Looking for feedback on junior/senior year schedule

Applying to College
1

DS will likely be looking at reaches, including Chicago and Georgetown, as well as a suitable list of matches and safeties. He will be interested in history/poli sci looking ahead to working in international affairs. He is looking to add a second language (Arabic) and start doubling up on history/social science.

Junior
AP U.S. History
Spanish 4
AP Human Geography (1/2 year)/History Elective (1/2 year)
Writing/English Elective (school does not offer AP English, although he can take the exam)
Arabic 1
AP Physics 1 or regular Physics
Precalculus

Senior
AP European History
AP Spanish 5
2 1/2 year history electives
2 1/2 year English electives
Arabic 2
Drop Science? AP Biology?
AP Statistics or AP Calculus AB

A couple of specific questions.

  • Should a kid who is doing well in science, but doesn't consider that his passion, should do AP Physics or regular physics? Can he drop science senior year or should take another science AP.
  • Can he do AP stat instead of AP Calc senior year?

Feedback on these questions as well as anything else is welcome!

2

From the recommendations I’ve received here on cc, for a humanities kid aiming at top school, it is a must to have three years of bio, chem and physics, and regular ones are fine. Most agreed that it’s best to take 4th year of science as an AP version instead of substituting it for non-lab STEM-related AP like stat, Psych, etc.

Recently there was a discussion about Cakculus vs. Stat, consensus was that Calculus was certainly more useful.

I don’t think you have room in your son’s schedule and not sure if your school even offers it, but I am a big fan of two-year AP Capstone program, really useful in terms of teaching kids how to do research papers. Hope it helps!

3

I would keep a fourth year of science. If he had Bio and Chem, it doesn’t have to be a lab science. I would stick with AP Calc. It is better if we decides to go down a Political Economy or something like that route.

4

@Eeyore123, what do you think about AP CompSci after three years of regular lab sciences? Would it look sufficient for the Econ/IR kid? Thanks

5

Despite the name, CS is generally housed in the math department, and is viewed as a non-core elective. I would keep a science, although it does not have to be AP. Depending on the school’s offerings, AP Env Sci, bio2/chem2/physics2, anatomy, etc are all valid options.

6

@skieurope, thanks, good to know