Is the following junior year schedule too rigorous?
AP Calculus BC, AP Lang, AP Physics 1, Intermediate High Chinese (AP Chinese), AP Econ., AP Computer Science A, Gen. Chem
For context, I am in a fairly competitive private school and I am taking WHAP as of now. I will also self-study Physics 2 since my school doesn’t offer the course. Some of you might be wondering why I’m taking so many APs but I have to since my freshmen and sophomore year wasn’t the greatest (below 3.5 GPA) and I have high expectations for myself (want to go to at least a top 15 for CS). I am enthusiastic about working hard and motivation is higher than ever, and I believe that I have the intelligence to take on this courseload, judging from my SAT scores (1500+ first try without studying). Btw I am considered an international since I don’t hold a US passport.
You are taking 6 AP levels as a junior because you want to make up for the fact that you got below a 3.5 in non-AP classes? It would seem to me this is a bad strategy. Why would you think you would do better when taking many more difficult classes?
It is more important for you to take less AP classes and do well in the ones you take.
Do not take 3 AP Lab sciences at once. Colleges do not expect you take every AP science before college.
I am pretty confident that I will succeed in the classes since I have improved my work ethic after 1st sem. of sophomore year and currently have a 4.0 in 2nd semester. Do you suggest I move AP Chem to junior year? I can always not take physics 2 or AP Chinese.
You are making the mistake that many CCers make…that is, assuming that you will go to a Top 15 college, and that every % point you get off on a test or a grade is taking you away from that.
You need to do your best…take challenging courses THAT YOU CAN DO WELL IN…and then find a colleges that matches you. You are trying to match yourself to a college.
There are 2000+ 4-year colleges in the USA…One is right for you.
What sciences have you taken? You should take Bio, Chem, Physics and then an AP version of one of those.
I’m actually very interested in STEM itself. Art and music are one of my worst areas of study. Despite my low GPA, I’ve always maintained an A in math and science courses.
While top colleges want to see a challenging schedule and excellent grades, I don’t believe you are leaving yourself enough time to excel at extracurriculars. Colleges don’t want academic grinders. Among fit and other things, they want students who are intelligent AND interesting AND who will contribute to their college community. If you are going to launch a successful application, you need to demonstrate the latter two qualities in addition to the first. Your schedule doesn’t appear to have planned enough time to show that with a sufficient level of commitment.
I can’t imagine what counselor would let you take those classes. if APWH is your only AP class this year, which buy the way isn’t exactly the hardest one , I have to agree with the others. I don’t think you are taking into account how much harder your schedule would be next year. As to overriding a teacher recommendation it suggests you know more than the teacher. Not the best of assumptions. Out of interest what have you taken the first two years?
colleges don’t care whether you self studied or not. They want you in class, participating, testing out ideas/approaches, taking tests, doing group work, etc.
there’s no way that you can ensure you’ll get into a college with below 25% acceptance rate.
taking lots of AP classes is NOT the way to go. The differentiator will your EC’s as long as you have 8 AP’s TOTAL for all of HS. You already have 1. Take 3 junior year, 4 senior year. Or 4+4 if you want to push it.
AP Calculus BC => what math class are you in right now?
AP Lang => good choice
AP Physics 1 => good choice
Intermediate High Chinese (AP Chinese Level) => are you Chinese or is Chinese a heritage language?
AP Econ (Micro and Macro each semester) => have you taken US history already? Or is it scheduled for 12th grade?
AP Computer Science A=> save it for senior year
General Chemistry => required for college, but often taken sophomore year - what science classes have you taken so far?
Find a guide called Princeton Review’s Best Colleges and find 20 colleges you had never heard of AND that look interesting on paper. Fill out the “request info” form for all of them.
(There are 3,700 universities in the US. Among the top 10% several aren’t well-known abroad but are truly excellent from Williams to Case Western to SUNY Geneseo to HarveyMudd to College of Charleston Honors. You need to know about more than arbitrary cutoffs.)
Sorry for the late response. As of my first two years I have taken regular physics and chemistry, Advanced Pre-Calc and Calculus AB, Foundation High Chinese and Intermediate High Chinese. I only had to override one of the courses listed above and it was AP Language as my counselor thought that the schedule was too rigorous.
I am somewhat fluent in Chinese and have lived in China for 5 yrs before moving back to the states. I have to take AP Compsci A since I want to major is CS and multiple people have told me that AP CSP is a useless course and a waste of time. I have taken introductory chemistry my freshmen year.
“I have to take AP Compsci A since I want to major is CS and multiple people have told me that AP CSP is a useless course and a waste of time.”
I disagree. Unfortunately it does seem to be poorly taught in many schools, but when taught well, it is an excellent overview of multiple programming languages. AP CSA focuses only on Java. Unless you have prior programming experience (and already have had exposure to multiple programming languages), taking both classes is beneficial to a future CS major.
Plan to take both classes. CSP is a very good overview. It is not “programming” like CSA so some people with a narrow view of what CS is might think it’s not worth it, but nowadays CS is WAY more than programming. You can easily schedule one each per year.
To demonstrate fluency you might want to simply register for the AP Chinese exam and not take the course, if you have enough reading/writing knowledge from living in China. I realize it may not be the case at all.
Does your school really require Chemistry AND General Chemistry before students take AP Chemistry?
Actually, I was wondering why you started an identical thread under a different username. Since that’s a ToS violation, I have merged the 2 threads and banned the second account.
Not sure if the OP is still responding (or even can), but I would second taking the AP Chinese test without the class; they’ll assume you’re fluent if you lived in China for some time.
Don’t try to self-study AP Physics 2, especially if you haven’t taken any physics classes yet.
The low gpa earlier might be a concern, but for what it’s worth, MANY schools only allow sophomores to take one AP, so that’s not too worrisome. Plenty of students go from 1 AP to 4+ junior year. However, you might want to consider how you would feel if your grades drop due to taking too many hard classes.