Hi there! Choosing high school classes has been very confusing for me. Let me tell you about my problem. As you know, students have 4 core classes. But will I be able to add on to those classes? For example, I am taking AP European History this year. Would I be able to add an AP Economics class to that? And I am also taking AP Chemistry. Would I also be able to take AP Environmental Science. I hope this makes sense. Thanks!
Much of the answer will be specific to your high school.
But a typical US high school student will take more than 4 year-long courses (commonly 6 or 7) each year.
I’ll assume your 4 cores are English, Social Studies, Math, and Science. I’m not sure how many classes you have per year but the typical school will have 6, maybe 7 if you have Period 0 options. Most schools will have 4 years English, 3-4 years Social Studies and typically for top STEM students you’ll want 4-5 Math courses and 4-6 courses in Science. Then you’ll have/want 3 years of a language, maybe a couple of years of PE and a couple of years of arts/music. So if you add up the numbers, almost all of your classes are more or less chosen for you even if you do have electives within those groups. Whatever left over that is truly free, you can fill in with electives that will benefit you.
Let’s take Science for example. If you go to one of those schools that doesn’t have prereqs for AP classes (consider yourself lucky) then you might be able to take AP Bio/Chem/Physics/Env. But more typical is where you might take Bio, then Chem, then AP Chem and Physics, then AP Physics C and AP Bio. Just a couple of examples.
Talk to you guidance counselor. It’s individual school by school. My daughter’s HS had 7 class periods/day. Most courses were year long. There were pre-reqs needed to get into the honors/AP courses. Some courses were mandated by the school. It will also vary by state because they each have their own graduation requirements. Don’t stress, your school will help you figure it out!
One other point that has yet to be mentioned: depending upon the school, upper-level electives may be limited to one or 2 sections and the possibility of 2 classes you want being offered in the same period is a real one.
But as others have mentioned, the school will help you figure it all out.
Also look at the website of your school and see if they have a curriculum guide or student handbook.
It depends on what is offered at your school, what year you are in, what pre-reqs you have and your grades.
So if you are a sophomore then i would not add Econ to AP EH. But if you are a senior and are very into the humanities, then go ahead. If you are struggling with your core classes, then no, but if you are doing very well then sure.