Hi, I’m currently a sophomore but I’m looking into classes for next year. I’m thinking of doing
-APUSH
-AP Lang
-AP Physics
-AP Calculus
Is that too much to handle? I’m in all honors classes right now besides for AP World because that was the only AP class I could take. I’ve maintained straight As through freshman and currently sophomore year. I’m in the top 5% of my class. However, I do know that this new workload will be challenging, and would like some advice on the typical workload and difficulty of the classes, especially AP Physics, because I’ve never been especially keen on science, but Physics intrigues me.
On another note, I would like some feedback on my EC’s. I currently do
-Piano (just won first place in a local Chopin contest, and participate in various local piano events)
-Band (I play the flute, and I’ve gotten 1’s in my district solo and ensemble, going to state)
-Swim (JV swim, I’m planning to do it all four years, though I know I suck at swimming, I do really enjoy it and want to continue it despite my abilities)
-Key Club (I’m running for an officer position this year)
-I teach Korean on Saturdays at a local church
I’m also planning to start mentoring flutes at my middle school and tutor there as well… I’m also planning to volunteer at my local library.
Are you taking AP Physics 1, 2, or both? Are you taking AP Calc AB or BC?
That’s going to be a really difficult schedule especially since three of those are notorious for being hard and time-consuming. It would be difficult for anyone to handle. I’m assuming you want straight As in those classes, and you would have to have an amazing work ethic and be intelligent in order to accomplish that.
At my school, AP Physics infamous for being the hardest course offered at my school, especially since my school combines AP Physics 1 and 2 into a one-year course. AP Calculus AB is somewhat difficult, but AP Calc BC is really hard and a lot of people drop out of both Calc BC and Physics. AP Lang is not difficult, but you’ll definitely have to be decent at writing to do well in that class. I’ve heard that it’s really time-consuming since most of the homework consists of writing.
Your extracurriculars are okay. Perhaps you might want to try competing at the state level for piano or making varsity swim some time during your high school swim career? Also, it’s good that you’re volunteering so much, but make sure that you’re doing it for the right reasons and that it’s not taking away time from academics and such.
Yeah, if I volunteer to mentor flutes or tutor, it’ll be for only less than an hour or so after school. I did it on a whim in 9th grade and I really enjoyed it- it make me happy when I teach a flutist how to get that high note or rhythm right. It’s the same for tutoring- it’s fufilling for me when a student improves or finally understands a concept. The only reason I didn’t do it this year is because I couldn’t get in contact with the band director.
I’ve made it to state solo and ensemble for piano in 8th grade, so I’m fairly sure I can do it again. I’ll try to make varsity swim, but I’m fairly doubtful because I’ve been on the club swim team for 5ish years now and I’ve never really been able to be good at swim (always stuck with the younger swimmers, or swimmers my age that are the same age as me eventually become better than me in a couple months). I don’t think I have a talent for the sport, but I’ll keep at it and it’s a good form of exercise anyways.
Do you think it’s a disadvantage for me to focus so much on music? I do a lot of music EC’s though I don’t have any plans to go into that major. I would want to do EC’s based on my perspective major, but I have no idea what I want to do in life!
I’m going to keep thinking about my class selection for next year- I’ll talk to my counselors and AP teachers when the time comes to register classes.
Some colleges have music scholarships, such as St Olaf, Luther, Concordia Moorhead…