<p>As to the progression of history courses at my school, it’s just:
10th grade: World History (the other schools in our district either give you the option of taking AP Euro or Honors World, but my school doesn’t)
11th grade: US History or APUSH (except our APUSH course is really difficult and not many people actually take it; it’s famed for making people hate history)
12th grade: Gov/Econ or AP US Gov/AP Macro</p>
<p>We have AP World, but it’s an elective. Somehow, I doubt many people actually take it; my school is far too STEM-focused, and once people cash in their 3 AP sciences, they generally want to take less strenuous courses.</p>
<p>A bunch of juniors told me that not even the smartest people take the schedule I have planned out for Junior year (namely the combination of math/science courses); but I really want to take all the courses. Any advice?</p>
<p>Junior Year:
Honors English 11
US History
AP Physics 1
AP Chemistry
Journalism (school newspaper)
AP Calculus B/C
Colorguard (first semester optional seventh period)</p>
<p>The thing is, I want to take AP Physics C, and because of that, I have to take AP Physics 1 junior year. AP Chem and AP Physics C are probably some of the hardest courses at our school (or at least definitely in the top 5, along with APUSH and APES), but AP Physics 1 is also really hard (I think it might be in the top 5 simply because of the teacher). </p>
<p>@topaz1116 I don’t mean to come off as pretentious or rude, but given that I don’t know much about your school and environment, I wouldn’t consider that schedule very difficult. I’m taking the three STEM courses you have lined up for your junior year this year and I don’t consider them to be a significant challenge. Of course, if you go to a school known for its rigor, the story might be different, but here at my sub-par HS, that’s not too difficult to pull off.</p>
<p>@topaz1116 To be honest, I think it is doable. At least for me. I depends, are you good at STEM subjects? and journalism should be a “down” class, so you can sneak some studying in.</p>
<p>Okay, journalism may or may not be a “down” class. Many school newspapers suck, but if they’re quality, Newspaper usually requires a lot of time and dedication. There are many deadlines and the various responsibilities (interviews, articles, photography, ad selling, design, etc) do not give you too much time to study during class. Newspaper is by far my favorite class because I love the other staff members and there are a lot of cool perks like getting to go to Chickfila on ad sale days, but I wouldn’t say it’s a “down” class at my school. We have a lot of freedom, but it’s work. It varies at each school though.</p>
<p>@MissSuzyQ Journalism at my school is considered a “down” class (an easy ‘A’ if you may). If you take Newspaper Production however, you have the responsibilities that you spoke of. It depends on the school. I was basing the answer off what my school does though.
I sneak in studying for Physics for example in English and studying for Spanish during Pre-Calculus. And we can go to the library and study during lunch. </p>
<p>AP physics at my school is horrid. I think it’s mostly because of the teacher though. She knows the subject very well but she can’t speak english well and she’s used to university level I think. I’m relying on the textbook for the first test. </p>
<p>How much work does your school give in AP Bio?? @DigitalKing // Everyone else</p>
<p>I was going to take it but decided to take honors, and I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER. Those kids are going through hell, none of them take more than 5 classes, because AP Bio gives at least 1.5 hours a night, if you want an A it’ll be more like 2. They have gone through 3 chapters in their book already, (it’s been a month a school) at least 70% of their class got Ds/Fs on their first test, and these are the smart 10%!! At least 70% of them currently have Cs. </p>
<p>Is it like this at every school?</p>
<p>I’m SO happy I chose to avoid it! I really dodged a bullet, even though my honors bio class gets 1 hour+ of hw everynight, and 80% of the class got Cs on the first test. It’s MUCH better than the hell that is AP Bio.</p>
<p>Our STEM courses are known for their rigor; indeed, my school as a general thing is known for its rigor in our area (my friend went to a symphony camp for her youth symphony, and when the girls in her cabin found out she went to my school, they thought she must be a genius xD). I’m pretty good at STEM courses, but so is around 30% of the student population at my school. </p>
<p>A known Junior year schedule (this girl was also Class VP, which is why she had to take Leadership; she had a lot of work):
Honors English 11
Honors Precalculus
AP Bio
AP Chem
Leadership
US History</p>
<p>Our school has good teachers, but the courses tend to be very difficult (only 2-3 people get As per class), which is what has me worried. And our school newspaper isn’t a throwaway; it’s very hard to get into (although apparently rising juniors have it easier). The throwaway classes at our school are like, Anatomy or Ethnic Studies.</p>
<p>@Spiral7 At my school, AP Bio is definitely considered the easiest of the AP sciences, but it’s still difficult. I took Honors Bio freshman year (Bio is a freshman year req, whether you take Honors or Nonhonors), and I got the easy teacher; but I didn’t learn anything, either (which is coming back to bite me as I study for the SAT Bio).</p>
<p>By the way, Colorguard is Tuesdays and Thursdays for three hours after school, and some Fridays for 1 1/2 hours after school. It tends to eat up quite a bit of time, as it’s 6:30 by the time we get home (and we have no chances to do our homework in between). </p>
<p>@Spiral7 my school is exactly like that. I took honors bio last year and got a consistent 96% in the class all quarters so I naturally thought I would do well in AP bio. My siblings warned me that you could get 100% in honors bio and still struggle in AP</p>
<p>Are you guys taking the PSAT next month? Because I know it will change next year so I’m not sure how much use it’ll be taking this one. And if you are, are you studying hardcore?</p>
<p>@puppiesarecute The PSATs are administered every October, only October.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m studying pretty hardcore… only cause I have to.
If you don’t need*** a good score, I wouldn’t study very hard though.</p>
<p>Even though it will be different, its just content. That means we can get used to the way it is and what its like under the time pressure. Its just a good experience in general</p>