AP English Lit and Comp
AP Micro Econ/AP US Govt
Christian Athletic Leadership
AP Environmental Science
Anatomy/Physiology (H)
AP Computer Science A
Statistics
The one class I’m still debating is whether to take AP calc AB or stick with Statistics. I dropped AP calc and went into regular calc earlier this year as I was struggling. Everyone in my school says its one of the hardest ap’s offered. Math is certainly not one of my strongest areas but I’m still wondering if I should take it despite that. Also the course work and speed of the class means I will have to dedicate extra time to that class, I don’t know if I will be able to do that with the other AP’s i plan on taking. I know colleges would certainly prefer AP calc over stats, but I know I can get an A in stats, where as in ap calc its pretty possible that I could finish with a C. Does taking stats over ap calc hinder my chances at UC schools?
I would say take AP Calc AB over AP Stats. UC schools know that AP Stats is easy, and an A in that class will not impress them. Plus, UCs will not see your senior year grades, they will only see you extending yourself taking AP Calc AB (the letter grade is irrelevant, unless you get lower than a C).
P.S.: I am taking College Prep Calculus (dropped from AP), like you, but in senior year. I still got into UC Davis and UCSD (the only UCs I applied to).
If you took Precal and will be taking AP Stats, you’re okay. You should only take an AP class if you’re reasonably confident you can get a B or higher in it.
Does your school offer AP CS Principles or are you already used to programming?
AP CS is your science class, no need for APES (AP lite, won’t be helpful for admissions - take for fun and/or because you like the subject, not because of college) and no need for anatomy/physiology (unless you’re going to major in Nursing or apply to PrePT/PrePA).
You would need a foreign language,unless you already completed Foreign Language 4 or AP (even more so if you don’t have Foreign language 3!)
I am taking AP Comp sci because at my school it’s pretty much a fluff class, one of the easiest AP’s at my school. And I’m taking anatomy and physiology because I wanna major in biology. As for APES it is also one of the fluff AP’s at my school. And taking AP gov and AP lit just to make sure I have a rigorous load, don’t want colleges to think I’m slacking
Understand that college-level biology is going to involve a lot of math, chem, physics. Take a look at the requirements at https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/ugrad_biomajor.php for an example.
This is an example of what Dweck at Stanford calls a fixed mind set. See http://mindsetonline.com/ You’re not doing yourself any favors here.
My bet is that your math problems don’t reflect any permanent problems, but weak study skills. Since you’re still in HS you have a great opportunity here. You can improve your study skills in math and the new approach will transfer to other classes you take. And the grades you get next year get wiped off the book when you finish HS.
What I suggest you do is start by learning about better study habits. A recent book “Make it Stick” covers the research on learning, and the book explains to HS and college students how to apply the concepts. For the class itself, you should get a copy of the “calculus problem solver” book since it has thousands of worked examples that you can use for self-testing. If there are places where your teacher isn’t clear there are tons of online resources such as Khan Academy where you can get another perspective. The Great Courses company also makes a series http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/understanding-calculus-problems-solutions-and-tips.html that your local library may have; it also goes on sale periodically and was just $49 a few weeks ago.