<p>So my dream has been getting into Columbia, but hey, here's the thing, I don't feel my scedule is rigorous enough. I originally planned to take 2 ap's(The ap's I was eligble too- world history and bio) and hon. English. These are my first two ap's and self studying AP psych so I want to do really well in them, however, I am planning to drop out of hon english. I did hon. english last year as well, and worked my butt of to get an A. I love english, I do a lot of writing as an ec( won a bunch of writing contests, self published books, etc.) but the work we do in class I don't even find interesting. I mean we discuss about Great Expectations, but I finished reading that book in middle school. I don't find importance in wasting my time writing essays on something that is boring.</p>
<p>Also, since these are my first ap classes, I need to get used to it. I will probably take AP English since I've heard that is fun and interesting, but am worried since a lot of my close friends are taking 2 ap's and 2 hon. I know with this I am pushing my self a lot, but I don't want to end up pushing my self so much that I am broken and end up doing bad in all my classes(which happened last year). Which is more important? Would those 2 hon. classes even matter? I will probably stock up on rigorous courses junior year once I get the hang of it.</p>
<p>Those honors courses do make an impact. They are rigorous and depending on the school and teacher, they can be more rigorous than APs. Language and Composition is usually a labor intensive course. Perhaps more so than other APs. My D wrote over 40 essays over the course of her year in Language and Composition, so it definitely was a lot. If you are worrying about being overwhelmed with work, I would take it slow with APs. Save Language and Composition for junior year. That’s when you will need to ramp up and hone your writing skills.</p>
<p>I don’t mean this to be as harsh as it may come off as being, but are you sure that Columbia is right for you? If you struggled through your freshman year and have a 3.0, and you are worried that 2 AP’sand 2 honors classes are too much for you, what makes you think that you will suddenly find the work at Columbia manageable? </p>
<p>Your struggles due to your sibling’s special needs explain your struggles, but lots of applicants to Columbia have struggles in life.</p>
<p>Is a dream school worth the stress? Often they become nightmares for students who eke in at the low end of the admissions requirements for GPA, and then struggle to keep up. </p>
<p>Do you want to struggle in college or do well? Do you want to stress yourself so badly in HS trying to get into a dream school that you can’t enjoy your HS years? </p>
<p>People can and do find stimulating courses and prepare for good careers at less than Ivy league schools. What is your intended major and what are your career goals? Sometimes Ivy league schools are not the best choices for intended careers.</p>
<p>Do the best you can in HS, and work with your guidance counselor to come up with a list of schools that you can enjoy and do well in.</p>
<p>@KKmama I actually got a 4.0 second semester which brings my gpa to a 3.5(currently.) Columbia is definitely not my life, but a dream. I forgot to mention that I am taking 2 of the hardest available AP’s as well as self studying AP psych. When asking my counselor if I was overloading my self and if it was rigorous, she said it was very rigorous. I am planning to take 4-5 ap’s next year(we have 6 classes) and was wondering how much not taking hon. english would affect my course rigour.
Here is my scedule:
Ap World History
AP Biology
Pre-Calculous(a grade ahead in math)
Journalism(editor)
English
Span. 3</p>
<p>Do colleges like ivy leagues in general want you to challenge yourself? Or is this just something they say</p>