how does this schedule look? I go to a top 300 public school with about ~500 in my class. My school doesn’t do GPA on a 4.0 scale but I should have a 3.96 or 3.97 rounded going into junior year.
AP Calc BC: Probably conceptually my hardest class, but I had the harder Calc teacher for precalc and I know the expectation. studying over the summer
APUSH: Hardest class in terms of workload. Though I’m also studying this over the summer
AP Physics I: honestly don’t know about this class since it’s new and we’re getting new physics teachers. But I heard last year no one knew what they were doing going into the AP exam.
AP English Language: last year I had a really hard lit teacher so I don’t think this class will be a problem
AP Chinese: shouldn’t be too bad.
AP Art History: Joke class
I think that looks quite rigorous to me. My school makes us take calc ab before calc bc, and I took AB as a junior, and will be taking BC as a senior. If you love math and science, you’ll enjoy calc and physics and the ways they are related. I personally HATED apush this year, but I’m more inclined to enjoy STEM classes so thats understandable. It’ll prepare you fro your future to stack AP’s, but it’ll be rough.
how many AP classes did you take this year? And have you already taken a Physics class?
If only 1 or 2 I think you are taking on too many hard classes next year, which is your most important year.
Above all else, it is ESSENTIAL to maintain your overall GPA and not let it drop.
Colleges dont recommend students more AP classes than they can SUCCESSFULLY manage.
There is no race to see who takes the most AP classes.
I’d save the AP Art for SR year and NOT take AP Physics until then as well .
DS took 2 AP classes his Jr year and 4 his SR year and, with a great GPA and top SAT scores, got into may top colleges.
This is important- DONT FORGET to ALSO study a LOT this SUMMER for THE PSAT TEST in Oct.
THAT ONE TEST is more important than ANY AP test score, and a top score can vault you into National Merit status, which means you would be considered to be among the top 16,000 Srs in the country.
NMS makes your eligible for lots of scholarship $$ as well.
While I agree with the subjective comments from @menloparkmom (don’t tank your GPA, remember you have a bunch of standardized tests this year) I would not necessarily adhere to her course recommendations unless you yourself feel that the workload is too heavy. AP Physics 1 is an intro physics class, so not as difficult as an advanced AP science class, and most top colleges will want HS physics. OP stated the AP Art History is an easy class at his/her school, so I see no reason to move it. AP English Language (assuming the teacher is good) will help immensely with writing college essays, as well as being a good life skill. OP is, IIRC, a heritage learner, so AP Chinese will probably be very easy. AP Calc BC will be challenging, as s/he readily admits.
If (and this is a big if) you feel the need to drop down a level in something, I would drop down from APUSH. If you think you can handle 6 AP’s, though, go for it.
Thanks for the responses. @menloparkmom I don’t think physics will be that difficult in terms of getting a good grade, because a lot of people got As first semester and for some reason, the physics teachers left second semester. They were given long-term subs to teach, and all the previous grades were wiped, so people I think ended with 100s second semester.
@skieurope I’m not a heritage speaker, but I’m attending a 4 week summer program where I will study Chinese for 4 hours a day. I feel that will increase my fluency and therefore I won’t find AP Chinese that much of an issue.
But I do agree with the statements about APUSH. It definitely is a work-intensive class, but I feel that I can handle the workload. Back in AP World, the teachers stressed note taking so much, but people decided to stop taking notes after the first few tests. I, on the other hand, continued to take notes through both semesters, and so I ended with one of the highest averages. Of course, there were times where I just couldn’t fit the notes into my schedule, but I think I’ll do whatever the course expects me to do and even beyond that (AFAIK, the teacher allows students to come in after hours and attend help sessions, and apparently if you attend you can receive bonus points).
I have actually a pretty similar schedule to you, and I am scared about the rigor as well. However, instead of AP Physics, I am taking AP Bio. And since I already took the AP Chinese test my freshman year (pretty easy), I am doing Spanish 4 Honors. At least at my school, AP Physics is the hardest class, so if it’s the same for you, then it might be took much. Everyone in my grade stays away from that class until senior year. I also heard APUSH is a lot of busy work, but I think you can handle it.
If you manage your time well, then I think you’ll be fine. Good time management skills is probably one of the best assets you can have with a schedule like that.
Good luck! :)>-