Junior Class Choices

I’m going into Junior Year and these are the classes and clubs I am interested in taking. If you could give help, rate difficulty, etc. that would be great.

Core Classes

AP Calculus AB: I’m currently in Pre-Calculus Honors
AP Chemistry: I’m currently in Chemistry 1 Honors
AP US History: I’m currently in AP World
AP Language and Composition: I’m currently in English II Honors

Electives

Health Science 2: I’m currently in Health Science I
Study Hall (My school makes you take it)

Then I am undecided about my other two electives. Here’s a list of possibilities. Please tell me which ones sound the best.

French 1: I took Spanish 1-3 already so if I took French 1 in 11th and French 2 in 12th Would 5 years of language look good?
AP European History: I am unsure about taking 5 AP’s considering I am only in 2 (AP Psychology and AP World History) But I am very interested in history, specifically European History.
AP Drawing/AP 2D Studio Art: I am interested in art but I’m not the best at it so I don’t know how I would fare in AP art.
Fashion Essentials: This would be an easier class so I am not only taking rigorous courses and also taking a course that I find very interesting.
Holocaust History Honors: This would be the last choice or a backup considering I already know a great deal about the Holocaust.

I am currently in HOSA and MAO and want to rejoin them next year, hopefully in a leadership position.

I currently have a weighted GPA of 4.6818 and an unweighted GPA of 3.9091.

Based on this could you tell me how hard my classes would be next year, which electives sound the best, and if I should reconsider my classes. Thank you!

Do you not have the option for Spanish 4? If you do, I’d recommend that over starting a second language.

You don’t need another AP in the mix so take what interests you most. I’ve heard the AP art courses are very time intensive.

Difficulty and time is so variable school to school that you are better off asking an upperclassman you know what there experiences were (or the teachers of guidance counselors).

FWIW, my D felt that Calc was just a natural progression from pre-calc. Not a big jump in difficulty or workload. AP chem was one of the toughest classes she took in HS (after AP Physics C). She had a first year teacher though so there was a lot of self teaching going on so very time intensive. APUSH and AP Lang had a lot of writing but in her school those two classes complemented each other.

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I was taking Spanish 4 at the beginning of this year, but in Spanish 3 I had a teacher that I did not mix well with and I had difficulty learning. Then I had the same teacher in Spanish 4 the next year. She spoke completely in Spanish despite not teaching us enough to fluently understand in Spanish 3, so I swapped it out for AP Psych Instead. Would taking it in the summer be beneficial and then picking up a second language in junior year? I would ask an upperclassman but unfortunately, I don’t know any. In freshman year I didn’t speak to anyone (I regret it), and now school is online, so I only know one person from my school and they are in the same grade as me. I am not too worried about AP Chem because my AP Chem teacher will be the same as my Chem Honors teacher and she is a very good teacher, I have not struggled in Chem so far. I am not as worried about APUSH as I am for AP Lang because my writing isn’t the best but at least for the history aspect I am good at history. As for throwing another AP into the mix, I’m still undecided for AP European History but I will drop the potential of AP Art and swap it for normal 2D art and Design. But I am debating between 2D Studio Art and Fashion Essentials now. Both interest me.

Some schools don’t count FL taken in HS and want to see 3 - 4 year of the same language in HS. For highly selective colleges, dropping your FL could be an issue. I would worry about taking an accelerated summer program if you struggled during the school year at a slower pace (summer programs move very very quickly). Can you get a tutor for Spanish?

Ask your current teachers or guidance counselor about the course load/rigor. They will also know. At my D’s school, AP euro was as much work as APUSH so I wouldn’t recommend adding that into the mix without having a serious discussion with your history teacher first.

PS. I saw your other post…yes you will need some level of physics before graduation. Doesn’t have to be AP or even honors but some level of physics. If you don’t have room for that in your senior year schedule, I’d consider adding regular physics to your schedule for junior year. I’d prioritize it over AP chem if necessary since you took H chem last year.

3rd year Spanish + 2nd year French = “3 years” of foreign language to colleges.

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3 years of one language and 2 years of a second do not equal 5 years from an admissions perspective. If any of your target colleges ask for 4 years, they mean 4 years if the same language.

I caution against taking 2 AP history classes simultaneously. The reading us immense and major writing assignments will likely be due at the same time.

The operative part being AP. Do not be fooled because it is an art class. At us a lot of work. And if you are targeting private colleges, you are likely to earn no AP credit. There are easier ways to earn an art credit, if the HS requires, and not every course needs to be AP.

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Would picking the language back up in the summer before junior year be an issue considering I didn’t take it in sophomore year? I don’t know if I can get a tutor for Spanish, but I think I could do well in an accelerated summer course because the biggest issue for me was the teacher, not the subject itself, plus I pick up languages fast. I plan to take Physics Honors and Spanish 4 over the summer before junior year.

Oh, okay. Thank you!

For the language thing I will take Spanish 4 over the summer. Also for AP European History, what could be something I swap out for that? Also, eventually I do want to take that class, so would it be hard if I took AP European History along side AP Government, or AP Micro/Macroeconomics?

Take AP Euro as a senior. You can take economics or gov as a junior if allowed.

I have decided against AP art and on my list of possible courses I just put normal studio art because it is something I am interested in.

My school doesn’t allow taking government or economics in junior year. Would the two courses be too much in senior year? Also for the swapping out, since I would not be taking AP European History, should I swap it out for another core or an elective. (The only issue with the elective is that nothing else on the list that my school offers especially interests me.)

No, but those 2 plus AP Euro would be, potentially. Plus 3 social studies courses would be hard to fit in without acing another core subject.

Whatever interests you.

The only thing with that is nothing else on the course card interests me much. The only things that really interest me are French, 2D Studio Art, Fashion Essentials, and Holocaust History. Since I would take French simply because it interests me and not because it’s language credit, would that be a good idea?

That’s fine. As are the other 3 options

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So for my final choices on my course selection card, this is what I put.

AP English Language & Composition
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry
AP US History
Health Science 2
Creative Writing 1
Digital Info Tech

Back-ups
2D Studio Art
History of the Holocaust
French 1

Does this sound good?

Oh, and over the summer before junior year starts I would take. Physics Honors, Spanish 4 Honors, and possibly Drivers Ed.

Works for me. Good luck.

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