<p>I really want to get into UC-Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB or University of Washington. My GPA is currently a 3.65 as a junior (I didn't do amazing freshman year, did OK sophomore year, and did great junior year so far). I'm currently studying hard for my SAT's and AP exams but I also started to think about what classes I should take next year. If I take challenging courses and manage to get good grades, would I get into my dream schools? Currently I'm taking AP Chemistry, AP Mandarin Chinese, and U.W. Earth Space Science with all other courses being regular, no honors. I got straight A's with one A- in Chem.</p>
<p>I'm thinking of taking:</p>
<p>AP Statistics
AP Biology
AP Physics B
AP Comparative Government
AP Psychology
English 12 Honors
Precalculus</p>
<p>Does this schedule look solid enough? My other options could be subbing AP Statistics, AP Psychology, or AP Physics with AP Environmental Science. I could also take Precalculus Honors, but I heard that was an extremely difficult class so I am unsure, and I've been taking regular math for all three years so far. I want to work in the medical or engineering field, so I didn't think AP Environmental Science would be necessary. </p>
<p>Are there any suggestions, comments, tips? How hard were these classes for you?</p>
<p>I think this is a good schedule but the engineering field does require some good math skills, so precalc HONORS will definitely help. I’m guessing the difficulty varies from school to school, but i think it will definitely help in the long run especially when you get to college and have to take advanced math courses. </p>
<p>And i agree AP environmental science won’t help much so don’t switch out one of your classes. If you truly want to take it, it’s an incredibly easy class to self study for, as it’s just basic science knowledge about the earth, like biosystems, the earth (layers and stuff), environmental deterioration, protection agencies, etc. Just A LOT of basic knowledge. </p>
<p>AP Statistics–good
AP Biology–time consuming, lots of memorization
AP Physics B–not bad. very conceptual.
AP Comparative Government–HARD! leave time for this
AP Psychology–looks good
English 12 Honors–ok
Precalculus–ok. same deal at my school. im generally an A- math student but for precalc i struggled for a B-. AP stats kind of evens it out.</p>
<p>^@NoMeatAthlete Agreed with everything but AP Comp Gov. imho, it was the easiest/most interesting class I’d ever taken. Get Ethel’s guide and use it as your textbook. (Then again, I got a 5 on the pre-test my class took on the first day of class. I’m a bit of an Al Jazeera/BBC/The Economist addict.) </p>
<p>Very late response: Thanks everyone for your advice and info! I’ll probably do Honors Precalculus instead of Honors English. I should’ve switched to the honors track for math earlier in my high school career, but unfortunately my counselor didn’t think I had the “student capability” as a freshman. :/</p>