Is my schedule too difficult?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

As of now, my senior schedule should be looking something like this:
AP English Language and Composition
AP Calculus BC (Trying to take Calculus I over the summer to be more prepared for the work load)
AP Psychology (Might self-study and take the AP exam this year, replacing it with AP US History instead)
AP Physics I
Anatomy & Physiology (Might replace with either AP Chemistry or AP Computer Science Principles)
Internship for AP Biology
Honors Mixed Choir

I only am taking one AP junior year (AP Biology: 83) and the rest are mainly honors (Honors Brit Lit I: 93; Honors Mod World Lit: 93; Honors Chemistry: 93; Honors Precalculus: 91). Would this be too much of a jump?

2

Be careful taking 2 AP sciences at once…A&P would be doable with the rest of the APs. I would not add AP Chem. Do you need Calc BC or woudl AB be okay?

3

Based on your current grades and only 1 AP, I’d recommend you not take such a tough schedule. If you feel the need to take Calc over the summer to prepare for BC, then you’re better off taking AB. Take either anatomy and physiology or Physics, but not both. Stick with Psych.

4

Yes, it’d be too much of a jump, in particular because you’re getting a B/B- in AP bio.
I would suggest
AP calc AB
AP English language
AP physics 1
Honors social science
Foreign language 4
Internship
Honors mixed choir

5

Before you embark on such a rigorous schedule without the grades to support it. Why are you considering such a difficult schedule…what are you hoping to accomplish? You need to put together a schedule that you can handle with your current study and other skills. Messing up the really difficult schedule could have disastrous consequences for college. While miracles do happen, depending on one is not a great plan.

6

@bopper I have a genuine interest in math, so I would rather take AP Calc BC online (Johns Hopkins program or something) than AP Calc AB at school. I know this may sound dumb to say, but I hope everyone realizes AB is Calc I and BC is Calc I & II.
@MYOS1634 There is no honors social studies at our school. Also, I dropped French IV due to difficulty learning the subject, but may take it over the summer. I should mention that the AP Calc AB teacher happened to be my Algebra I teacher, and I don’t think that she liked me too much in that class (to be fair, I was a total jerk my freshman year; sophomore year was the year that I became more known socially), but I could be wrong. Also, what happened to AP Psych? The class is literally vocabulary memorization and projects AKA the two things that I am best at.
@zannah I had an extremely weak looking schedule freshman year, with the only slightly impressive class being French II (I doubled up on math sophomore year). By having a more rigorous schedule (in topics that I truly care about), it would demonstrate to colleges that a weak start doesn’t mean a weak end. Rather, it is up to that person to have a chance to turn around.
I should mention that most people say their AP Chem grade was either the same or slightly lower or higher than their grade in Honors Chem (As for the AP exam, I don’t know).

7

I think I agree with the other people on this board. It is a great thing you want to challenge yourself, and your grades are pretty good, however, I do think that jumping to a schedule like this may be a bit too much. The reason is because you don’t have to take AP Calc BC online. It may be a better idea just to take AB because it is in your school, thus it is more convenient, and the class will be a little easier. It is great that you have a genuine interest in math, but taking AB instead will free up a lot of time for you and would help you write more college applications as you’re becoming a senior, and possibly squeeze in more extracurricular activities.

About AP Psychology vs. AP US History, if you haven’t taken a year of U.S. history, do take it over AP Psychology as U.S. History is very important in getting into a college. Most require a year of some sort of U.S. history. If you have already, take what interests you more, and I also recommend you do not sign up for AP Chemistry while signing up for AP Physics 1. You should pick one that you prefer because taking two AP Sciences is not only very difficult but doing it on top of an internship for another AP Science, AP Bio, and taking three APs (Calc AB/BC, English Lang, and U.S. History are known for being very difficult) all at once would be very stressful for you, and would do more harm than good.

Then again, I’m just a sophomore… so what do I know? But I hope this helped you in deciding your schedule.

Good luck!

Have a good day!

8

@anthonytheboy
I heard from some people say that a tiny bit of the information between AP Physics and AP Chemistry crosses over (Don’t know how, but what do I know). Surprised that no one has mentioned AP Computer Sciences Principles yet.
AP Psychology counts as a history (social studies) credit at our school.

9

There is very little crossover, if any. While some degree of caution is warranted before trying to take 2 AP sciences simultaneously, if you are the type of person who can handle it, it’s not bad.

Agreed.

More to the point, most high schools require it for graduation. If you have already taken a HS USH course, then there is really no point in taking the AP version (if the HS would even allow it.)

Based on your user name, AP CS Principles is less valuable than your other options.

