not sure about what to do. I know that I should take “what i can handle” but …???
    He is some more information about my school and how it works.

    -We were ranked the most populated high school of the west coast in 2012. we still have over 4000 students enrolled. This school was meant to be suitable for only 2500.
    -Our school also has an eyeballing amount of students taking AP classes, so many that some people are kicked out of AP without a valid reason.
    ALTERNATIVE CLASSES FOR JUNIOR YEAR:
    -normal eng instead of ap
    -physics instead of ap env sci
    -waiting until senior year to take spanish(maybe, since sophmore year an djunior year are more important gpa wise)
    -not taking precalc my sophomore year and taking it junior year, which leads to calc senior year.
    ALT CLASSES FOR SENIOR YEAR:
    -norm eng instead of ap
    -taking something other than virtual enterprise
    -not taking psychology and taking a science instead.
    -not taking gov
    I apologize for all the missed spellings and if I stated questions weirdly. I have been stressing all day and it is currently 4 AM and I am starting to feel a bit loopy.
    Anything helps! Please just give any advice, experience, or tips!
2

I would suggest you make room for AP chem and AP physics C junior and senior year. You don’t need AP environmental or psych.

4-5 AP classes is doable.

Finally, your jumping ahead of yourself. Get through this year first and enjoy high school!

3

-Ap stats is an elective. Take precalculus honors junior year.

  • Take Spanish 4 junior year
  • take physics (honors?) Junior year
  • shouldn’t you take AP English language junior year and AP lit senior year (I’d replace the latter sithvhones English)
  • tie a maximum of 4 APs per year.
4

I agree with @MYOS1634 AP Statistics is an elective math class, weak for the AP set of classes and I would skip it, as most colleges will not accept it for college credits and because its a very basic class that will hardly help you pass college probability and stats classes. Take it as a senior elective if you have time.

Its nice to explore the sciences while you are in high school, so try to take biology, chemistry and physics.
One reason is that computer science overlaps the sciences if you do computational work later. Physics in particular will be helpful to learn to apply math to physical problems.

Take AP Chemistry , AP Biology and/or AP Physics and any physics offered, up to and including AP Physics C. If you need to take physics honors first, take that.
Do you have AP Chemistry offered? Take that as well. You can then place out of lab sciences at universities like GaTech or Case Western, with these AP credits if you do well on the exams. As a computer science major, you may
prefer to place out of lab science requirements. AP Biology may also count, so find a LAB Science and take
that over Environment Sciences, which is a much easier class, that does not really teach you chemistry or biology like you will get in AP Chemistry or AP biology.

Did you take biology as a 9th grader?
AP Biology may be more important than AP Stats because its a rigorous lab class
and you could later study bioinformatics, which is the computer application to various biological systems.
Bioinformatics is a huge area of computer science today, so taking AP biology in high school may be helpful

AP Psychology is good, and many computer science B.S degrees require it, such as GaTech, so keep that in if you have room for it, and you may place out of the basic college psychology class.

On Math-

Take Trig/precalculus as a 10th grader if you have a class like that, do you have that type of class? (you say Algebra 2/Trig ) , BC Calculus as an 11th grader then Calculus 3 at a community college in 12th grade is best. If you don’t have access to community college Calculus 3, then maybe delay and take BC Calculus
in 12th grade so you remember it better for your freshman year of college.

You may need to repeat Calculus 3, as community college is often much easier than Calculus 3 at a four year college , in most cases, unless you have access to a very good college close by. But getting the basics of multivariable calculus in high school will help you in any rigorous CS program that will require you to pass Calculus 1, 2 and 3.
Can you find a linear algebra class at a local college? Take that class too, perhaps over the summer.

You have the right computer science classes, but those are not as important as biology, chemistry and physics
for you to master scientific principals before you get to college. Keep AP Computer science as it will affirm your interests. If you have to take the prerequisite class, then keep that as well.

5

take Pre cal junior year, or take AB junior year. You will be screwed if you go straight to BC with no pre cal. Even taking AB would be pushing it