Killer senior schedule--hard 6th course or teaching internship? HELP

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>I'm a senior this year, and, as it stands, this is my schedule:</p>

<p>French V (above AP)
AP BC Calc
AP Psych
International Relations (not an AP, but a huge workload)
Advanced Logic and Composition (not exactly an AP; corresponds sort of to AP English Language, I think, and there's a lot of writing)
AP Chemistry
Random gym that doesn't matter for this post</p>

<p>Pretty much up until now, I was planning on sticking to the core that my school makes you take: language, math, social studies, English, and science. Because they do that, though, as a senior, all of the requirements in those areas have been automatically fulfilled if you've passed all of your classes (which I have). So I can take five or six classes, and being a bit of a workaholic, elected to take six. Now I'm seriously regretting it. I was originally in AP Environmental but decided I really wasn't interested, and switched to AP Chem. Yesterday was the second day of school, and before lunch, I was feeling seriously overwhelmed with the amount of work from my first four classes (they're in chronological order above). Then chem came, and I realized that I'm not going to be able to keep all of this up. </p>

<p>I was also made an offer yesterday. My IR teacher, who was also my US History/Global Studies teacher in 10th grade, asked if I would intern for her 7th period, which is when I have chem. I can drop chem and do an internship and 5 classes, which would be much easier and take a load off my mind. My worry about that, though, is that it'll look bad for colleges if I get rid of a science, but I'm not presenting myself as a science person anyway--I've taken bio, chem, and physics, and for most schools, I'm putting down my possible majors as psychology and international relations or linguistics/anthropology if they don't have one of the first two. So what should I do? Should I basically torture myself with chem and everything else on top of it, or should I take an easy way out and get a more splendid recommendation than I might have otherwise?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Are you saying
French V (above AP)
AP BC Calc
AP Psych
International Relations (not an AP, but a huge workload)
Advanced Logic and Composition (not exactly an AP; corresponds sort of to AP English Language, I think, and there’s a lot of writing)
AP Chemistry
Random gym that doesn’t matter for this post</p>

<p>Is hard?
lol.</p>

<p>Let me reformat it to how many classes you REALLY have.</p>

<p>French V (above AP) (Depends on workload)
International Relations (not an AP, but a huge workload)
AP Chemistry</p>

3

<p>I don’t think you can really understand how much work my school gives unless you go there, so yes, I do have a difficult schedule. Thanks for the advice.</p>

4

<p>Your schedule looks manageable. I took International Relations last year as a junior and it wasn’t that bad. The second semester of the class was AP Government. Your hardest class is going to AP Calculus BC and AP Chemistry. I’m sure you’ll do fine though. If it makes you feel any better, I’m taking 7 APs this year as a senior. xD</p>

5

<p>International relations at my school is really hard–for the third day of school, we have 60 pages of reading and a response paper on 30 of those pages due; after September 20th, we’ll have to read 20 articles a week, and for this semester, we’ve got to write a 6-8 page simulation paper about the Georgia-Russia conflict, and for spring, we have a 16-20 page paper, not sure about what yet. It is a LOT of work. I’m also coming out of a weaker math than what most of the people in BC are coming from, so BC is going to be pretty hard for me because I haven’t learned some of the stuff yet. And Psych and ALC both require tons of writing–rhetorical analysis and personal essays for ALC, and journals, research, and specific writing assignments for each reading that we do. French V is my easiest class because I have basically achieved fluency, so speaking and writing aren’t that hard. </p>

<p>My question is (in case it got lost in the big block of text up there) should I switch from chem to interning for 10th grade? Though my schedule may not sound hard, you’d have to experience it to realize that it really is death by academics. The teacher I’d be interning for could also write me a terrific college rec, because I did well in 10th grade and hope to do well in IR. My worry is that I’m getting rid of a science by doing that–will this really look awful to colleges even if I’m not representing myself as a science person?</p>

6

<p>

Then why are you asking us?</p>

7

<p>That was directly addressing advanced Lawlz, who seems to just be ■■■■■■■■ here and not giving any constructive advice; sorry for the confusion.</p>

8

<p>I am not ■■■■■■■■.
I suggest you drop gym (BS class), and replace it with that internship.
Unless you have more than 9 hours of HW a day, don’t drop any class.</p>

9

<p>That’s poor advice. I honestly pity you if you spend more than a third of your day on homework. Most high schools require gym, too.</p>

10

<p>I’d estimate that once school’s back in full swing, I’ll have 5-7 hours of homework on a good night, more if I keep on with chem. As of now, after two days of school, I’m looking at 3-4 hours of work if I do it quickly. And right, I can’t drop gym. It’s the only thing that we’re absolutely required to take as seniors.</p>

11

<p>

Quite frankly, it was a wise comment that should apply to all of us. Asking for schedule advice on this forum is silly because we all attend different schools. At mine, that schedule would be easy. Actually, I don’t think it is POSSIBLE to get 5-7 hours of homework a night at my school.</p>

12

<p>Fair enough. Well, please assume that what I’m telling you is true (it is)–that even without AP Chem, my schedule is very difficult. And my real question is will it look bad to not have a science my senior year, after having taken bio, chem, and physics (all of which are “honors level” without the label in the class name, but it does say that they are on our transcript) if I’m not claiming to be a science person to any of the colleges to which I’m applying anyway?</p>

13

<p>Are you looking at Tier 1 colleges? </p>

<p>As long as you have all your requirements fulfilled I guess…</p>

<p>But it would benefit you to take an AP science. If I were you, I’d rather take the internship though…</p>

<p>Sorry. I gave some confusing advice :]</p>

14

<p>Deeds1: In all honesty, I do not think it is good to look at “dropping the science class” as an easy way out. You need to understand that many colleges are looking for that balance in EC, CS, Internships…as well as your courses. As a Senior, your schedule should be slightly more relaxed than your previous years. If it was me, I would go ahead and drop it. You said you fulfilled your courses, now give something back by being a help to those who need it.</p>

15

<p>To answer Post 12…they may question why you did not take a science Sr Yr…however you can definitely answer that question by talking to an admission officer or speaking about it through your college essay</p>