<p>Err.......I'm currently going into 8th grade and I currently found out the way I could max out the number of AP classes(13 out of 15 possible) and Honors. How tough would this courseload be? How can I make it easier without making it look worse to top colleges? I know this is planning ahead, but I'd like to know now how tough the schedule needs to be(it might affect whether I'd take summer school too before 9th)
So I already took Algebra 1 and the first half of Algebra 1 in the middle school. In 8th grade I'm taking Geometry and the second half of Spanish I(most people do this route except I'm the only one doing geo in 8th)</p>
<p>Before 9th(summer school): Gym, Ancient World History &Civilizations, Modern World History and Civilizations
9th Grade:
Honors English 9
Honors Algebra 2
Spanish 2
Honors Biology
Honors Physics I
Honors Chemistry I
Before 10th: Speech, Health
10th grade:
Honors English 10
Spanish 3
AP Chemistry
Honors PreCalculus
AP Art History(required fine arts credits)
Accounting I
11th grade:
AP Statistics
AP Calculus BC
AP US History
Honors Spanish 4
AP Physics C
Honors English 11
12th grade:
AP Composition/AP English Literature
AP Economics/AP US Government
AP Spanish 5
AP Biology
AP Psychology
Honors We The People/Honors Microbiology
Yeah AP Composition, English Lit, Econ, and Government are all a semester at our school. I'd like to know how hard and demanding this schedule would most likely be....</p>
<p>I would say that some of the biggest challenges to achieving good grades in all of these classes are going to be the amount of extracurricular activities that you are involved in and your motivation/organization. If you are already an organized student, great. If not, make sure to organize - study for about fifteen or twenty minutes each night a week before a test, make study guides, take good notes, etc. Those all help. Resist the urge to blow things off! </p>
<p>Also, about the extracurricular activities. If you are heavily involved in some kind of sport or music group or anything similar, you might struggle trying to keep everything balanced. During my sophomore year of high school, not only was I taking some challenging classes, but I was also trying to juggle running cross country, track, and doing show choir - things that took alot of time after school. Do not feel discouraged from doing extracurricular activities, because colleges love to see them on applications, but if you don’t think that you can fit a sport/other activity into your schedule without hurting your grades, then don’t do it.</p>
<p>Otherwise, if you are a bright student, which you seem to be, then you will do okay. My junior year schedule was AP English Language/Composition, AP Art History, AP United States History, Pre-Calculus, German III Honors, Journalism/Speech, and AP Chemistry. Even though it might sound like alot, I was able to get through by balancing my time and figuring out my priorities. That’s all you have to do - balance out your studying and EC and you will be okay. Good luck in high school!</p>
<p>I get straight A’s in middle school, which I consider “Grade Inflation Capital”…many people disagree though, and most people get around 3.0 unweighted as their GPA. I got a B+ in Art and an A- in gym but an A in everything else…I usually get an A in gym, it’s just that teacher was universally recognized as mean, and I stink at art, hence why I’m taking Art History to satisfy those silly fine arts requirement.</p>
<p>As for EC’s: Our science olympiad team will probably make nats when I’m in 9th grade so I’m definitely doing that, probably for all 4 years, but there are a lot of opportunities to get homework done after school with that. All practices are optional. We made nats this year and it was so fun! No parents or school for a week in a college dorm room!
-I’m probably going to do DECA because our team makes Internationals most of the time. I’ll probably do it 10th/11th grade, not all 4 years
-I might do Project Environmental Science as a 0 hour class…but I’m not sure yet.
-The only sport I’ll play is cross country.
