I’m struggling with which classes to take for my Junior Year. I want to challenge myself but I don’t want to completely overwhelm myself as I’m doing dance, SAT/ACT, and extracurriculars as well.
This is something that I could do, but I don’t know if it would be too difficult:
AP Lang
AP Physics 1
AP Chemistry
AP Psychology
Anatomy (it is hard at my school, almost like an AP class because the teacher doesn’t teach at the levels the tests are at)
Pre Calculus
Healthcare
I also have the option to do this:
AP Physics 1
AP Chemistry
AP Psychology
AP Statstics
Regular 11th grade lit
Pre Calculus
Healthcare
Do you guys thing the first option is too much of a load for junior year? Or would I be better off going with the second option? With the second option, I have a break class so it wouldn’t be too intense, but I’m not sure if it is the better choice.
Thank you!!
Both options have you taking 4 APs, which is going to be a very heavy course-load during your busy year. My first suggestion is to make sure you feel comfortable and capable of handling this course-load (I can’t comment on the matter because it’s an entirely personal judgement).
As to which option is better, your first option looks far more difficult because of the 4 APs combined with the difficult anatomy course. Because you are going to be busy with extracurriculars, test prep, and dance, my advice as someone who just went through junior year is to choose option 2. You still take 4 APs, but your other classes are not as rigorous, which creates balance.
If you want any more advice about junior year/testing/tips etc., feel free to PM me.
I don’t know which would be more difficult either, since I don’t know your abilities, nor have you indicated your potential career plans or the typre of colleges to which you would like to apply. If you/your parents/your GC think you can handle 4 AP’s with everything else going on, I highly recommend that AP Lang be one of them. Aside from teaching you how to be a better writer, which is a life skill, it will be invaluable as you write college application essays.
The second thing is taking 3 science classes (AP Physics 1/AP Chem/Anatomy) is just folly, IMO. Depending on your college plans, your lack of a foreign language may or may not be an issue.
Thank you for your feedback!! 4 APs doesn’t necessarily worry me because AP Psych is regarded as a class that people sleep in and still get As, but Chemistry and Physics are both challenging. I think I may go with the second option to have a balance. And thank you for offering help with test taking, I appreciate it!
Yes I know taking 3 science classes is a lot, but I want to go into medicine and generally enjoy sciences. I was wondering exactly how helpful AP Lang would be to me, and I’m guessing it does seem very helpful from what you’ve said. I’ve taken 3 years of foreign language (Spanish), and have taken 3 APs, all of which I have received A’s and 5s on (APES, AP World History- very difficult class at my school, and AP Human Geography).