My daughter is a sophomore and currently taking two AP classes (Biology and Calc AB). Next year she plans to take 5 AP classes: Calc BC, Chemistry, Physics C, Eng Lang, and French. Any thoughts as to whether this is a good idea? She is doing really well in her current AP classes.
I would advise against taking AP Chemistry and Physics C in the same year. I know many people who had to drop one course or the other because it was way too much.
is this because of work load? or difficulty?
I would only take 1 lab science at a time. What’s the hurry?
Same suggestion. It’s a lot. But saying this my son’s first semester in college was chemistry and physics with 2 labs with Calc and a humanities. It was a lot and he got through it. Taking physic c as a senior is pretty typical since you need the understanding of Calculus for it but it can be learned together also. If your school has multivariate Calc for senior year I would suggest that also. Yes the difficulty and workload can be an issue for some students.
I wouldn’t take AP chemistry and physics C at the same time. Those are along the heaviest workload APclasses AND among the most complex.
Make sure that she has taken honors physics or AP physics1, and honors chemistry already.
Keep in mind that top schools only want to see 6-8 APs or equivalent (dual enrollment, IB, AICE…) TOTAL but judiciously chosen. Afterwards the law of diminishing returns applies and time would be better spent on making a difference through ECs.
4 APs junior year and 4 APs senior year would already exceed this recommendation.
My daughter took both AP Physics C and AP chem at the same time as a senior. It was a brutal amount of work and the two hardest APs she took (Physics being harder than chem). With AP language in the mix, I honestly don’t think it’s a doable workload. I would leave Physics until senior year.
Is physics C just mechanics, or both parts (mechanics and E&M)? If the latter, expect it to be harder and more work than if the former.
If she chooses to take just one of physics C and chemistry, she may want to choose based on which one may better help her decide her future academic interests.
^ she’s a junior, so she can take both, one each year, which would actually look better than taking both the same year and ending with APES…
I too suggest limiting AP classes junior year. Advantage of taking both time-intensive science courses this year is marginal at best ( AOs will likely be just as impressed by 4 APs as by 5), but would leave your D significantly less time to spend on EC’s, volunteering, test prepping, etc. A lot of summer programs/scholarship apps open up junior year as well and have significant essay component - a good practice run before senior year college apps. Finally, the more time your daughter spends studying, the less time she spends with her friends… and with you. My D is a junior and while she seems to be fine juggling 4 AP’s, all her ECs, volunteering, essays, and testing, I can’t remember the last time we spent all weekend day as a family of 4 doing something fun, because D always has something going on.
As others have said, there is absolutely no rush. Your daughter can always take physics C next year, or in college, or whenever. Maybe she can take something easy and enjoyable instead this year, like art, theater, etc? The free time is priceless 
Thanks for all the replies and input… She would be taking just the mechanics part of Physics C and possibly the E&M senior year if she is interested. She is taking honors chemistry right now and has a 99 in the class; she says it is super easy and does not understand why people think it is hard. She is also doing very well in AP Bio. So I think AP Chem will not be a problem. I am hoping having a year under her belt already with calculus will also make AP Physics C more manageable. We have a meeting with her GIEP team coming up next week, so will discuss her course load at that time. Thanks again!
Mechanics is much easier than E&M. Good plan to split them up.
Don’t underestimate the jump from honors to AP chem though. It’s also a substantial shift in rigor.
yes the jump from honors Bio to AP was significant so she knows it will be harder.
AP Chem is significantly harder than AP Bio. AP Chem and AP Physics C are the two hardest science APs and among the hardest AP’s in the whole list. She’s probably eager for a challenge but this may prove more a nightmare than a challenge, all for… no benefit in the long run if she has to cut on sleep, EC’s, or social time to do it or if, god forbid, she ends up having too much on her plate. We’re not talking have 5 AP Bio classes; the level of difficulty would make it more like having 7 AP Bio classes.
However the issue isn’t just difficulty. It’s the combined difficulty of each of these AND the time commitment each requires AND the fact it takes away from better ways to strengthen her application.
If she takes only one of the AP sciences junior year, taking physics C mechanics leaves her the option of either physics C E&M or chemistry senior year, while if she takes chemistry junior year, she will only be able to take physics C mechanics.
On the other hand, physics C E&M is of lesser value subject credit wise, since college physics courses tend to be more math intensive (often having multivariable calculus as at least a corequisite), so retaining the option to take physics C E&M may not be so important.
Thanks for replies… will see what the counselor says. She wants to keep the option of taking Physics E&M senior year so that is why she wants to double up on science junior year.
Is there an option of both Mechanics and E&M senior year? At my dd’s HS Mechanics was first semester and E&M second semester.
That is sorta how my son’s class was also… I see no advantage of taking the two sciences together with risking her GPA. Taking physics C(which ever) with advance math like multivariate Calc or linear algebra depending on her school will make her a very competitive student for just about any school.
No at her school mechanics is prerequisite for E&M (both full year courses)
I wouldn’t recommend doubling up on sciences junior year when we are talking some combo of AP Chem/AP Physics C/ AP Bio. That said, I let my kids make their own decisions after hearing my opinion.
My d19 doubled up in sciences junior by taking AP Chem and Honors Physics. Along with a Calc BC, AP Lang, APUSH. It was a lot of work, but it was doable. Keeping in mind no after school job or sports (ECs are math and science related). She is taking AP Physics C this year along with a DE/Honors Forensics class. She had friends taking AP Physics C and AP Bio and AP Lit and it’s a ton of work. She’s glad she didn’t choose their courseloads.
Based on these experiences, a combo of an AP science + non AP science is probably best for a STEM kid who wants to double up.