Junior Year High School Schedule?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi! So I am having trouble deciding on my high school course schedule next year (junior year). I have already decided on some classes, while others I'm not so sure about.</p>

<p>So far I know that I am taking:</p>

<p>Honors IB Precalculus
Honors IB Spanish
AP World Lit
AP Chemistry</p>

<p>Now, I am also taking a history and a physics class, but here is where the problem comes in. So that I am not overloaded with work, which combination would be better for next year (in addition to the classes listed above)?:</p>

<p>AP US History and Regular Physics
or
IB History of The Americas and IB Physics</p>

<p>I really want to take APUSH but I hear physics (and science in general) is really important for colleges. While I hear APUSH is a lot of work, I know that Honors Physics students also have hours of busy work to complete by the end of each week. </p>

<p>Some questions I have:
1.) Are AP classes better to take than IB ones if I am not actually doing the IB program?
2.) Do colleges weigh IB courses the same as AP ones if I am not doing the IB program?
3.) Is Physics a more important subject to take honors for than History?</p>

<p>(Side note): I may want to major in buisness or a form of engineering. I do enjoy US history but I have never taken an honors history course before.</p>

<p>If you have details from personal experience please feel free to share :)</p>

<p>Thank You!</p>

2

<p>For engineering, you will want to take at least a high school physics course, because some schools’ introductory physics courses for scientists and engineers recommend at least a high school physics background. Depending on the course content, an honors course, AP physics B, or IB physics SL or HL may be better than a standard high school physics course. AP physics C (the only typical high school physics course with calculus) may give some college credit, but does not cover as broad a selection of topics as AP physics B.</p>

<p>For either engineering or business, you want to get as strong a math background as you can get in high school (business typically requires a year of calculus, while engineering requires some math beyond calculus). If you take precalculus as a junior, you should be able to take calculus as a senior. Your choices:

  • IB math HL with a high enough score is usually accepted as a year of freshman calculus.
  • AP calculus BC with a high enough score is usually accepted as a year of freshman calculus.
  • AP calculus AB with a high enough score is usually accepted as a semester of freshman calculus.
  • IB Math SL is usually not given any credit against calculus in college, although it may have some introduction of calculus concepts.</p>
3

<p>Actually, my school only offers regular, IB, and AP physics. You must take a full year of IB or regular to be able to take AP. </p>

<p>My school offers a lot of IB courses, and a big issue is that I don’t know if taking Ib classes without doing the program (working for the diploma) is worth it. Would AP classes be more desirable than IB ones if these are the circumstances? Or would they weigh them equally?</p>