I’m a sophomore right now at a competitive high school (one of the top 100 in the nation) and I think I put myself in a sort of bad situation. I didn’t really do too well during freshmen year (3.286 gpa) and I made some incredibly stupid mistakes that I wish I hadn’t made, but I improved this year and managed to get a 4.0 gpa (putting me at a 3.5 gpa total), though all of my classes this year are regular. I’m also volunteering more, taking several SAT prep classes, and am part of the cross country & track and field teams for both semesters.
Course enrollment was a few days ago and I realized that with cross country & track that I might not be able to handle the workload so I decided to stick with AP Biology, French 4 Honors, and Pre-calculus Honors while my other three periods are all regular. The problem is that I feel like colleges won’t think I’m challenging myself enough, especially since I’m at such a competitive school and many people I know are taking at least 2-3 APs and many more honors. My other ‘regular’ classes next year, if you’re wondering, will be Java and American Studies (which is a combined literature & history class that is two periods long).
For senior year, I’m planning to take many more AP courses such as AP Computer Science, AP Calculus BC, and AP French but I have to take these classes in junior year first to get there. But my question is, did I screw myself over, or am I in an ok situation? Will colleges look at me poorly at all considering my school type because I may not be challenging myself enough, and will the sports cancel this out? And lastly, do you think applying to colleges like UCs may be possible or should I not even bother, assuming I get all As next year? I’m planning to major in a biology/computer science kind of thing, if that helps at all. Thanks a lot!