AP Statistics
AP Calculus AB
AP European History
AP English Language
IB Spanish HL
AP Music Theory
It would be great if someone could let me know how difficult these courses can be. I’m thinking about possibly taking AP Calc, AP Euro, AP Lang, and AP Stats (if my school doesn’t require us to take AP Music Theory as an honors track arts elective) next year. I may add in IB Spanish depending on the difficulty of the other AP classes mentioned, but most likely I will stick with regular Spanish 3.
Since the difficulty of a class varies a lot depending on the teacher, I would recommend talking to teachers and former students of the class for more accurate advice. I can tell you that in general, a full schedule of AP and IB classes is doable if you have a strong work ethic, but usually at the cost of either most EC’s or a lot of sleep. I would recommend dropping one or two of the AP/IB courses that are the least relevant or interesting to you and investing more time into EC’s you enjoy that can help you stand out.
AP Calc, AP Euro and AP Music Theory would be the hardest courses IMO. I took the AP Lang exam without the course and got a 5 with maybe 3 days of prep. AP Stats is easy at my school. I have no experience with IB courses.
IMO, AP Euro and AP Stats aren’t bad. They’re not necessarily easy, but as long as you do your work, you should be fine. For the other classes, I’ve heard that AP Calc AB can be challenging. It depends. For some, it’s super easy. In my school, I’ve also heard that AP Music Theory is pretty hard because you have to be able to compose music and sing a song by looking at its notes, etc.
@Dax123 is right, it really depends on the teacher. My twin sister and I are both taking AP Lang, but we have different teachers. Her teacher gives lots of multiple choice and grammar tests, while in my class, we mostly read and analyze. Its a lot harder to get a good grade in her class than mine, even though we are at the same school.
hey op, as stated previously, it really depends on the teacher/school cause an AP course can be hard at one school and easy at one school but:
AP Statistics: no idea
AP Calculus AB: at my school it’s a killer and i have friends who take it and havent gotten 90 or above on a test
AP European History: taking it right now, requires a lot of memorization but you can pull it off and the course is interesting (history has always been fun for me)
AP English Language: so there are two teachers teaching it in my school one is great the other sucks (hoping not to get the bad one) but if youre a good writer, it should be a breeze
IB Spanish HL: my school doesnt offer ib
AP Music Theory: heard it’s hard
I can only really answer for AP English Language, but I would agree that AP Calculus AB shouldn’t be under estimated. Similar to what the previous poster said, my school curves the course so the students can pass, and there are students who did well in PreCalc who aren’t doing too well in Calc AB. There are students who do really well though.
My school has four AP Lang teachers because relatively easy compared to i.e. APUSH. AP Lang is indeed overall easier for me–took APUSH last year. Two of the teachers are easy, and the other two are not (my teacher is not easy). Sometimes the teachers collaborate–all classes did a rhetorical modes unit. My teacher has a reputation for being a good teacher, and we do quarterly non-fiction book analyses, practice AP essays, discuss AP passages, and to a lesser extent, study AP relevant vocab and grammar.
I actually don’t think AP Music Theory is hard as long as you’ve been playing music for a few years - hardest part is aural stuff like sightsinging but overall it’s not too bad, especially with a good teacher, even though it covers some of the most material of all AP courses in terms of college semesters. But it’ll be a lot harder if you don’t already play music/know some music theory. I actually accidentally sang the minor passage in a major key on the test and still got a 4 aural, 5 nonaural, and 5 overall lmao.
EDIT: and as far as composing, all you have do to is memorize the rules. You’ll write 4-part harmonies but the chords are pretty basic and again, if you’ve already played music for a few years or if you’ve ever seen a church hymnal you should already get how these work and you should know your chords/scales.
The rest I don’t think are very hard in the material, so it just depends on your teacher/study habits. Calc AB should be easy if you’re a math person but even if you’re not you can still manage I’m sure. I’ve heard Stats is less about math and more about writing, and most of my friends took it sophomore or junior year and did really well. I’m in Lang now and our teacher sucks but I got a 5 on Lit and I’ve heard Lang is easier than Lit so it’ll probably be fine. I don’t know anything about IB.
A class is difficult if you don’t enjoy learning it. I’ve found that is a good rule of thumb in judging whether a class will be difficult. You will not do as well in a class you are less likely to take the initiative to study extra for, since you enjoy it less. Therefore, it all comes down to whether you enjoy the material of the classes.
If you’re asking for my experience at my school, and are asking me to judge the class solely on the general difficulty of the material, I would rank the classes as follows (with the exception of IB Spanish, which I know next to nothing about):
AP Calculus AB - covers a lot of material not even hinted at in pre-calculus. I had a very experienced and effective teacher but still struggled on the AP exam. Unless you have always been good at math, expect the class to be a challenge.
AP Music Theory - I have never taken the class myself, but know that even my peers who have been in music for years find the class difficult, or at least the exam.
AP English Lang - if you're good at writing, expect this class to be easy. Most are not as good as the exam requires, so a good score on the exam typically entails a fair amount of practice and improvement over the course of the school year. I found the class reasonably difficult, but not to the extent that an entirely new concept like calculus was.
AP European History - lot of material covered (essentially 700 years of history). I'd say it is the easiest of the three AP history courses, though that's not to say it's a breeze. Currently taking it, have found it's easier if you've already taken APUSH. Not too difficult.
AP Statistics - this may be misplaced, since I've never actually taken the class. From what I've heard, AP Stats is a lot of concepts that have been touched on in previous math classes. Again, I may be wrong, so take my advice with a grain of salt, that's just what I've heard.
These thoughts are generated from the general consensus at my school (and surrounding schools) as well as my own personal experience.
AP Statistics - I have heard that it is not too difficult. If you have a knack for mathematics, you will excel so long as you keep up with the work.
AP Calculus AB - My school has a very demanding Pre-Calculus program, so Calc AB and BC are both generally regarded as much easier. That being said, they are still difficult classes, particularly if you do not have a proclivity for math (like me).
AP European History - What I have heard on the AP Euro/APUSH difficulty dichotomy varies considerably. Some claim APUSH is impossible while maintaining that AP Euro is easy. At my school, it is the other way around. Personally, I’m in the minority at my school because I regard AP Euro to be slightly easier (only because I think it is more interesting). It’s generally manageable.
AP English Language - I planned to self-study this at the beginning of the year, brought a review book, flipped through it, and realized I knew how to do all of it. If you’re a strong writer, it will be fairly intuitive.
IB Spanish HL - No idea.
AP Music Theory - Depends on your music experience. Most people I know regard it to be the most difficult AP class. On the flipside, I have not lost a single point in that class and we’re halfway through the year (this is not because our school’s class is easy––the average grade is a B). This is because I have been playing and studying music at a high level for nearly 14 years now, so the breadth of my music experience far exceeds that of my peers. If you can comprehend musical concepts at an advanced level, it will be a breeze. If not, it will be extremely cumbersome. Sight-singing particularly takes a while for most people to catch on.
IB Spanish HL would be AP&post-AP level, so you couldn’t take it “instead of Spanish 3”.
Take either AP Calc or AP Stats. Ap Calc is generally harder but if you’re not too good at math AP Stats is an okay substitute (not equivalent to AP Calc, but still more rigorous than other “senior not good at math” classes.)