Hello everyone,
My name is Josh and I am a rising junior. Lately, our school has been conducting AP class signups and I have been stressing about choosing the correct classes for next year. Below is my personal plan for junior and senior year.
Junior Year:
AP English Language & Composition
AP United States History
AP Environmental Science
** AP Statistics or AP Computer Science Principles **
Senior Year:
AP Calculus AB
AP English Literature
AP Biology
** AP Statistics or AP Computer Science Principles **
** This is my main concern about my schedule: I am not sure on whether or not I should take AP Statistics or AP Computer Science first. For reference, I am planning on studying some sort of Engineering in college. I have heard that AP Computer Science is a difficult class and I have been leaning towards AP Statistics for my Junior year and AP Computer Science my senior year… If I do happen to just take AP Statistics instead of AP Computer Science my Junior year, will colleges look down upon that? If they see AP Computer Science in progress, will they question why I didn’t take in Junior year even if I had the chance?
Im just really afraid that if I overwhelm myself Junior year with difficult classes such as AP CSP, my GPA will take a hit. Also, I am looking into colleges like UCLA & UC Berkeley; I want to maintain my 4.0 GPA, especially applying as a STEM major.
Any sort of advice will help me in making this tough decision. If you have any questions regarding this situation, let me know and I’ll get back to you ASAP.
Thanks,
Josh
AP CS principles is not generally considered that hard a course. If you are trying to decide whether you may want to study CS, it can be a good overview of the subject and how it relates to others.
Neither AP CS principles nor AP statistics is likely to give you any subject credit for an engineering major in college.
Will you complete biology, chemistry, and physics (they do not necessarily all have to be AP) in high school? That is generally expected for any engineering or science major.
i think schools like UCB and UCLA would be more impressed with AP Chem and AP Physics C TBH. CSP is relatively speaking a pretty straightforward AP, as is CS A and AP Stats.
I don’t think they’d look down at all upon the order you take those APs. It really depends what type of engineering you want to major in, but I’d say they might be more interested in seeing how you do in Comp Sci than Stats(?).
But, as someone who has taken all those APs except for Environmental Science, if you think the workload will be too much choose the classes that will keep your GPA up. Tbh I don’t think it’ll make that much of a difference if you switch taking one of them junior/senior year.
Also, I think Comp sci is only hard if you have a bad teacher. Otherwise it’s not too bad. The rest of your junior year APs are mostly just busy work and not much concept learning in my experience (can’t speak for Environ. Sci though) so you’ll be able to focus your attention on learning the tougher concepts in Comp sci.
@ucbalumnus
The teacher is said to be a tough grader and only about 5 of the kids enrolled have an A in that class.
In regards to other science courses, my school only offers AP Bio & AP Env Sci. However, we are a middle college high school and I will be taking a Physics class over at the college next spring.
Do you believe taking AP Stats Junior year & then AP Comp Sci Principles Senior year will be questioned by college admissions?
I’m not quite understanding why you are taking AB senior year. Typically it would be junior year. I’m not also understanding the concern over your 4.0. Having a more difficult schedule with a less than a 4.0 would look better than an easier schedule and a 4.0
@ProfessorPlum168
I would love to take those courses, but our school does not offer them. We are a middle college high school so I am planning on taking college level introductory chemistry & physics, which is the equivalent of those APs.
I don’t think there’s any problem with that order, don’t think the colleges will have any problem with it either. Plenty of kids I knew took AP Comp Sci after Stats, they all got into Berkeley just fine.
*By plenty I mean I knew 3 of my friends that did that 
@Nicki20
Im currently in Precalc so that’s not possible. Also, my main question is would colleges think that if I am taking the easier route if I take AP Stats Junior instead of AP Comp Sci Principles?
I really don’t think they’d be scrutinizing it that much at all.
@LilacSoul
Thanks, that’s helpful. I myself would not see why order of classes matter, but I haven’t applied to college yet so I wouldn’t know for sure.
As far as AP Chem goes, my understanding is that an online school like Apex Learning offers a very nice AP Chem class with virtual hands-on labs. Something you might want to look into. I usually discourage people from going online for science AP classes because of a lack of hands-on labs, but nowadays some of the online programs have really good labs.
@ProfessorPlum168
Interesting, I may want to look into that more. Thanks.
What they probably would want to see are some awesome ECs/awards. They’ll definitely be looking at that over the order of APs you take. And when the time comes, some nice personable essays. Glad I could help 
@LilacSoul
I have another question, could be answered by anyone really, but how much of a role do AP Scores play in the actual admission process? I know they grant credit if you pass the exam, but would they care if my AP Comp Sci score isn’t available because I chose to take stats first?
Note that physics in college comes in different versions. The one for engineering majors uses more math and commonly requires the first calculus course (like calculus AB) as a prerequisite. The one for biology majors uses less math.
Typically, minimal to none. Certainly all 5’s are viewed as better tan all 2’s, but they are really not looking at % 5’s vs. 4’s.
No. ~40% of AP tests are taken by seniors, and you can’t submit what you don’t have. Having said that:
If you’re currently in precalc, you should take calc next year instead of statistics, unless you’re able to double up in math
In admissions, I believe very little, if any (someone else confirm though?). As far as I know it’s only used for college credit, but be aware some colleges for certain courses will only accept a 4 or higher (as opposed to a 3 or higher for most courses) in order to give you credit for that class. So no, I don’t believe they will care if that score is not available, in the case of admissions at least.
@skieurope
I made a mistake in my message. I will be taking [Precalc next year]*, so If I do end up taking statistics, I would not have to double up on math senior year, but I will have to double up junior year.