Is this a good courseload? - please critiuqe

Hi, I am currently an 8th grader. I have been looking ahead to what my high school offers and I have made a first draft of what classes I want to take in HS. I know it is early to look into this, but I am just one of those people who like to have a plan.

Freshman year:
English 1 Honors
Geometry Honors
Spanish 2 Honors
Biology Honors
World History Honors
Math Seminar (math class for kids who want to be on math team)

Sophomore year:
English 2 Honors
Algebra 2 Honors
Spanish 3 Honors
Chemistry Honors
US History Honors
AP Biology

Junior year:
AP English Language or English 3 Honors
Pre Calculus Honors
Spanish 4 Honors
AP Physics 1
AP US History
AP Chemistry

Senior Year:
AP English Literature or English 4 Honors
AP Calculus BC
AP Spanish Language
AP Physics C
AP Psychology
Anatomy and Physiology Honors.

I am going to aim for top colleges and universities, and I believe that this is what my future schedule will look like.
In order to graduate, I will need credits in a computer and art class, so I will probably take online summer school classes to fulfill the requirement.

Hello. I am also an 8th grader that has planned out my high school classes. Beforehand I’ve done tons of research about the classes and asked my upperclassmen about rigor, hw amount, difficulty, etc. I am also aiming for highly selective colleges and universities.

Your courseload looks fine right now (although I suggest you just take English 4 H instead of AP Lit unless if you plan on majoring in the humanities, as this will leave you more time to study for your other AP exams and work on college apps during senior year).

I believe that art class should be integrated into your year-round courseload, and if that interferes with a class, you should take that class during the summer. This way, your coursework will be more spread out throughout the four seasons.

My schedule looks pretty much the same as yours except for the art portions. Also… do you know just generally what topic you want to major in? Or which subject is your favorite. I would say to take the most advanced courses in those subjects, and don’t do as much AP for subjects you are less fluent in.

Just for reference, my planned schedule is as follows:

Summer School: Biology H
9th Grade: Chemistry H, Algebra 2 H, Phys Ed, Global Studies 1 H, English 1 H, Spanish 2 H, 9th Grade Art H, Visual Programming H
Summer School: Health (mandatory, but don’t want to take during the year)
10th Grade: Global Studies 2 H, AP Physics 1, AP Statistics, Phys Ed, English 2 H, Spanish 3 H, Human Anatomy and Physiology H, Art 1 H
11th Grade: AP Biology, Math Analysis and Trigonometry H (precalc), Phys Ed, APUSH, AP English Lang, Spanish 4 H, AP Chemistry, Art 2 H
12th Grade: AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus BC, Phys Ed, AP USGP, Heroes and Monsters: Classic British Literature H, AP Spanish, AP Economics, Art 3 H

@raventhemage Thanks for the critique. I plan to go for premed, so I probably will major in biology or chemistry.

Ok. Then I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to do AP history or two AP english classes (just btw, I don’t think I’ll be doing AP USGP). If you go into freshmen and sophomore year and find that the courseload will probably be too much (don’t overestimate OR underestimate…just try to be honest with yourself), it’s OK to drop some. The difference between 9 and 10 APs really isn’t that much, but it is if you get nine 4s or 5s versus 10 3s or 4s.

Sophomore year:
English 2 Honors
Algebra 2 Honors
Spanish 3 Honors
Chemistry Honors
US History Honors => is that a specificity at your school? At most schools, students take US History junior year, and take EITHER US H Honors OR APUSH. Depending on the school, you may take AP WH or AP Euro. AP Euro is more conceptual but is more manageable because it essentially covers 300 years, vs. 5,000 in APWH. Both classes are interesting.
AP Biology => is that something at your school? Often, AP Bio is taken in 11/12th grade because it’s one of the hardest, most time-consuming classes, and generally has chemistry as a pre-req. However it’s possible your HS requires only Honors Bio. Check. I would strongly recommend you leav AP Bio for take AP CS Principles instead of AP Bio anyway.

Junior year:
AP English Language or English 3 Honors
Pre Calculus Honors
Spanish 4 Honors
AP Physics 1
AP US History
AP Chemistry
=> This will be a difficult schedule. Remember that top universities want to see 6-8 AP classes TOTAL over 4 years.

Senior Year:
AP English Literature or English 4 Honors
AP Calculus BC
AP Spanish Language
AP Physics C => Replace with AP Bio. Not needed for premed (you would only do algebra-based physics). Also, it’s better to have AP bio closer to the moment you’ll “retake” it in college.
AP Psychology => you may take Psychology over the summer (any level - AP Psych is an Ap Lite anyway so Psych regular taken over the summer would give you a taste of the psychology class you’ll be required to take in college and which you can’t waive with the AP.) In that case, you could replace with AP Gov (Comp, US)/AP Econ (Macro, Micro) or a combination from both.
Anatomy and Physiology Honors => replace with an Art class. This is NOT needed for premed* and you’ll be glad you have a “fun”, creative class your senior year.

