<p>Hello everyone, I hope this is the right section. I am currently a sophomore in high school and am planning in doing something with my life that involves math. I can't decide for the life of me what classes to take. My school doesn't have AP Physics B or C and things like that that I have seen on these forums, it has: Physics, AP Physics I, and AP Physics II. I have not taken regular Physics, but since I am planning on taking AP Physics II my senior year I am definitely taking it next year (my junior year). Another AP I am taking for sure is AP English. The other AP's I can't decide from are AP US and AP Chemistry. Here is what I am asking you guys, preferably to the people that took these classes, is it crazy to take all 4? If I choose one, I feel like I can't take the other, but that's just going from what my friends have told me, and the horror stories i've heard. The only reason I am pondering including AP Chemistry is because I want to be an engineer and not sure what specific kind. Is AP Chemistry a must for future engineers? And the reason I am not sure about choosing AP Chemistry over AP US is because I am already taking AP Euro, and not that it's an easy class, but I've heard it's easier than AP Euro so it's kind of a for sure A. Also, if I don't take AP US then I will have to take regular history, which I feel is a waste of time, and then again AP US and AP Chem with my other two might be crazy. If it wasn't clear, my questions to you guys are is it crazy to take AP Chemistry, Physics, English, and US, is AP chemistry a must for future engineers, and from personal experience, would you drop AP Chemistry or AP US?</p>
<p>Those are all pretty much core APs for STEM majors. Every engineer, regardless of which branch, will take at least one Chemistry class in college. All engineers also take at least two, sometime three physics classes, calculus based, and EEs take modern physics (introductory quantum mechanics and relativity) - or at least they did when I got my degree. Few engineers are required to take biology, but some specialties will. Engineers will also take liberal arts courses like English and history, so you might as well get used to those right now. Plus four semesters of math.</p>
<p>In short, plan on taking at least 3 APs both junior and senior year, possibly four if you think you can handle it. (More is not really necessary.) You’ll need a mix of English, Social Studies, Science, and Math APs to be competitive for the top schools. And you’ll need to do well in all of them, mostly As, a few Bs, no Cs.</p>
<p>FYI, AP physics 1 and AP physics 2 are two new classes replacing the single AP physics B class, whose test will be offered for the last time this spring. I believe Physics 1 and 2 are meant to be taken as a sequence with no prior physics class. You should be aware that 1 and 2 are non-calculus-based physics, meaning that you won’t get any credit for them for engineering. AP chem may be more useful from a credit point of view. </p>
<p>Wow, did not know this. Thanks guys.</p>
<p>MrMom62- You say I will need a mix of English, Social Studies, Science, and Math APs. I am not planning on taking 4 AP classes so which AP class would be better, AP Chemistry or AP US because my other two will be Physics and English? </p>
<p>Not really a fan of you dropping either one, but if I had to choose, then I’d say take AP US, not because it’s more useful, but because it will demonstrate high level work in another area, social studies, as opposed to just adding another science.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I exactly understand your schedule, but this seems like an extremely weak HS curriculum.</p>
<p>Do your current grades/academic performance support this difficult and time consuming of a schedule?</p>
<p>4 APs is a lot for most students to handle and you don’t want to blow your GPA next year.</p>
<p>APs are different at different schools in terms of HW and difficulty. At mine, for example, English is very easy and Chem is very hard (bad lazy teacher, doesn’t use textbook, etc). If I were you, as a general rule, I would hold off on Chem until senior year. </p>
<p>AP US should not be very hard.</p>
<p>Take all of them in my opinion</p>
<p>APUSH at my school is one of the hardest classes</p>
<p>At our kids HS, ap us was very tough. S ended up being the only male in his class. Each school and class is different. </p>
<p>Ask teachers and classmates: how much homework do you have for each, which are very hard?
Is there a “honors” version for US History?
If you’re doing well, you’d be expected to have all 4 AP’s plus as many advanced math classes as possible (if you can take Calculus in high school, do; if you live near a community college or a local college and your high school has dual enrollment, try to take the most advanced math classes there. You could also take intro Physics at a nearby college.)</p>