Hey there, I’m a sophomore in a public high school, and in my junior year, I’m planning on taking 5 AP classes because I want to get into an Ivy League school, and I’m breezing through all of the honors classes I’m taking this year. I am currently taking one AP class, AP English Lang, and I currently have an A. I’m thinking about taking:
AP English Lit
AP Calc AB
AP Bio
AP US History
AP Chem or AP Gov (I haven’t decided yet)
The other classes I would take would be Honors Spanish IV, World Mythology, and Concert Choir which shouldn’t be too overwhelming considering I enjoy each topic.
Do you think that this would be too much too handle? I know a lot of people online just say “Do what you think you can handle”. I do tennis in the spring as well as two-three clubs (some of which I hold a leadership position in). I just want to get other peoples’ opinions on it.
Your guidance counselor, who has access to your previous grades and knows how hard those classes will be at your school, will be able to offer you the best advice.
AP US and AP Lit require TONS of reading assignments. If you choose those 2 (which are good choices if you like reading) then I would stick with:
APUSH
AP Lit
either AP Bio or AP Chem,
AP Calc,
Spanish H,
World Mythology,
Concert Choir
*Taking 1 more AP will not get you into the Ivy League, but not being able to get the best grades, study for your ACT/SAT, and do your extra curriculars WILL keep you out.
There is a huge difference between what you do now as a sophomore and what will be required of you when you have focus on testing too- plus your ECs and all these APs. You can take the other science AP Senior year and use your free to do homework and make sure to get 7 hours sleep every night.
It really is dependent on your school, the teachers, your interests/aptitudes etc. There is not one right answer for every person/every situation.
If you are aiming for top tier colleges you want a course-load where your guidance counselor would check that you have taken the most rigorous schedule in your HS. Therefore I would talk to your guidance counselor before creating your schedule. You may not need/want to take either AP Chem or AP Gov’t junior year as you will have another science and SS AP that year.
Big mistake, IMO. The goal should be balance. If you take four, you should be able to do well. Yes, re APUSH, super big workload, and under no circumstances should you take Bio and Chem in the same year. You want a good GPA. You wont’ get it with that schedule. He who has the most APs doesn’t win anything. 6 APs in high school is still very rigorous and will show that you worked hard.
I wouldn’t just jump into that many. You aren’t taking any now. I’d take 2 next year if I were you, 3 tops. While Ivies want lots of rigor, they also want you to do well and if you jump into 5 that could really hurt your gpa.