@raventhemage:
Summer School: Biology H => it’s a very important class that doesn’t bear the summer school compression well. Check with current HS students who did it whether it is a good enough foundation.

9th Grade: Chemistry H, Algebra 2 H, Phys Ed, Global Studies 1 H, English 1 H, Spanish 2 H, 9th Grade Art H, Visual Programming H
Summer School: Health (mandatory, but don’t want to take during the year)
=> good

10th Grade: Global Studies 2 H, AP Physics 1,
AP Statistics => don’t break the math sequence; take Precalculus Honors or Math Analysis. If you’re really into Math, take AP Stats as a complement.

Phys Ed, English 2 H, Spanish 3 H, Human Anatomy and Physiology H, Art 1 H
=> I’d take AP CS Principles rather than A&P unless you want to go into nursing or a pre-PA direct admit program. Alternatives would include AP Psych.

11th Grade: AP Biology, Math Analysis and Trigonometry H (precalc),
=> AP Calc AB? See whether your school has an AB-BC sequence for 11th and 12th graders, or whether it’s either AB OR BC (in which case BC also covers the AB content, in accelerated fashion)

Phys Ed, APUSH, AP English Lang, Spanish 4 H, AP Chemistry, Art 2 H
=> you can’t take AP Chem and AP Bio together.Those are among the hardest, most time-consuming AP Science classes. In fact, some high schools won’t let you take both together.
Switch one of these wih APES, which is an “AP lite”, or AP Psychology or AP Stats or AP CS Principles (more time-consuming than APES/AP Psych/AP Stats, but less so than AP Bio/AP Chem.)

12th Grade: AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus BC, Phys Ed, AP USGP, Heroes and Monsters: Classic British Literature H, AP Spanish, AP Economics, Art 3 H
=> switch APES for one of the two AP sciences (bio or chem) you didn’t choose in 11th grade.

  • I would strongly recommend you leave AP bio for senior year, and....

Some differing opinions here.

Actually, you can take AP bio and AP chem together at many schools, including my kids’ school.
If you are going to take a bio AP, I would go for AP bio. I would not take APES, which is a watered down AP (and don’t think colleges are unaware of this)–unless your special interest is in environmental science–either instead or in addition to AP bio.

Not sure about art being “fun” and the implication that it’s easy. My kids love art, they choose to do it in their spare time, but my kid also spent more time on her art class than she did on many of her APs and stopped taking art because it was just too timeconsuming and it was more draining than relaxing. It’s not so easy or fast to produce quality artwork. And my kid did not get up into the high level art classes (our school offers AP art) which I hear are even more work/stress. It’s different than academic work, but not easy.

You have two years of US history (is this normal? Our school does only one) and you don’t have any government at all–that’s not required? Government is required for a high school diploma at our school. Also, you should check expectations of colleges. All the honors students at our school take 4 years of history/gov. It’s a core subject.

^ I agree there’s an issue with the social science choices. Guessing op thinks AP psychology ‘counts’.

Since op has to take an art class, I assume the high school will offer several options that are meant for general education purpose, not for budding artists. And yes, being creative should be fun - whether theater tech or learning how to play the guitar or digital art or sculpture or photography or show choir, there’s something unique about art and creation that makes it a different class from other academic pursuits. It should offer a balance throughout the year - better than in a compressed format, taken over the summer.

You’re right, a student ‘Can’ take both AP chemistry and AP biology, in the same way they ‘can’ go to bed at 2 am or eat only fast food. That they can doesn’t make it a good idea, and it’s not recommended. Colleges certainly don’t expect it. AP physics 1+ either one, sure. But not heavy classes with serious labs - the same thing applies to physics C. That’s why it’s not possible at many schools, if only because finding the space for two classes and two labs is too complicated. (and yes, at some high schools, they have designed lab periods on alternate days or other scheduling possibilities but it’s really not that common.) op could find herself /himself in such a situation that there’s no choice. It shouldn’t be necessary. Since op is in 8th grade, I really think we ought to model optimal choices, not situations that aren’t recommended.

@MYOS1634 and @mathyone Thank you all for your many comments and critiques. Here is a list of all the AP classes at my HS: (Grade levels are what they post, most likely will all be flexible)
AP English Language, Grade 11. AP English literature, grade 12. Both AP calculus’s, Grade 12. Both AP economics, grades 11-12. AP stats, grades 11-12. AP music theory, grades 10-12. AP bio and bio lab (Our school adds a one semester lab class that is required for ap bio and ap chem), grades 10-12 (This is inconsistent. One part in Program of Studies says it is 11-12, another says 10-12). AP Chemistry and chem lab, grades 11-12. AP Physics 1, grades 11-12. AP Physics C, grades 11-12. AP US History, grade 11. AP European History, grades 11-12. AP Psychology, grades 11-12. AP Art History, grades 11-12. AP Art studio, grades 11-12. AP French, grade 12. AP Spanish, grade 12.

