I’m a sophomore deciding which classes to take next year, and this is what I’m thinking of taking:
AP Calculus AB
AP US History
AP Language & Composition
Physics Honors
Spanish 4
AP Chemistry
AP Calc and AP Chem are considered the hardest classes at my school, so I’m worried that taking them at the same time would be too much. For freshman and sophomore year, I didn’t get below an A, so I’m worried that with this schedule I might slip up and get below an A, and I heard that colleges don’t like to see a downward trend. Also, I play tennis nearly everyday all yearlong, and I do a lot of clubs after school too. Because of this, I can probably only do 3-4 hours of homework a night max, so do you think this schedule would be too much for that?
Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.
I can say that four AP classes is pretty typical of a high performing student at DD’s high school. I am not sure 4 APs is compatible with “3-4 hours of homework a night”. It is going to be different at each school. To make an informed decision you would have to talk to the teachers who teach those AP classes, your guidance counselor, or students who have taken the class.
In DD’s school, APUSH is known for having two hours of homework a night. Add an hour of math and/or chemistry, and you hit your limit without having covered all classes. We had a thread going on these boards a few months ago regarding the homework load for APs in each posters school and it really drove in the point that every school is different. I will say that at DD’s school, many of the teachers do a great job of giving assignments days in advance. This allows DD to plan around her EC schedule accordingly.
I applaud you for planning your time management so carefully. You’re going to do well.
As @Groundwork2022 says, this may be school specific, so you need to ask current students, but 1 hour of HW per AP class per night is not unreasonable. Any teacher, though, that is giving 2 hours/night is either not effectively using class time or is assigning busywork or the student does not have strong time management. So you’ve potentially just hit 4 hours before adding in the requirements for non-AP courses.
But, in general, a top performing junior taking 4 AP classes is doable if s/he wants to put in the work and can effectively manage time.
“Any teacher, though, that is giving 2 hours/night is either not effectively using class time or is assigning busywork or the student does not have strong time management.”
Ahh, @Skieurope … PLEASE tell that to the Calculus BC teacher, who reportedly gives three hours of homework a night. I have heard that from four different sets of parents, all of whom say their kids regret taking the class, not because they didn’t learn, but because they were never asleep before midnight. The class is the darling baby of the head of the math department. The homework in BC and APUSH means that only masochists pair those two classes at DD’s HS. I agree 2+ hours is excessive, not to mention sleep deprivation is extremely unhealthy for teens. I don’t know about BC, but it sure sounds like the work in APUSH is “busywork”.
Our school is block schedule so it might be a little different, but I would say having 4 AP classes (and other classes, sports, clubs) will not fit in 4 hours. Expect to stay up past midnight, often until 2 AM. I used lunch to study and that still wasn’t adequate.