Background: I’m a sophomore. A/B student. I don’t know what I want to major in/do when I’m older. I’m currently taking:
Hon English 10
Algebra 2(horrible at math)
Hon Chemistry
AP Government
Hon Spanish 5(last year of foreign language)
Foundations of Art
Ceramics
I was in Hon Algebra 2 but had to switch to on-level. I’m one of those kids who naturally sucks at math(I try hard though). Although I’ve never struggled with it in science…so far. I’ve actually loved taking Biology and Chemistry.
For Junior year, so far I’ve planned:
AP Lang
Pre Calculus
AP World History
Photography
Piano
Senior year:
AP Lit
AP European History
Calculus
I’m having difficulty figuring out which science course I should take at what time. My options are: AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, And AP Environmental Science. Both AP Bio&Chem are Double Period. I’m probably more interested in Bio&Chem. But tons of people are doing physics and it looks way better on your transcript. Also idk if I want to take AP ES and also take AP Psychology(cuz AP ES is easy and Im really interested in psychology). Plus I don’t want to overload on APs. So I’m stressin a lot about this because there’s too many possibilities and idk what’s best for me. HELP
Plan to take the AP Spanish or at least the SAT SUbject Spanish test.
AP Lang
Pre Calculus => is this is offered over 2 years? If you had to drop down to regular Algebra2, it may be better to take it easy with Precalc, which is quite difficult. If there’s no “slowed down” version at your school, then regular precalc.
AP World History
Photography
Piano
=> Add AP Bio or AP Chem
Senior year:
AP Lit
AP European History
Calculus => probably not a good idea if you’re struggling in Algebra2. No college requires calculus except for Caltech and HarveyMudd, and if you struggled in Algebra2 you’re probably not on track for these schools. See what your school offers. Statistics may always be a possibility.
You can easily add APES, AP Psych, and an economics/personal finance class, and one-two artistic classes.
Junior year:
AP Lang
Pre Calculus
AP World History
Photography
Piano
Add AP Bio or AP Physics and/or AP Spanish
Senior year:
AP Lit
AP European History
Calculus (You still should take calculus to prove that you’re striving to work hard/ no need to AP it if you’re not a math person.)
Add any of the AP’s from junior year that you couldn’t add, and AP Psych
Note that no one’s going to be impressed by your taking Calculus (Ap or not, but for any AP for that matter, too) if you get a C in it. Before you choose your math class for next year, ask your math teacher whether you should reasonably get a B in calculus based on your performance so far. If the answer is no, or if you have a C in precalc, take another math class.
Who said “it looks WAY better on your transcript”? AP Bio and AP Chem aren’t easy courses, y’know.
Simply taking AP Physics isn’t what’s important - the grade you get in the class is what matters. An A in AP Bio/AP Chem is better than a C/D in AP Physics. You just said that you’re struggling with math - Why would you even consider waltzing into AP Physics just for the sake of “making your transcript look better”. Have you even taken regular or honors Physics before? If so, what did you think of the class and how well did you do in it?
Based on the info you provided, I’d say you should do AP Bio or AP Chem b/c you say you’re more interested in it. I wouldn’t bother with AP Physics (If you aren’t good at math/have no experience with a Physics course, this would be a disaster) or APES (it’s a lite AP course)
as for the APES vs AP Psych, they’re both considered lite AP courses - so if you’d rather do AP Psych, then go for it. Good luck
See what your school offers. Statistics may always be a possibility.
AP Bio and AP Chem aren’t easy courses, y’know.