For the whole US History thing, as for the rest of things that seem weird, I am going by the sequences in the program of studies. The sequence for social studies is 9th grade world history, 10th grade US history 1, and 11th grade US history 2 or AP US history. I have not to talked to any upperclassmen yet, but I will soon. I would like to take AP US history 10th grade if it is allowed.

For AP biology, my logic for taking it in 10th grade is I would be able to devote more time to it than if I took it junior or senior year. During the summer between HS and college, I will be sure to study and review stuff from all the AP science and math classes.

Ok, so it looks like your school has an AB OR BC calc program. (ETA: sorry, got you confusd with ravensmage for the AP stats thing.)
If your school has a 2-year US history program, then US History Honors 1 and APUSH make sense.
See with the Biology department whether you could tak AP Bio sophomore year, and whether honors chem is a pre-req or not. The extra lab period for AP Bio and AP Chem is common, and the reason why at many schools you can’t take both (or shouldn’t take both).

Make sure you prioritize sleep - too many teens are sleep-deprived, which causes harm to their body&growth and fragilizes their mental health. For 9th/10th grade, plan for about 9 hours, and 11-12th grade, 8 hours. You can go below those occasionally, but not every day. It will means turning off all electronics, including your phone (buy an alarm!) at 9-10pm.

Grade levels written in your high school catalog may be just guidelines or they may be written in stone. You don’t know until you ask. But I probably wouldn’t ask at this point if it’s not going to make a difference to your 9th grade plan. Because sometimes they are something in between. And the answer you get may depend on what kind of record you have, and you don’t have a record. As long as you’ve designed your 9th grade program with an informed eye to the future that’s all you will need this spring when you actually register.

With regard to APUSH, it looks like your school teaches it essentially as a 2 year sequence. It might be a bad idea to jump into it without the background that the teacher assumes and that everyone else in your class has had, especially considering that APUSH is often considered one of the highest workload APs. This is certainly something to look into.

I’d be a little concerned about taking AP bio without having completed chem.

You really, really, should not be sitting around in 8th grade planning or worrying about the exact number of AP classes you will take. You need to be aware that middle school classes are a joke compared to the more difficult hs classes. It’s just not appropriate to say “I’m going to take 10 APs because that’s the ideal number for my dream college”. Plan an appropriately challenging schedule and take on what you can handle according to your natural intellectual progression. Stop obsessing about the number of APs.

Also, I wouldn’t plan on more than one summer of classes. See if you can find a way to fit the computer or art class into the school year. Also, you need to research your summer class options. Our school doesn’t offer any honors classes over the summer, it’s just limited to a few regular level classes that are part of the core graduation requirements, and intended for kids who need to retake them to get their diploma. Even if your district has appropriate offerings, I wouldn’t design a schedule that absolutely requires them. What happens if you don’t get into the class, or if they don’t offer it the summer you were planning to take it?

@MYOS1634 Thank you for the advice! Almost all people at in my district who do summer school for advanced credit do Biology H (as opposed to other options, since our district’s summer school is VERY limited, offering only about 5 course options for advanced credit, even for sophomores, juniors, and seniors). Everyone I know that did summer school did Biology H and they said it was worth it, and that is one of the reasons why I’m doing it as well.

As far as Calculus goes, it specifically states on my school’s course guide for AP Calculus BC: “It cannot be taken after completing AP Calculus AB.”

For AP ES, I am taking it because I truly do like the environment, and ecology. For the other AP science classes, science is my best subject and I can understand it really easily, so I don’t perceive that as a problem, but that opinion might change in the future. If there is one subject that I could study relentlessly and not stress out, it would be science. (This is also why I’m taking HAP)

For AP CS, I don’t know what AP CS Principles is…but at our school if you want to take AP CS, there is a whole sequence of prerequisites that I don’t have enough course slots to take. I am also just uninterested in going deeper than basic Visual Programming for coding, even if it is the language of the future.

Back to the OP, I agree on the sleep thing with MYO, if you can’t sleep, then your schoolwork will also suffer. Your schedule seems fine for now, but make sure to talk with the counselors and upperclassmen when making your final decisions.

AP CS Principles is a pretty new AP course. I’m still trying to figure out what it is, and to me, the description on the website isn’t much help, other than making it sound a bit fluffy.

It’s a basic introduction to all the areas that comprise CS, with a lot of hands-on activities. It’s excellent to discover whether you’d be interested in CS (and thus a good motivator to make it through some more austere parts of the fields.)