Junior/Senior Year Schedule Advice

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

Hello! I’m currently a sophomore that hasn’t taken any APs due to lack of availability until now so I’m trying to change that with my junior and senior years.

What should I change about these schedules? Is there anything I should double-up on to get ahead? Is there something I should take that isn’t listed? Because of our new online programs, I have access to virtually every AP there is. I haven’t decided what I’m going to college for but I definitely know I want to go into the STEM field.

Junior Year:
Precalculus/Mathematical Analysis
Chemistry 1
Virginia and U.S. History
Honors English 11
Honors Spanish IV
Economics & Personal Finance (Required by the state of Virginia in order to graduate)
Anatomy/Physiology* (Maybe. Not 100%, might change this one.)

Senior Year:
AP Calculus AB (I will have had H. Algebra 1, H. Geometry, Alg. 2, and Precalc. Is that enough to take AB?)
AP Physics 1 (I will have had Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Anatomy/Physiology* (might change to another science, not sure on that one yet). Is that enough to take 1?)
Dual Credit English 12
AP Spanish Language (I know I could definitely handle AP Spanish because I’m currently in Spanish 3 and I’m almost fluent.)
Virginia and US Government
-Two elective spots; don’t know what they’ll be yet. What should I choose?

Is this too much for a student who has had no AP experience? I think I could most likely handle the coursework and load because I’m a very responsible student when it comes to my schoolwork. Would I be suitable for these courses? Are they suitable for me based on my prior classes? Please help, lol!

Thank you very much!!

2

Junior Year:
Precalculus/Mathematical Analysis
Chemistry 1
Virginia and U.S. History
Honors English 11
Honors Spanish IV
Economics & Personal Finance (Required by the state of Virginia in order to graduate)
Anatomy/Physiology* (Maybe. Not 100%, might change this one.)

 Depending how you feel about the workload for this year, you might be able to sub AP physics 1, which requires only algebra2 (not sure if it also requires chem, but I think chem is probably not important for it).  But if you're more interested in the bio side of STEM, you might want to stick with the anatomy.  Completing Physics 1 this year would allow you to finish the 1-2 sequence next year, or to take another AP science, though I don't know how they handel the labs in those online courses.

Senior Year:
AP Calculus AB (I will have had H. Algebra 1, H. Geometry, Alg. 2, and Precalc. Is that enough to take AB?)

Yes that is the usual progression.

AP Physics 1 (I will have had Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Anatomy/Physiology* (might change to another science, not sure on that one yet). Is that enough to take 1?)

Physics 1 is an algebra-based physics course intended as a first AP, so yes, it's enough.

Dual Credit English 12
AP Spanish Language (I know I could definitely handle AP Spanish because I’m currently in Spanish 3 and I’m almost fluent.)
Are you a native speaker? Even students coming out of AP aren’t “almost fluent”. But if you are good at Spanish, you should be able to take this.

Virginia and US Government
-Two elective spots; don’t know what they’ll be yet. What should I choose?

If possible I would talk to other students about the quality of the online classes. Some students have a good experience with online education, but it’s also possible to do it poorly. Your course selections might be influenced by this.

3

@mathyone thanks so much for your recommendations! I’m currently in Honors Spanish III online and I love it. I self-study Spanish so I think I would be fine in AP Spanish. My classes would be on the same program. :slight_smile: On the program’s website, the only prerequisites for AP Physics 1 are Geometry and Alg. 2, so I’ll take that into consideration.