10

@skieurope
Ready for ski season? lol (I am)
There is a class at our school called American Studies, which covers English literature and US History (I took CP, as Honors was way too hard, worked my butt off all year, and ended with an A, which was super surprising since I got a B in CP Cultural Foundations).
The reason I ask AP Psych versus APUSH is because I want to know what colleges would perfer. I want to take AP Psych because concepts tie into AP Biology (We already had a test on neurons!), but I know a good amount of people taking APUSH and have said that the teacher is excellent, even though the class is hard.
Then again, if I want to look great at colleges, I need to take APs that I would get at least a 3 on.
Kind of wanna call what I would get on each AP Test Exam I plan on taking. Wait for the 17-18 and 18-19 AP exam thread to see if I am correct.
AP Biology: 2-3
AP Environmental Science: 4-5
AP Psych: 4-5
AP Lang: 3-4
AP Calc AB (possibly subscore if I take BC): 3-4
AP Calc BC: 3-4
AP Physics I: 2-3
AP Chemistry: 2-3
AP Computer Science Principles: 4-5
AP USH: 2-3

11

Most won’t have a preference for the course, although most also know that AP Psych is not exactly the most rigorous class that is in the AP curriculum. They would certainly prefer that whichever class you take you perform well in. Additionally, it’s folly to take a class based upon what a college might “prefer.” As I said earlier, IMO it’s pointless to take APUSH if you’ve already had a USH class.

12

I agree with others that this schedule is probably a little bit too much. Personally I would be leery of taking an AP history class – from what I have seen AP history can be tough. Regular or honors US history should be fine. One AP science should be enough – pick the one that you want to take.

Remember that senior year of high school you have another task to do which is as much work as an extra AP class: Researching universities, applying to universities, visiting universities, and deciding where to go.

@zannah asks a very good question “Why are you considering such a difficult schedule”. A lot of students who have no hope to get into Harvard or Stanford seem to want to take a schedule that would only be needed if they wanted to apply to Harvard or Stanford. For the large number of very good universities that exist in the US you only need to take a “normal slightly challenging” schedule, not a “suffer and work and suffer some more and try not to burn out” schedule.

13

@DadTwoGirls
I personally find science and math super interesting (even if my grades aren’t the best in them, especially AP Biology). As I want to go into the medical field and become a surgeon, it would be best to know the subjects when I come into college.
If you want to know my main reason for taking APs and Honors, it is extremely simple. Yes, I know I am NOT going to Stanford, HYP, UCB, UCLA, or even a school like Villanova, but I feel that by doing these classes, they will help prepare you for college. However, that was not even close to the thought in my mind when I decided to take Honors Biology in 10th grade (You have to take Integrated Science 9th grade unless you are a ridiculously smart person, like having A+'s in eighth grade science, and even then, you have to take a test and pray there is enough room for you to go in). I took it because I was tired of all the unmotivated students. I kept being put with them for projects and because they could less care about what they were doing, I had to a partner project by myself, which was annoying. In Honors Biology, only two kids (one who later dropped out) were lack motivated, and as you got to choose partners for projects, I never worried about being put with him. I remember getting an A- in Honors Biology was one of the most impressive things I had ever done, on top of getting an A in American Studies (I experienced the same stuff as I did in Integrated, but it was a lot less severe).
I know that was extremely long, but if you wanted to know, that is why. Besides, a lot of my friends are taking these courses, so it is easier to find a partner in these types of classes.
Except for maybe APUSH, all of these APs I truly care about
AP Physics - Great teacher, extremely fun class, always grades on a curve, and you can retake up to 100
AP Chemistry - Interesting class, pretty cool teacher, you can take up to 100, and the material overlaps with AP Biology quite a bit (Try getting a biology teacher and chemistry teacher to debate what the most powerful bond is; they probably would argue for hours)
AP Lang - I love writing essays, especially persuasive ones; Besides, the teacher is known to be fantastic, fun, and does his best to help students
AP Psych - Honestly, the only reason I would take this class if because the subject sounds interesting and deals with Biology; The teachers can range from great to below average
APUSH - Extremely hard teacher who is also known to be super helpful and kind; Pretty sure most people do great on the AP test because of them
AP Computer Science Principles - Great teacher, interesting subject, and not too hard (Pretty sure an A is the average and most kids get a 4 or 5 on the exam)

I don’t do filler APs because I find them pointless and uninteresting. I would never take the AP Human Geography Exam because, even though it is easy, it has no interest in me. Colleges will see right through these and know that you are trying to make them look at your stats and think “This person took 15 APs! Even though they have absolutely no interest in that subject, let’s accept them!”