Junior Year Course Selection

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hello everyone! How are you all? Hope you’re all well.

We’re (My school) on Winter Break currently and will be returning to school January 2, 2018. The rising seniors will begin picking their courses, while the rising juniors will pick their next year courses mid-near the end of January. As a sophomore right now, going on to become a junior, the selection of junior year courses is creeping upon me, and I have trouble deciding. I wished to ask everyone on CC what their thoughts on my course selections were.

Some background on me: I am currently enrolled in AP World History, English 10 Honors, Chemistry Honors, Algebra 2 Honors, Spanish 3, P.E./Health/Driver’s Ed, and Sociology/Current Affairs. My school did not offer any honors world language courses, but they have stated that they are going to begin giving Honors weighted GPA for any fourth world language level, so it is turning into an honors course. I have an A (there are no A+ grades in my county) in every class, except for a B+ in AP World. I plan on majoring in something in the humanities: most likely education and/or creative writing. I really like social sciences, history, and writing.

Option 1: AP US History,
AP English Lang,
Regular or AP Physics 1, (AP Chem is also an idea on my list, but it is very unlikely as I am interested in astronomy in senior year, and I’ve always wanted to learn physics content.)
Pre-Calculus Honors,
AP Psychology,
AP Micro/Macro Economics (My school combines them into one full year course), and
Spanish 4 Honors

Option 2:
The same as above but instead of AP Economics, I will take a regular elective, such as creative writing, film study, philosophy, etc. I will think of doing this if I decide to take AP Physics 1 or AP Chemistry.

The reason I am stuck with this is because of a few reasons:

  1. Because I will be busy with four APs and an honors course if I include AP Economics, I thought maybe signing up for Regular Physics would be a good idea as I really want to sign up for Astronomy as my science senior year (I will not be able to do Astronomy if I sign up for AP Chem), and I would have time to focus on my ECs, have more free time than taking 5 APs, and I am not planning to major in a STEM Science. However, I have a very high grade in Chem Honors (I had a 98 in first quarter, and I have a 97 in the current quarter), and most kids in my course levels are signing up for an AP Lab Science (Physics 1, Bio, or Environmental Science). This makes me question if it would be a waste for me to sign up for Regular Physics.
  1. If I do decide to take AP Physics 1, I will not take AP Econ this year. But then I realized this could lead into more problems. My county requires that you take either Regular Econ or AP Econ in order to graduate high school. So, if I leave AP Econ till senior year, I will have an overburdening amount of APs senior year and will not be able to handle any of them, while tackling lots of ECs and writing college applications. I also do not want a ton of stress that I can avoid. This makes me believe it is best to keep AP Economics. Another problem that would arise from me not taking AP Econ would be that I would have a space for a fun elective, but I would have trouble deciding between Philosophy, Creative Writing, and Film Study, or possibly more electives I may be interested in.

I know this is very long, and I sincerely apologize. Reading this over again, I realize I come off a bit whiny, demanding, and I am asking a lot of questions at once, but I am not sure how to ask this otherwise. If none of you desire to answer, feel free not to. I will understand. If no one answers, I will meet up with many teachers and counselors and contemplate what will be best for me with pros and cons lists. I just wanted to see if there’s anyone who could help me.

Thanks for all your help and/or for reading this really long thread.

Have a good day!

Edit: P.S. If I missed any information you desire, feel free to ask. I will try my best to answer everything if I was not clear on something. I also forgot to mention that the amount of students who do AP Economics are very small and are mostly seniors, which has both advantages and disadvantages. On the other hand, I know a lot of people who are enrolling in AP Physics 1. I just wanted to say this just in case this would change anything.

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I think it really depends on what your looking to do in college! If I were you I would take AP Physics 1 and put of Econ until senior year. 5 APs in a year is a lot, especially if you’ve only taken one so far, but I think that an AP science course would be beneficial even if you aren’t interested in going into a STEM field for college admissions. Of course this depends on where you’re looking to go to school, but especially considering how well you are doing in your current science class.

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@hopestobe Thanks for your advice! It’s appreciated and helpful. While I’ll probably think more about it before choosing and wait for more responses, this is advice I will keep in mind. The only reason why I was scared of holding up Econ until senior year is due to the fact that I would have too many APs to do in senior year.

Thanks again, however, and it is very true that an AP Lab Science will be helpful even if I do not major in it.

Have a good day!

