To all of those who somehow managed to survive junior year of high school:
Right now is pretty much the time of the year where I need to choose what classes I want to take next year, and as a sophomore, I am completely lost in all of the choices.
As of now, my tentative schedule is:
AP Chemistry/Physics Honors (depending on which one my teacher recommends)
AP Calc BC (already recommended)
APUSH
American Lit Honors
Tutoring (yes this is a class)
and PE/Sports
I was wondering if this schedule would give me too much workload, as it does seem much more hard compared to this year As a sophomore, my classes were: AP Chinese, Pre-Calc H, Chem H, World Literature (No honors at our school), World History (also no honors available), and ELD student tutor (where you help students who just came from another country learn math and english). In addition to my classes, I am a lv 9 competitive gymnast (and a gymnast version of a team manager), and I dedicate much of my time at the gym.
I know next year I will cut down on the hours at the gym, but would those hours be enough to let me succeed in high school? Additionally, what are your opinions on the classes (difficulty, workload, etc)?
Thanks!
Surviving junior year of HS is not the most arduous task.
That largely depends on the AP class at your school.
Pre-Calc → Calculus BC is a bit of a jump, and will be difficult if you don’t have a solid understanding of pre-calculus. But it is definitely doable. If it moves too fast, you may want to consider going down to AB.
I think a common misconception about high school is that junior year is impossible, from my experience it’s been nothing but the opposite, my grades are better than ever and i’m not taking easy classes per se. Just focus on your work and do well, yes you may not have as much time to socialize with your friends but it’s worth it in the end.
Your schedule looks good but where is your language? I would really advise you to continue with Chinese if that’s possible or tack on a new one.
S/he finished AP Chinese. If the school offers a post-AP Chinese class, that’s an option; if not, not a big deal. IMO there is no need to start a new language.
Most universities like to see that a student has taken 4 years of a language- at least the top schools who really put an emphasis on a global awareness and understanding. Even if your school does not offer any post-AP courses for Chinese you should still consider taking something else, it won’t be that difficult anyways since the highest you can get to will be a level 2.
…or have reached level 4 (which AP is), whichever comes first.
OP has AP Chinese, so she’s fine in that area.
Precalc => BC may be hard, but since you’ve already asked your teacher and been approved, it means you’re able to get a B or more (check again with teacher - but in all likelihood, you attend a school where it’s AB OR BC, not AB then BC. The two types of sequences exist.) You may want to grab a textbook ahead of time and try working on the first chapters on your own to ease the transition.
Overall, it looks quite rigorous. Don’t add anything else, or a “fun” class (ceramics, photography…) The tutoring seems meaningful to you and it’s a neat class/activity; involvement for 3 years will certainly be counted in your favor, just don’t call it “tutoring” since it sounds like you’re being tutored in the other subjects.
Sorry for the late reply.
I go to a public school in the Bay Area. We are not allowed to double up on any subject (ex. no two science classes)
For us, the prerequisite to get into Calc BC is at least an 85% in Pre-Calc honors, since we go over Calculus A during second semester. I got a 99% first semester, so I was automatically qualified to take Calc BC next year.
As for Chinese, AP is equivalent to Chinese 5 (5th year in the language). There are no classes beyond that level, other than possibly taking the class at a community college.