<p>Hi, I just finalized my junior year schedule, and I'm wondering if you guys could tell me what you think. I'm trying to go to MIT, CalTech, etc. So please tell me if my schedule is too easy for those schools (especially in the sciences).</p>
<p>AP chem
AP physics I (May change to II)
AP art history
AP English iii
AP us history
PreAP French III
PreAP PreCalculus (Probably changing to Calculus BC since I'm in a precalc class 4 days every week over the summer)
Computer Science I</p>
<p>So that's it. Please let me know if you guys think it's too easy, I was originally in AP bio as well, but I don't plan on majoring in bio anyways and I can take it senior year or just test out, I know computer science I is regular but I really want to take it.</p>
<p>It’s fine for the most part. If you want to apply to MIT or CalTech, I presume you want to go into a STEM major. In that case, why do you need AP Art History or APUSH in your schedule? 5 (possibly 6) APs is extremely difficult to handle for 95% of high school students. Even if the classes are considered easy, the exams aren’t (Calc can be difficult, and I’ve heard APUSH is very memory intensive). See if you can find a good alternative to either of these courses if you enjoy/need them.</p>
<p>Even though Comp Sci is regular, I’d leave it there. It seems indicative of your future plans, so it can’t hurt. </p>
<p>The schedule is solid and, although you could improve it, this is not what I would focus on. For your junior year, a large focus should probably be put on community service record, EC’s, and (for STEM) maybe looking at some science fairs and/or research. </p>
<p>@julianstanley What should I improve on? I am also focusing on my record (trying to get into some lab internships, working in a hospital, and tutoring kids in math and science, possibly setting up my own science camp). </p>
<p>@violet1996 APUSH is required by my school, and ap art history is what I replaced bio with since I don’t think I handle 3 sciences at once (and it shows diversity to the college I think). It also brings up my GPA quite a bit. I’m not to worried about APUSH since I took AP word this year and I ended up with a high a (97) and I barely had to work/study.</p>
<p>What you can improve on, like anything, depends on your personality.</p>
<p>If it were my schedule, I would first do everything I could to move from PreCal to CalAB.
Calculus is one of those courses that I would not recommend skipping over in college (because it is fundamentally so important) and PreCal (unless you didn’t get a good grasp of trigonometry in algebra II) is mainly just getting a stronger grasp of algebra concepts and learning the basic idea of limits (albeit it differs from school to school). Since I would be retaking it in college anyways, I would be okay struggling with it a bit in highschool.</p>
<p>I would also make sure that I have somewhere in my schedule to relax. I changed my junior schedule from 6 AP’s to 5 so that I could fit in Band. Your computer science course may be a good replacement, but I am not sure how serious of a class it is at your school. Although I have a bias, I am a huge advocate of any music class. </p>
<p>Also, depending on how proficient you are in sciences, Physics II and Chemistry together may be iffy, so I would keep that at Physics I. (I did Biology and Chemistry II together and, even though the fields overlap in many aspects, it was still somewhat challenging). </p>
<p>But, in the long run, I would expect universities to not look too deeply into your courses. I would not expect the difference between a great and exceptional schedule to be a major factor in college opportunities. I would, however, see the quality of EC’s as a deciding factor, since that (along with the arguably more important essays) shows universities your personality and experience with real-world applications of your studies, so I definitely commend your efforts trying to improve your record. </p>
<p>@julianstanley Oh believe me, I am working the whole summer to test into Calc BC, and skip PreCalc, it’s goal number 1. I’m only leaving off 3 days so I can go to SAT prep class (I got a 197 on the PSAT so I really need the help). I really don’t want to take any music classes seeing as I played piano for 10 years (frequent competitions and such), and I recently quit because I really got tired of it. Physics and chemistry are my best subjects (I was doing physics I stuff in 7th grade). Computer science is supposedly pretty easy and fun, so I consider that and art history my break. </p>
<p>Number one recommendation is to get off this website before you go psychotic. While I understand these posts help people feel better about themselves, they mean absolutely nothing. College Admissions is such a holistic process that participating in these discussions is pointless, especially since, from what I can see, you are a very intelligent person who can do better things with your life.</p>
<p>@Simr2015 I agree, though a bit of info helps</p>