^ it’s true that students are not expected to specialize in high school, that’s a good schedule for a future stem major but a future humanities major needs all core classes through senior year and must absolutely take what’s most rigorous in these areas for senior year (ie., it’s not ‘3-4 years social science and foreign language’ but absolutely 4 with as many at AP level as offered), however not all 5 core classes should nor can be at AP level.
The only big question is whether op, who is interested in art and Dems to be doing well in it, should sacrifice AP art to take AP calculus, or stick to AP art. I really think a profile that includes clear interest in arts&humanities will help OP compared to more cookies cutter profiles - just like future engineers aren’t expected to take AP Foreign Language and AP euro, future arts/humanities majors wouldn’t have the same expectations in terms of senior APs as STEM students.
@momofsenior1 I see your point, and I definitely agree that it is still important to take core courses. However, I’m not sure how that applies to me since I would still be taking core classes with this schedule - I’ve already taken physics, I’m taking chem now, I’ll take bio next year, and I’d still be taking either bio or environmental science senior year (so 4 years). Plus, I’d still probably take calc, I’m just questioning whether or not to take it at the AP level (so 4 years there as well).
My question is why do I need to take a science at the AP level? Many of my friends who are planning to go into STEM majors are never going to take AP Lit/Lang or AP Euro, so shouldn’t it work the same way?
I do appreciate your feedback though!
If you weren’t aiming for Brown or equivalent, I would say it wouldn’t matter, but for the uber competitive schools, they are going to expect the highest rigor across the board.
FWIW, my D was a STEM kid but still took AP language, AP Euro, APUSH, etc… in addition to her AP science courses.
@momofsenior1 What courses do you think I should take? Hopefully, I can find a good balance between rigor and personal interest.
My recommendations would be:
Junior year:
honors mandarin 4
honors english
APUSH
accelerated pre-calc
honors bio
AP Studio Art 2D (if you are allowed to take it as a junior)
Senior year:
AP Chinese (if offered)
AP English
AP Calc AB
AP Bio
AP Gov
I would move studio art to your junior year because you have less APs e and then maybe you can have a study hall to off set the heavy AP load as a senior.
I disagree with this. Prioritizing AP Bio or AP calculus over AP euro is a mistake and the most selective colleges are 100% clear that they do not expect APs across the board and that “it’s not who has the most APs, who wins”. In fact they’re trying to reduce the AP race.
I do agree that AP art, if you can take it junior year, would be better for balance.
If you can take calculus honors then it’s a perfect solution (still more abstract than statistics but not as time consuming as AP).
Too many APs senior year is a mistake because 1) you’ll have a hidden, writing intensive extra ‘class equivalent’, ‘writing college essays’ 2) you’ll be going from 2 APs to 4, that’s already a lot. You don’t want to take on more than you can chew. The worst outcome is that one class starts taking time away from the others , or you start getting C’s.
Ask you guidance counselor what constitutes the met rigorous check. My bet is that 2 APs Jr year->4 APs senior year is it.
Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to take AP Art until senior year. Also, although I wish they were a thing, my school doesn’t really give out study halls unless you have an important need (usually a big scheduling conflict or a major mental health crisis).
However, I do really appreciate your help and input!
While it all ends up depending on the student, you’ll notice that with an online AP class, you won’t have that signature discussion-based setting. Class discussions and interactions with your instructor are some of the most important things that contribute to a passing AP score, imo.