<p>Been planning Schedules for Junior year.
Currently, I'm sitting on a 4.0 as of Sophomore, and had an A- in Freshman year. (lost my 4.0 "virginity" when I was innocent and didn't know about its importance).
Anyways, here's what I planned out for my junior schedule.
Since I go to a New England prep school that's decently rigorous (most recent average SAT score was over 2000), I'm wondering if it's a good idea or not to stack so many APs at once. The 6-classes is fine, as I've been doing that since Freshman year, but I've heard that APs such as APUSH and BC Calc are real killers.
I'm just really nervous about how much Junior Year like this at a prep school will affect my GPA.</p>
<p>AP English
AP Physics 1
AP Chemistry
AP US History
AP BC Calculus
PreAP Spanish </p>
<p>Besides taking all 5 of those AP tests that year and also taking one or two SAT IIs, I'll also be juggling around my SAT I, which I might still need time to improve the last 50-100 points as well as 3 Varsity sports and math and science teams along with debate/Model UN, volunteering and other ECs.</p>
<p>As of now, I've just realized how risky I made my Junior year become. I feel as if I'm going to have to disconnect my social life for a whole year to make sure I don't screw anything up for college applications.</p>
<p>Past-juniors who have been through this, CONSOLE ME! How did you MANAGE it?! Is it really as hard as it seems? Do I have to go automaton study-mode for a full year, and reduce my sleeping hours from 6 to 5 to each night? Help!</p>
<p>AP BC Calc is easy IF and ONLY you 100% understand alg 2, trig, and calc ab. If not, you will have to try more hard. Unlike AP English, AP Chem is a ton of work, and depending on your teacher you will have to <em>work</em> for your A. APUSH is notorious for a lot of reading, and its AP test is no joke. However, AP English isn’t as hard if you know how to write a good essay and read well. This schedule is 100 percent doable, but sleep will be light some days (2-3 hrs). This schedule is not quite, but dangerously risky as you have many extracurriculars. Remember, colleges want to see you excel in these classes, but if I were a college admission officer I would not understand what you were aiming towards. Do you have a major in mind? If so focus it, but also be well rounded around it. “Being well-rounded” is NOT essentially taking all the challenging classes. Its taking and knowing which classes interest you.</p>
<p>tldr: Most people with many APs don’t have as many extracurriculars than you, If I were you drop at least one AP and see how you do, it’s only JR. year. If not, then suffer a year of no sleep/stress/break downs with the chance for everything to go wrong.</p>
<p>I think I can add some perspective. I’m currently a junior, also at a rigorous New England prep school. I am also on 3 varsity teams, captaining one, as well as doing a couple of other time-consuming EC’s. I am taking/have taken almost all the same classes (I took Physics C, not Physics 1) but NOT all in the same year. Despite what some may say on CC, you do not have to take 10 AP’s over the course of your HS career.</p>
<p>I would really advise against this schedule. You’ve listed the 5 hardest, imo, AP classes and plan to do it in the same year. That’s crazy. You do not give a lot about you background or what you are planning to study in college, so I don’t really know how to best advise you. I assume that you are looking to study STEM in college, but I may be wrong.</p>
<p>Different schools handle the classes and workload differently. AP English is a boatload of reading and writing at my school. USH is a ton of reading. If you are a mathlete, Calc BC is a breeze. If you are coming into BC straight from pre-calc, it will not be easy. Chem is doable depending on the teacher.</p>
<p>Holistically, you should look at what your senior year schedule will be, as well, and then maybe swap some things around. USH is a graduation requirement, I get it. But perhaps you do the honors version instead. Or take it as a senior if you don’t mind being in a class full of juniors. Alternatively, push AP Chem to Senior year.</p>
<p>Junior year is going to be so much harder than you have experienced. In addition to your classes, sports, etc, you’re prepping for SAT/PSAT/SAT2, and really starting to explore college options.</p>
<p>You’re 15-16 y/o. You should not be planning a schedule that leaves you only 5-6 hours of sleep. You WILL burn out. It’s not worth it in the long run.</p>