I’m wondering if my course load is too difficult. Obviously you don’t know me or how much I can handle, but tell me if it’s at least manageable. Is it realistic?
Honors Biology
Honors Chemistry
AP Physics 1
AP Calculus BC
AP Language/World Lit
Honors Intro to Engineering
AP Statistics
Spanish 3 (or AP microeconomics)
This is for my sophomore year in high school. I’ve always been advanced so I think I can handle it, but I’ve never taken an APs before so I really don’t know what the course load is like or how difficult the classes will be. I didn’t take any science my Freshman year so I really need the Biology/Chem and I need the Physics because I plan to take Physics C (calculus based physics) my Junior and Senior year (there are two difference Physics C classes).
Anyway, I’ve put a lot of thought into the schedule. Let me know what you think and if it’s feasible. Would I just be stressing myself out? How much studying is generally done for AP classes (more than an hour per night per class?).
If I do go with these classes my Soph year and the course load is manageable, this is what I’m hoping to take my Junior and Senior years…
Junior Year:
Multivariable Calculus
AP Physics C (the first one)
AP Biology
Honors Biotechnology
AP Language/American Lit (it builds upon the previous AP language class)
Honors Principles of Engineering (the second in the Engineering course - both classes are required for Robotics and Aerospace which I want to take senior year)
Honors US History
AP Microeconomics (or astronomy)
Senior Year:
AP Physics C (the second one)
AP Psychology
AP Literature
Honors Brit Lit (or something else)
Honors Robotics
Honors Aerospace Engineering
AP Chemistry
Astronomy (or something else)
If it makes any difference, I’m actually a year older than most people in my grade. I lived in Chile for a year and when I came back after Freshman year, I decided to go into the grade I missed while out of the country.
I’m not sure how rigorous this is compared to other students. I really want to go for it… but I don’t want to fail. Keeping up my GPA is important.
Have you checked that this schedule satisfies graduation requirements? For instance, our school requires 4 years of history and a year of arts, which you seem to be lacking. And don’t you need health, PE, etc.? Don’t you have any interests at all in the arts? I think your schedule is awfully heavy on STEM, and I am saying this as a parent of a kid who loves STEM and graduated with 7 science credits. I’m also puzzled as to why you didn’t take any science at all freshman year, when it now seems to be a big priority for you and you are loading up 3 science courses as a sophomore. You may not even like science once you get into it.
You say you lived in Chile. Can’t you just jump into AP Spanish? What’s the point of Spanish 3, that seems like a waste of time for you.
Kids come on this site all the time and say I am taking X AP’s, will it be too hard? That’s really impossible to answer since we don’t know what kind of student you are and we don’t know how much work those classes are at your particular school, and we don’t know how much time your ECs take and what other time commitments you have. I will say that taking X APs at a school like ours or yours where there are 8 classes is a lot harder than taking those same X APs in a school where there are only 6 classes. My kid took a STEM heavy schedule but she also always had at least one arts class, and for the first 2 years there was also PE/health. She had to work very hard the last 2 years. If you are really ready for calc BC next year, I suspect you will find the first year science classes pretty easy and also the AP stats. I think your sophomore schedule looks fine. I am more concerned about what follows, and I think you should talk to people in your school about the workload, and also look for some classes to make it more balanced. You don’t need to take every STEM class offered in your high school.
Just want to add, you should also look at expectations of colleges you may be interested in. Spanish 3 would be pretty minimal for top schools, and I just don’t see the history they would expect.
Different course loads mean different things at different schools. In some, Honors Chem/Bio or Intro to Eng. might be very difficult; in others, they are fairly manageable. The only class in that course load that is going to be difficult almost anywhere is BC Calc. It looks like your AP Lang is split over two years rather than being a traditional yearlong course, but that could also be challenging–many sophomores, especially those exceptionally gifted in STEM fields, simply have not yet developed the skillset needed to succeed in AP English courses.
All this being said, at most schools, tripling the sciences with Honors Bio+Chem is a very, very bad idea. Coupled with double math and engineering, I would not recommend it, especially given that this will be your first time taking any science in high school.
Figure out exactly what the science pre-reqs at your school are. At many schools, Physics C does not require a prior physics course–especially when split over two years.
If you’re allowed free periods, take advantage of them. Eight classes junior and senior years seems really excessive–what are you going to gain from doubling English and tripling science senior year? Or from taking Bio and Biotech junior year?
Be realistic about the time you’re going to have available. It’s great to be eager to learn, and from your school, many of these courses may not be exceptionally work-intensive, but you’re looking at a rough three years if you follow through with this plan.
Honestly this would be overkill for most people. Even if you were able to handle it without losing your sanity, it’s better to take less difficult classes and do some unique ECs or something. Here are some suggestions:
-what do you want to major in? Try to eliminate courses that aren’t relevant to that (ex: if you want to be an engineer, psych and econ aren’t going to be important)
-8 classes is overkill, try to keep it down to 7. I’m guessing you’d have to eliminate your lunch period to handle your current schedule
-I wouldn’t do more than 5 or 6 AP/honors classes a year (believe me, I’ve tried, it was bad)
-Even if you want to do STEM, you don’t need to do all 4 AP science courses. Maybe take AP physics 1/ honors bio sophomore year, AP physics C mech/honors chem junior year, and AP physics C E-M/AP bio or chem senior year.
-most universities will want you to have 3-4 years of foreign language
I agree with others that this would probably be a really rough high school experience. I’d suggest working your schedule out with your GC since he/she will know your school’s grad requirements, how hard the classes are, etc. better than any of us on here. Hope this helps:D
Honors Biology
Honors Chemistry
AP Physics 1
AP Calculus BC
AP Language/World Lit
Honors Intro to Engineering
AP Statistics
Spanish 3 (or AP microeconomics)
Why are you taking 3 lab sciences?? Take 1 or 2.
Have you taken Physics before?
I assume you are ready for AP Calc BC.
I would ditch AP Stats
What about a history class?
This schedule is unlikely to meet college admission requirements and certainly won’t for many top colleges.
Why didn’t you take even one science class in 9th grade and then decided to go overboard on science?
Here’s a suggested revised schedule that meets most top colleges’ expectations
SOPHOMORE
Honors Biology
Honors Intro to Engineering
AP Physics 1
AP Calculus BC
AP Language/World Lit
AP Human Geography or Honors World History or another Honors History class
AP Spanish Language
JUNIOR
Multivariable Calculus
AP Physics C 1
AP Language/American Lit
Honors Principles of Engineering
Honors US History
AP Psychology
AP Spanish Literature
(start looking into Chemistry whenever you can. Try to cover 1 book chapter per month until the summer).
Summer: Honors Chemistry
Senior Year:
AP Physics C 2
Discrete Math/Linear Algebra (Dual enrollment? At HS?)
Honors English 12
Honors Robotics
Honors Aerospace Engineering
Art
AP Micro/Macro economics