Is it worth taking 5 APs Senior Year?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I only took 3 APs (Lang, Calc AB, and US History) junior year and 1 AP (Euro) sophomore year. My current weighted gpa is 4.23 (not sure about UC GPA) and my uw gpa is 3.83. I know the uc’s don’t factor in senior year grades, but I feel this need to challenge myself and compensate for the lack of rigor in my courses. The problem is that it’s senior year; there’s college apps and essays to worry about, and senioritis is a big thing. I really am interested in all my courses (maybe not so much AP Bio, but that is yet to be determined), but I’m not sure if it’s worth tackling all these courses senior year. Would it make much of a difference in the eyes of admissions comm if I took these classes?

Besides a few leadership positions in clubs like CSF and Key Club, I am also part of my school’s yearbook committee which is actually a very huge commitment. Our yearbook committee has very high standards, and the members put in lots of times (even working weekends and late nights). I’m not quite sure if 5 APs and this ec would be a good match.

I’m looking at schools such as UCLA, UCSD, and UCI (my least favorable) and I plan on majoring in/going undeclared in the social sciences (Global Studies/International Studies or Economics). I am least looking forward to AP Bio, primarily because I’ve only taken 2 science classes before and never really developed a strong interest in them; I’m more of a history/social science person. So any use in taking AP Bio at all?

Senior Schedule:
AP Lit
AP Calc BC
AP Psychology
AP Civics/Econ
AP Bio
Yearbook

Any suggestions? Thank you.

2

AP Civics isn’t a registered, sanctioned AP course by CB.

3

@basedchem I understand, but it’s sort of a joint course in AP Macroecon at my school for some reason.

4

Well, regardless, UCs do take in course rigor for senior year as an admissions factor. If you are subject to augmented review (~6% are) then they will look at midterm grades.

5

@basedchem I didn’t know that. Thank you! I originally thought it was something that was just glanced over and not really taken into consideration. Would taking AP Bio be worth it when taking into consideration the amount of time I’ll be spending for the other classes and my ec’s?

6

Most schools like to see that you have taken science classes in Chemistry, Physics, and Biology regardless of your intended major. So if you have not yet taken a Biology class I definitely think it is worth doing.