Summer before senior year: Calculus 1 at community college
Senior year:
-Spanish lV
-AP calc BC
-AP Computer Science A
-AP Physics
-AP Chemistry
STEM Research & Mentorship
-AP English or DE English*
-DE Economics
*DE stands for dual enrollment with the community college, I don’t think I’ll have enough “space” to take these classes as AP.
Would my senior year schedule be way too rigorous?? I think if I took history at the CC over the summer it would help to lighten the load. Or I could just stick with calc AB and not try for BC. Or, I could just take history/English both DE senior year and have one semester each. CC, please help LOL!
@equationlover I suggest taking only as many AP classes as you can handle because truth be told, it looks a lot better to have all A’s with only 2 AP classes than having average grades with all AP classes. Also IB classes are much more rigorous than AP classes while AP classes just give you more homework. If you’re planning on going to college in another country though, take IB. To colleges in the US, IB and AP are pretty much the same. Also, consider enrolling in a magnet program if your school has that option. Make sure it cradles your passions and hobbies. I hope that helps.
Junior year I’d remove one of the science classes (probably Earth science).
Se’ior year : looks like potential overload - Which AP physics would it be, 1 or C?
“Average” is a subjective term. To me that would mean an B. I’m probably going to take AP computer science along with honors precalculus next year instead of earth and space science. That way, I would only be taking 4 APs senior year (5 college classes total with DE) and wouldn’t be overloading myself. @LucyM
I’d suggest doing DE English and History over the summers as it will save you a lot of time. Earth & Space science would probably be very boring in High School. Our community college offers astronomy and there are other ways to show your love for the heavens.
@MYOS1634 Physics C, which is why I’m thinking of taking APCS next year instead of senior year so I don’t overload myself. I found out I’ll have one extra period to take a class next year, so that’s a possibility. (As long as I’ll be able to drive/carpool with someone every day.)
I think my school offers AP Physics 1-2 next year (new class) but I’m not sure I’ll be able to take it because I don’t know what math you have to be in to take it. My STEM consoler isn’t aware of it (go figure, that’s what happens when you take classes at two separate buildings)… And it’s also brand new, so they might only offer it for one period/day. But I feel like AP physics 1-2 would prepare me a lot more than regular physics for AP physics C.
What about AP English? Would DE or AP seem better? DE would give me more of a break in my schedule, but I also know I could handle AP throughout the year next year. Senior year does seem like an overload, but switching APCS to next year will help that. I just don’t want to switch from DE junior year to AP senior year. Consistency is key to me. (:
@PulseStar But then what English and history would I take during the school year? I know that way I would still be getting my credits done, but my schedule would look really heavy on STEM except for Spanish.
If you feel confident in a subject remember that you can always take the AP test without the class. DE English and History would help in giving you more time, especially if you can take them online.
Physics 1&2 are algebra based.
Physics C is calculus based. Our school allowed people who were concurrently in Calc or PreCalc.
Ok, I just talked my STEM consoler today. (He’s not my main consoler, and he doesn’t have a lot of experience with high school classes and college admissions…) He told me that taking two AP classes would be hard with the other two honors classes I’m taking (I decided on physics 1 & CS A.) I still would have to sit on on a “regular” English class, even though I would be taking DE English (just because of the way our STEM program is set up, I still have to take the class to learn certain stuff.)
He also recommended that I take DE Art History and DE U.S. Government or something along those lines in the summer to help knock out my history and art credits. He also suggested I only take 1 DE class during the school year (which would be English for me).
So here’s my schedule (ATM):
Advanced Engineering (STEM)
Spanish lll
Honors Precalculus
Honors Chemistry
AP Computer Science
AP Physics 1
DE English (2nd semester)
engineering based regular English (STEM), but I don't think it will show up on my transcript for an actual grade because of the way I'm doing things.
~My school has a lot of APs (around 18 I think). If I do what I think I’ll do, I’ll have around 5-6 done by the end of high school. And I hope college admissions officers understand that DE was my way of getting my “college level” classes in because of scheduling issues. My school is extremely competitive…