Highschool classes for Engineering Major?

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to be posting this, but it was the closest I could find.</p>

<p>I know for a fact I want to major in some type of engineering (haven't made up my mind yet), but I am not sure what classes to take my Junior year of highschool.
I'm doing 3 sports (Football, Wrestling, Lacrosse), all of them I did for the first time my freshman year, and all JV except for Varsity Wrestling as a Sophomore. Sadly, as I live quite a drive away from my school (District Transfer), and juggling these EC's weren't all that easy for me, and I struggled, and not sure if I should be taking certain classes or not.</p>

<p>So as a Sophomore, I'm taking:
English
Computer Science
Chemistry
French II
World History
Honors Pre-Calculus (weighted class)</p>

<p>I'm only taking one Honors because last year I took all the hardest I could take and struggled with the time for the work, and didn't want to have my grades suffer again this year. I got A's and B's, but a C in Honors Pre-Calculus.</p>

<p>So my real question is: What classes should I be taking next year (Junior)?</p>

<p>Currently I'm looking at:
Regular/Honors/AP English (I don't know if I will need this?)(Honors is also weighted)
AP Computer Science
Physics (I wish I could take AP Physics, but I need regular first.)
French III
US History/AP US History (Not sure if I can handle the workload)
AP Calculus AB/BC (Not sure if I can handle BC over AB, or if it's a lot more important to take BC over AB)</p>

<p>I'm taking 2 AP's at least (APCS and AP Calc AB/BC), but is it bad I won't have AP Physics by Junior year? (I took Biology as a freshman, and didn't double up on a science since I was taking Computer Science) </p>

<p>Will it make any difference to take the missing AP's my Senior year? </p>

<p>And is AP Calc BC an absolutely preferred class over AB that I really need to take? </p>

<p>Should I take AB Junior year and then BC Senior year, or is it a waste?</p>

<p>I heard that English/History AP's aren't important unless you will be majoring in those fields, and I don't want to sign up for them just to find out I can't handle the workload. </p>

<p>On the other hand, I don't want to end up missing out on the extra GPA boost (that I need) and the extra AP's on my transcript. </p>

<p>Only 2 AP's Junior year seems very minimal... but I'm kind of stuck...</p>

<p>Sorry for all the questions, but I need to turn in my schedule requests for next year pretty soon and don't want to be in classes I'm not happy with. Thanks in advance</p>

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<p>I found AP History to be good for me personally. It wasn’t in my field of study, so it got rid of something I wasn’t interested in taking! AP History got rid of 6 hours, or two classes, at my college (Texas A&M). It’s nice because for my degree plan (Structural Engineering) you need to take 18 hours every semester, which is a lot. So by taking AP history I was able to take 15 which is much more manageable (also took dual credit government and economics). </p>

<p>Taking any calculus, AB or BC, will be good. It really doesn’t matter which one. You should not take the credit for it. You will not learn calculus as well in high school as you will in college. Taking it before will be a great intro and a should boost your GPA, as many freshmen find calculus difficult.</p>

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<p>Actually, if you find the AP test an easy 5, you probably should take the advanced placement (as allowed or recommended by your college) for it; retaking it would likely be a waste of time and tuition in that case.</p>

<p>AB is usually accepted for one semester of calculus, while BC is usually accepted for two semesters of calculus.</p>

<p>In any case, the minimum preparation for engineering is precalculus (so that you are ready to take calculus) and high school physics. Taking calculus if you complete precalculus before senior year is highly desirable. For physics, consider AP physics B to be like a better high school physics course; AP physics C may be accepted for credit. High school or AP courses in chemistry and biology are also desirable. Of course, good preparation in English, history and social studies, and other subjects is necessary or desired by many colleges.</p>

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<p>My son is now a senior and took most of the same classes you mention. He took both Calc AB and BC and Physics AB and BC in HS. He also took US Hist AB and found the workload heavy but if you pass the AP exam it can get rid of a Hist. requirement if your college wants one. For English, if you are good at English take honors or AP. Everyone seems to forgot that engineers still need to know how to write and express themselves. You could consider dropping down to reg English if you feel your load is too heavy though.</p>