I don’t have anyone to ask for advice so I’m turning to college confidential
Question: Should I drop AP United States History or AP Chemistry ?
I’m not sure whether I should drop APUSH or AP Chem. The reason is because these are supposedly two of the hardest classes at my school aside from AP Calc BC. I want to have a good GPA but still want to challenge myself but not to the point where I’m burned out !
Things to note :
*There’s only one AP Chem teacher and their known to be okay not the best but not the worst
- I’m planning on having a STEM career but I’m not really sure if I do well in AP science courses bc I checked my AP Bio score and I got a 2
- I currently have a 3.8 cumulative GPA and I do not want it to drop below that
*Going to be a junior in high school
*Have been working in a lab for the past 2 years and do science fairs as my extracurriculars
- I get busy around AP season
*Need at least 7 hours of sleep TO FUNCTION
Classes I forecasted for during my junior year
*AP Calc AB
*AP United States History
*AP Language and Composition
*AP Chemistry
*Ceramics
*Spanish 3
- What would you replace the dropped class with? That matters. If the replacement is more valuable than chem but equal to APUSH, then drop chem.
- You're a STEM person, so chem seems like the logical one to keep. However, a friend of mine with about a dozen APs started at Princeton last year, and APUSH was THE ONLY AP they gave him credit for. If college costs will be a concern, I'd keep APUSH, purely because you'll get some requirements credits out of the way.
- If you're a diligent student who is willing to do the reading for APUSH, it won't kill you. What will kill you is putting off your reading until April. There are tons of resources for it online, so studying is accessible.
- If your school uses a weighted GPA for AP classes, you should be fine. You'd have to get straight Cs in all your APs for it to drop much.
Why do you want to drop one? There are some kids in my school who had a nearly identical schedule and they did fine.
I was reconsidering my courses because although I consider myself as a STEM person (work in a lab,want a career in STEM,etc.) I got my AP Bio score back today and I got a 2. I want to challenge myself and be a competitive applicant for college but I don’t want to burn myself out. I would replace apush with regular US History but I hear the APUSH teacher is really good but the class is tough. On the other hand, I want to try AP Chem and see if I like it, however, the teacher is known to be okay ( not the best or worst).
What would you replace it with? Taking out either one would leave you without a history or without a science course in your junior year, and that wouldn’t be good. I’ve taken both and personally I recommend APUSH (and I also consider myself a STEM person). Loved that class a lot.
APUSH is easy content wise but is a lot of reading and may not leave you with enough sleep. Unless you want to test out to save money, you probably don’t want to take it. Again, since you’re a stem major, you should take harder science classes in high school to prepare you. Don’t worry so much about AP scores- they rarely matter in admissions anyways. You only need to be concerned with getting high grades in the class and preparing yourself for a rigorous curriculum of science in college.
But you may be able to handle both classes… You could always try it for a week or 2 and switch out later.
-First of all please don’t worry about your GPA. Colleges understand GPAs. It does not help at all to have a 4.3 GPA with the easiest classes (if there is anyone - you do you. but it’s getting competitive).
- and don’t say that your bad in ap science classes. because why would you major in stem field.
-Don’t get frustrated about your bio score. I personally also have gotten a 2 in bio because I can’t do bio. Not everyone has to do great in everything. I got 5s in Calc AB, BC, Physics 1,2,C. And through that I realized that I am more into Engineering. STEM is so big that you have to focus on what you want do to. Just don’t self report the 2 in your application. and you are fine.
-if your major though is engineering, bio, physics etc don’t drop chem. I as a mechanical engineering major havee to take chem. So just because you can get away with it in high school, I wouldn’t do it. So I would take chem, if your major needs it. (google a school and your majors curriculum. Say “UCLA mechanical engineering curriculum” and then you see whether you “have to” take it in college or not. If it is then take it 
-take apush for the reason of skipping a geclass in college. BUT sometimes it is really beneficial to have those “easy classes” still in college. In your junior year of college, you/me/ everyone will be dying. While you have your science class core/ important classes, you have a chill, relaxing history class between 2 important classes where you can “sleep” or study last minute.
— so take ap chem in my opinion and drop maybe apush to regular history. If you can’t deal with 4 AP classes.
ap calc, lang is easy so ap chem would be your only "struggling"class.
(for ap calc. download the practice exams from college board and you’ll be fine)
OR
drop AP Chem.
Take AP Physics
because if you like physics you can continue with it in your senior year with Physics 2, or Physics C.
And if you don’t like physics in your junior year take chem senior year.
this will give you more options in senior year. Hope I could help
Have you taken Honors chemistry? (Level 1 in the chemistry sequence)
What about honors physics or AP physics 1 (both level 1 in the physics sequence)
You need all three from bio, Chem, and physics at any level, and physics is especially important. Senior year you can decide whether you want to take AP physics C or AP chemistry (if your school offers both).
I would either do regular United States History or regular Chemistry. I have to take both classes this year but it’s choosing between AP or regular