I apologize in advance because I don’t know what category this best belongs in! I go to a very good high school that offers quite a few AP/Honors classes. Freshmen had no AP or Honors courses available to them.
My sophomore schedule was: Algebra 2 Honors; English Honors (AP not available for either of those); Chemistry(AP not available as a soph); PE; World History (I chose not to take AP European History); & Spanish 3-4. As a junior I plan to take: AP Language & Composition (English); AP Environmental Science; Math Analysis Honors (no AP offered, this is pre-calc); Teacher’s Aide; either Photography or Journalism; & US History. Would 2 APs & 2 Honors courses be seen as rigorous enough to colleges as a junior, considering I’m taking TA, what some colleges classify as a “Lazy Elective,” & only taking 2 years of Spanish? A third year of Spanish is out of the question. I want to go to UCLA. I was wondering if I should take APUSH, but I don’t know if I run the risk of overworking myself because I’ve heard that class requires a LOT of work? So, would it be smarter for the sake of colleges to decrease the rigor & do 2 APs & 1 Honors? Or, work myself harder by adding in APUSH, so 3 APs & 1 Honors? (As a senior I’m going to take 2 full year APs & 1 semester AP)
I would seriously reconsider your decision to only take 3 years of your foreign language.
Definitely take 4 years of foreign language.
And ask your GC whether they’ll tick the “most rigorous” box for your schedule. That’s the only person whose opinion matters here.
I’d knock out teacher’s aide for another year in foreign language. A lot of colleges will see that elective as you slacking off your junior year.
@InamoratiAnon I would love to take another year of foreign language. My only concern was for 1-2 & 3-4 I had the same teacher & he didn’t prepare me or any of the students well at all. After 1-2, I didn’t want him again for 3-4 because I knew he didn’t do a good job preparing for the next year. He barely taught, instead giving worksheets, & didn’t teach us what we needed to know. After getting him again, I was unable to switch to a different teacher due to period conflicts. I’ve never done an Oral Exam in Spanish, and every other teacher at my school (besides the one I had) administers a high number of those. I’m very concerned about falling behind in 5-6 because my speaking/listening skills in Spanish are so low, & ending up with a C. So is it worth that risk? Also, if I do decide to drop the Teacher’s Aide class, & I end up going with Spanish 5-6, do you think my schedule would be seen as rigorous enough? Counselors aren’t back in until the end of July & don’t check e-mail until tuen, & this has been on my mind for awhile so I’m trying to get feedback now from others.
@usualhopeful I’ll have to check with her and see, but the counselors aren’t back in until the end of July. I know my school only recommends doing 2 APs/Honors a year, & my current schedule as a junior has 3 total, but I know many students end up with 4-5 APs/Honors.
CORRECTION: I said 2 APs and 2 Honors - I meant to write 2 APs and ONE Honors
I think your best bet is either opting for APUSH or Spanish. Does your school offer AP Spanish? I personally skipped Spanish 4 for AP with a rough understanding of the language (I took my Spanish 2 class with a subpar teacher, so I understand where you’re coming from) and I ended up getting an A+ much to my surprise. When it comes to language, you’re the only one who can gauge whether you’re advanced enough. If you’re already bilingual and Spanish is the third language you’re learning, I highly recommend taking another year of Spanish and looking for a tutor. It’s a lot easier to understand a new language when you already have a few in your pocket. Does the faculty have a general understanding of your current Spanish teacher’s capabilities? They may be a bit more understanding if they know where you’re coming from. When I went to Spanish 3 from a class that didn’t prepare me at all (he played favorites and I just ended up reading books and doing other homework in class since he just handed me high grades) the teacher understood my struggle with the language and she helped in that department. If this doesn’t work out for you, I highly suggest trying APUSH. If you have a good teacher and a strong work ethic where you can memorize terms easily, you should do fine in the class. 3 APs and an honors class isn’t too bad if you put the work into it.
@VickiSoCal I’m considering dropping Photography to do Spanish 5-6. But I’m still concerned that my number of advanced courses (3 total) is too low?
