I know it is a little bit early as it’s only November and first semester is only more than half way over. However, I have really been considering what classes I should take during junior year as it’s one of the most important years to college. My tentative plan for right now is:
Algebra 2/trig Honors
American Literature
US History
Advanced Drama Honors
Spanish 4 Honors
AP Biology
Considering some issues such as taking only Algebra 2/trig as a junior(in my school a good portion of freshmen take this course) I feel as though it might be a disadvantage in college admissions, would it be a good idea just to take an algebra 2 cours eover the summer and then be able to take Precalculus honors next year so I’ll be able to take AP Calculus AB as a senior? I’m planning on taking some more APs as a senior though, such as AP Spanish, AP gov/econ, and (possibly) AP English Literature.
Since you plan on being a humanities/social science majors it’s be luxh more important for you to take APUSH and AP Lang than AP Bio.
In addition make sure you’ve taken biology and chemistry, then add physics (regular is fine if you’re not going to major in stem).
I wouldn’t recommend accelerating algebra2 through the summer. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, unless you have As in algebra1H and geometry. If you want an AP math, you may be able to take Precalculus and AP stats so senior year. (Precalculus senior year is the ‘normal’ sequence).
Do you only have six periods per day?
So, my recommendation for junior year would be:
Algebra2H
AP Lang
APUSH
Drama honors
Spanish 4H
Physics regular
And for Senior year
Precalculus (honors)
AP Lit
AP Econ/gov
AP Spanish language
Apes or AP stats
One class of your choice
Hi, I’m actually planning to major in a biology related field more pertaining to medicine. That’s why I plan on taking AP biology during junior year, and then physiology/ APES during senior year. However, the plan to take humanities and language AP classes during senior year is just to balance out my schedule due to the fact that I cannot take a math AP(without accelerating but as you have said it’s probably not a good idea) and possibly a non honors/AP science course. In my school our schedules actually have 7 periods but I can’t take that many courses without a few grades not being where I’d want them to be… that’s actually the case right now as with no free period I’m struggling with a B in chem honors and world lit. Also, there is no AP English Language course in my school, only lit and it’s only a senior level course. Regarding math, my school doesn’t allow doubling up so it’s not possible to take an AP and honors math course in the same year.
Thank you so much for your time!
For pre-med, your priorities should be to have Physics (regular, honors, ap1), then AP chemistry and/or AP biology.
Physiology and APES are electives compared to these.
Very few universities expect calculus andrhy no be the best pick for pre-meds (There’s a list on this website).
I agree with @MYOS1634
For premed, you must have Bio, Physics and Chemistry in HS because you will have to take it in College.
Also you will need to take calculus in college…you can do that by getting to pre-calc in HS. You could also accelerate…but how strong are you in math?
Not particularly strong at math, but average at it. I’ve consistently gotten mid to low A’s in math classes, a solid A in algebra 1 honors (95) and a low A (92) in geometry currently. However, with better and more efficient study habits I could be fine in more advanced math classes. If incorporating a physics course is very important to premed I’ll consider taking it concurrently as a junior at the local community college - equivalent to AP physics 1.
College courses taken while in high school and their grades will be included when you have your GPA recalculated for applying to medical school. So any grade lower than A- in a college course taken while in high school would be detrimental to your pre-med prospects.
Well understood, that will be put into careful consideration dependent on the workload that I will have the following year to ensure that my grade will be no lower than an A-.
Particularly in physics. The recommendation to take Physics 1 as a high school class was specifically so that you wouldn’t encounter physics for the first time when your grade in it counted for med school.
Regardless, it still affects GPA either way. In my school AP Physics 1 is considered one of the hardest courses and most students don’t do well in it without countless hours of effort and studying.
If you think you can’t handle AP physics 1, just take physics honors or regular physics as a senior. That can give you more of a head start especially for premed/most other science majors. Otherwise, AP chem is good too for when you have to take organic chemistry in college. That will look way better to college than merely physio or APES
You’re not early to be thinking of this, BTW. Our school’s juniors are picking classes within the week, sophomores go next week, and current freshmen will be picking classes right after Thanksgiving. I think they like to get the current students in place so that in January & February they can get the incoming freshmen situated (probably the most work-intense of all the grades for them). After that the focus turns to the summer school schedule and college acceptances.
Perhaps you said in another thread, but I don’t know what kind of colleges you are looking at. Being on a pre-med track, math and sciences would be the most important classes. Talk to your GC and the teachers of the work loads and level of difficulty of the classes you plan to take. Personally I would drop APES in favor of AP Chemistry (APES is not considered a lab science in our HS, but yours might be different). I would find out how much homework is involved in APUSH (in our school it is two hours a night). So if you have a heavy STEM load, it might be best to stick with honors level history and spend the time on AP sciences and honors or AP math.