4

Then it might be helpful to tell us what you are planning for senior year, as I agree that 5 APs is a lot. Also, is econ a graduation requirement for you?

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@skieurope Those are pretty good questions and to answer the second question: yes. We have to take regular economics or AP Economics in order to graduate. I do not wish to take regular economics because it is known to be very boring and most of the class is just sitting on the computer and listening to its lectures. It is offered to be taken over the summer, but I can not do this as I am applying for the 2018 VA Governor’s School, and I will be prepping for the SAT.

Assuming that I do well in my junior year with Option 1, and I take regular or AP Physics 1 over AP Chem… I plan on:
AP US and Comp. Gov (It is one full year course.),
AP English Literature,
Astronomy, AP Physics 2, or AP Physics C,
AP Calculus AB,
AP Spanish Language,
and two electives of my choice (Philosophy, Creative Writing, AP European History, Film Study, etc.)

I just realized that some people may ask about AP Psychology, and my answer to that is that I really want to take that class this upcoming year because most kids who sign up for it are juniors, and I am very interested in the course material.

Thanks again, you guys! You guys give very helpful advice.

Have a good day!

6

OK, then assuming that US Gov is also a graduation requirement, I’d probably go with option 1 junior year. It may be challenging, but you know your abilities more than anyone here. Good luck.

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@skieurope Yes, while Comp. Gov is not required, US Gov is. Thanks for your help! It’s helpful to me, and I appreciate it.

Have a good day!

8

I hope no one minds me bumping, but I’m curious if there are any more responses. Any more?

No worries if there aren’t any.

Happy holidays and have a good day!

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Sure, I can voice my feedback.

The schedule looks pretty solid overall. Of course, as mere observers we can’t really gauge whether this schedule is a good fit for you personally. Solely based off a few hundred word post, there’s no way of telling what your strengths and weaknesses are in terms of academics. I can give a run-down of my thoughts on each component of your schedule, though.

AP US History
I’m a sophomore currently taking the class, and it’s definitely a time-commitment. You did specify that you’re interested in social sciences, so I guess it wouldn’t make sense to move down to a regular or honors history course. The only warning I would give is to be aware of the dedication you’ll need to get through APUSH. I might recommend starting studying briefly the summer before Junior year.

AP English Lang
I haven’t heard too much about this course (nor have I had the experience of actually taking it), so take my feedback with a grain of salt. However, simply based on statistics, this is one of the most popular AP courses, so the curve is bound to be a bit more generous. I would go for it if you’re confident on your English skills.

Regular or AP Physics 1, (AP Chem is also an idea on my list, but it is very unlikely as I am interested in astronomy in senior year, and I’ve always wanted to learn physics content.)
It seems like you could probably handle the rigor of AP Physics. Given that it’s just algebra based, and you will have reached Pre-Calculus, you should be fine.

Pre-Calculus Honors
I find the isntruction of Pre-Calculus to be a particularly interesting subject. There seems to be a balance between whether Algebra or Precalc is taught more heavily. I know at many schools (mine included) Algebra II introduced lots of new concepts, whereas Precalculus just reiterates those and builds slightly upon certain concepts. However, at some others, the Algebra is less introductory and the Precalculus becomes the harder course. In any case, that’s more of just a general comment… it shouldn’t affect your decision-making process, as there’s really only one option you have for math progression (unless you intend to take regular Precalc).

AP Psychology
I’ve heard it’s one of the easier APs; you should be all fine.

AP Micro/Macro Economics (My school combines them into one full year course)
Sounds like a solid choice… I see you’re getting any economic credit requirements out of the way, which is smart.

Spanish 4 Honors
I’m currently taking Spanish 4 and it’s a whole lot of work. You’re going at a more reasonable pace though, and for language you definitely need as much practice as possible. It’s wise to take Spanish 4 as opposed to AP Spanish; I wouldn’t make any changes there.

Overall:
I’d say you’ve got quite a balanced schedule. There doesn’t appear to be too much wiggle room, aside from the selection of a few different AP Courses. In general though, stressing out too much about these details probably isn’t the best idea. Follow your interests more than the perceived rigor of these courses and I’m sure you’ll do fine. Good luck, from a fellow class of 2020 student.

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@nick3162 Wow! Not only is that a lot of advice, that is very good advice.

Thank you very much! It’s very helpful to me, and I appreciate it. Thanks for the luck! Good luck to you too!

Happy Holidays everyone and have a good day!