@InamoratiAnon, my school offers 2 years of AP Spanish, but they’re at the 7-8 & 9-10 level. I’m unable to take those junior year as I would have to complete 5-6 first. I’ve never spoken with the other Spanish teachers, but I do know that students of the teacher I had who ended up with another teacher in the future mentioned him as the reason why they struggled in the class, but said that their grades still suffered as a result. I do have a strong work ethic, but Spanish is only my second language. I was looking into APUSH, & it’s a consideration. I’ve heard that the class itself usually isn’t too difficult, but that you have to be willing to put the necessary time into it because it’s a lot of work. My English skills are very strong, & I’ve also read that the APUSH course involves a lot of writing/reading. I don’t do any sports, so I’m able to devote more time to academics. Do you have any experience with the APUSH course? I understand it differs with each school/teacher, but how would the estimated workload be when I take that & AP American Language?
When I was in high school, I took 3 APs my junior year: AP Bio, APUSH, and AP English Lang. AP English Lang was very easy for me, but I’ve heard from other people that it really depends on the teacher. The AP test itself was easy and considering you’re strong in writing, I think you’ll be fine in that department. I struggled with APUSH, but that was mostly because of my teacher (he had a steep curve where only 8 students were awarded an A, and there was a major cheating problem in my class which put me at a disadvantage), but the content itself wasn’t too hard. A lot of it comes down to your writing and memorization abilities, so I think as a junior-level class, it’s perfect to introduce you to the academic rigor that you will face in college. College is much more difficult, but APUSH at least disciplines your time management skills. APUSH and AP American Language actually go hand-in-hand with one another in which time periods you focus on throughout the year, so I think adding APUSH may be more advantageous than not.
@InamoratiAnon I believe at my school, those who take both AP Lang & APUSH are in a humanities block because of the fact that they can be grouped well together. I know my Honors Pre-Calc will be a challenge because all maths at my school are very rigorous but I know APES is typically viewed as an easier class & I shouldn’t struggle too much with AP Lang, so that will make it easier to devote time to math & APUSH. I think I’d prefer that route over Spanish 5-6 just because I see myself struggling a lot there. With that in mind, I’ll probably end up sticking to Teacher’s Aide because although it could be seen as a slack-off course, 3 APs & 1 Honors should balance that out. Thank you so much for your help - it’s much appreciated!
No problem! Good luck.
I think this discussion would be more productive if you let us know about your stats, especially, since you are targeting an specific school.
My D was not able to take a 3rd or 4th year of German in high school. I’m pretty certain this hurt her when she applied to highly selective colleges. When an admissions officer looks at your curriculum first they will look at what courses you took, then the level of course, then obviously how you did. Ideally you would have math, English, foreign language, social science, science every year at an appropriate level. When you knowingly forego one of these core courses one or more years of high school, you are giving an admissions officer a good reason to put your application in the “deny” stack. With 10 students applying for every spot in some freshman classes this is not a good idea
I do not know anyone applying to elite schools without at least 3 years of a Foreign language, and most have 4 or even 5.
I would take Spanish 5-6 this year and Spanish 7-8/AP next year. UCLA is incredibly hard to get in to.
@Wje9164be Spanish 5-6 is something I’d like to take, but I know my grade in it would suffer. I had the same teacher for 1-2 as I did for 3-4. He was far too laid back, so his class was an easy A. But with that said, I didn’t learn enough to be confident in 5-6. Would a college like UCLA prefer to see a 3rd year of Spanish taken, but with a C or B grade one or both semesters? Or would they rather see only 2 years of a language taken, but A’s in both all 4 semesters (which is what I received), but a total of 10 AP/Honors courses throughout my 4 years of high school, with strong grades overall?
Unfortunately, UCLA probably wants to see 3+ years of a foreign language and an “A” grade. A “B” grade is not the end of the world provided you don’t have too many of them on your transcript
Hit the espanol this summer. Lots of online resources. Seriously listen to the advice, 2 years of FL is not sufficient for flagship state and other elite schools.
@Wje9164be , I have yet to earn anything but an A my first 2 years of high school. Spanish 5-6 is pretty rigorous at my school & if I take it, I probably would not be able to manage APUSH on top of that. I’m just unsure about which is best to take, because doing both would overwhelm me to the point of my grades in every class being lower than what I desire.