-I’m definitely doing debate, which I really like, especially political issues. Our team is good and my sister made nationals when she was in 11th grade(she got into harvard(didn’t go because of awesome scholarship to state u) so I have big shoes to fill)
-JETS-Eh just a written test with physics…not much time involved</p>
<p>I’ll be taking the AMC Competitions. My goal is to qualify for USAJMO by 9th or 10th grade and USAMO by 11th. If I could make MOP that would be awesome.</p>
<p>I would suggest you that “Don’t put a lots pf depression into yourself.” Because you’ll never know how nice teachers are, but make sure that you can be comfortable if you want to do it. This is planning which is look really good to see, but when it come to you, it may change your idea ,flipping your brain downward. So I recommend that try something you like and be confident. And I suggest that being DECA in 11th and 12th grade is actually a better. Because most of 10th graders will not be able to compete in the DECA high school competition. But 11th and 12th do, and look better on application that they can ensure you’re really competitive and challenged. So good luck for your future.</p>
<p>Its great that you are planning out your courses now, but be open to change. I did the same thing and ended up with a complete different schedule because I changed interests. Right now the most important thing is to be ready to transition into high school and to enjoy what interests you. Realize that high school is very different. Remember that it is much better to take challenging courses that fit your goals and interests than to try to load up. Colleges like quality over quantity.</p>
<p>Hope this helps, seems like you’re off to a good start. Good luck!</p>
<p>Worth repeating. While it’s smart to have a general plan, realize that your interests will continue to evolve over your four years of high school–that you may take courses because there’s a good teacher, or because it relates to an EC, or because your boyfriend wants you to take it (and it interests you, of course). </p>
<p>Remember too that you are evaluated in the context of your environment, so if maxing out APs isn’t a traditional route, you won’t need to take every one possible to get into top schools. You’ll need to succeed in the ones you do take and make an impact on teachers who can write good recs.</p>
<p>That schedule looks fine, but maintain some flexibility. You should be prepared to take advantage of opportunities that arise, even if it means varying from your detailed, four-year class schedule. You may fall in love with an EC. If you do, jump in with both feet.</p>
<p>Yeah I think I’m going to replace Accounting I with gym and Honors MicroBio with Health to minimize summer school. I doubt colleges would look down on that.</p>
<p>good planning. but if you’re going to take a vast amount of AP classes, try to get a 3+ on the exams… also, why wait until junior year to take honors spanish? I took Honors Spanish II as a freshman. not too hard.</p>
<p>^Maybe OP’s school doesn’t have honors spanish until spanish 4</p>
<p>Wow! Haha that is an intense course load! I had about the same 9th and 10th grade schedule only junior and senior year im doing IB so it’s a little different. Idk the difficulty of your classes but in my school honors classes were actually reaalllly easy (to me) so I never felt as if I was straining myself. It all depends on your teachers and the rigor of the classes plus your academic ability to determine if you’ll have any trouble or not.</p>
<p>Also don’t forget to take other fun classes you may like I’m going to be a senior and that’s what I regretted most - I only took the core academic classes and rarely took other interesting electives I may have liked (although to me, math and science were like electives because I enjoyed them,lol :D).</p>
<p>Yeah honors is only for spanish 4, AP for spanish 5.</p>
<p>I’m kind of annoyed we only get 6 periods while other high schools have 7,8, or 9. I really would like to take some extra classes. I think I might take all the possible summer school courses to free up the schedule.</p>
<p>Three honors-level science classes as a 9th grader?</p>
<p>One issue that always comes up is that you may have schedule conflicts, where two or more of the classes you need are offered at the same time.</p>
<p>Are you staying at the same school for 9-12 as your 8th grade school? You may find it helpful to review your thoughts with both the 9th grade advisor and a college counselor.</p>
<p>You’ve done well to review the classes that will be available to you when you enter high school.</p>
<p>If you are in a position to base your course decisions without external control or guidelines/rules, I encourage you to also review what selective colleges would like for you to achieve in high school. Some colleges are more explicit than others about what they consider a strong core curriculum. Generally they don’t encourage a large number of “electives” if they compromise the core curriculum (english, history, lab-based-sciece, math and foreign language).</p>
<p>I think that once you do that (examine what makes up a core curicullum) you’ll realise that you’re over-planning. Slow down and focus on 8th grade, and then on 9th.</p>
