Managing APs? OMG..

<p>It seems IMPOSSIBLE for me that I will be taking 3 or 4 APs in Junior year. It's just TOO much memorizing and studying..
How many APs are you guys taking? How do you guys manage all the heavy courseload? UGH.</p>

<p>Do you mean AP courses or AP exams?</p>

<p>courses (10 char)</p>

<p>Courses:</p>

<p>Sophomore yr: 1
Junior yr: 1.5(took 1 semester of AP Spanish then dropped down)
Senior yr: 2</p>

<p>Exams: 3 total</p>

<p>I know people who got into the same school I got into, Univ. of Illinois, who are frikin crazy and taking 4 or 5 AP tests, and me, taking 1 AP test my senior year, took another AP class but decided not to take the AP exam in that class b/c it was a 1 semester class, and that was about 3 months ago.</p>

<p>I took AP U.S. History and Psychology as a Junior and AP English Lit and Statistics as a Senior. I didn't take the Statistics test and put off the psych test until this year so I don't think I will pass it. Just took AP English Lit today and I am hoping against hope that I passed.</p>

<p>Hey, it might be manageable if you know how difficult some of the teachers are. I took four this year and did mostly self-studying cuz the courses were pretty weak.</p>

<p>i decided on</p>

<p>APUSH
APES
AP ART HISTORY
AP SPANISH (very fluent)
H EURO LIT
H ALG</p>

<p>people are now telling me "man are you crazy? h euro lit is extremely demanding and hard. APUSH and AP ARTHISTORY.. both require sooo much memorizing!!!"
this school is a public school, BUT EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE AND HARD.
I would say it's just a private one.</p>

<p>it's ok don't worry. i'm taking 5 IB classes this year i'm doing ok.</p>

<p>I took STAT sophmore year; APUSH, Chem, and Language junior year, and this year I'm taking Lit, Spanish, Calc AB, and Euro. It hasn't been so bad except for this year, my four AP tests are four days in a row, which has been a killer. The actual classes at my school aren't hard...except for Language. But this last semester, I had 5 100s on my transcipt, 4 of which were in my APs, because we get a 5 point curve. People always ask me how I handle the workload, but my GPA has never been higher and it's awesome!!! It's really kind of backwards, but that's the way that it worked out!</p>

<p>I took three junior year (Spanish Lan, English Lan, Statistics), and six senior year (Calc BC, Physics C, Chem, Microeconomics, US Gov, English Lit). It depends on the school, but I found six classes challenging but manageable. Three was no problem.</p>

<p>Im taking 6.</p>

<p>dont cry about 3-4.</p>

<p>wow, no offense to some of you, but I think you're a little nuts with the 4-6 AP classes in 1 school year. </p>

<p>I give props defintely, but I think it's extremely unnecessary, especially senior year to be taking so many AP's, WHEN YOU WON'T EVEN NEED HALF OF THEM FOR COLLEGE. You just challenging yourself for no reason. </p>

<p>Junior year I understand, but senior year? Takin 4-6 AP's. Damn that's crazy. </p>

<p>I try to keep it manageable with 2 AP's my senior yr.</p>

<p>This (junior) year I took 5 AP's - Biology, Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Lang and Comp, and US History.</p>

<p>It's not that hard as long as you budget your time well on a daily basis and maintain interest in what you're learning. If you start to find something dull then you'll dread doing your homework and going to class, which ultimately leads to underperformance and unhappiness. Love your teachers, love your classes, and keep up with the work. Just take it one day at a time without thinking about the "whole scheme of things" too much or else it'll prolly freak you out.</p>

<p>
[quote]
You just challenging yourself for no reason.

[/quote]

I just had the most radical idea - maybe some people enjoy challenges! Although the thought seems absolutely preposterous, it IS possible.</p>

<p>I would go crazy in regular classes. Im a challenge junkie. Even if APs had no bearing on college I would still take probably 4 of my classes.</p>

<p>Last year, when I took A.P. U.S, that class for sure turned me off of reading forever. Never read so much in my life. A.P. Human Geo in sophomore yr. was a cinch compared to APUSH, but I still did fine in APUSH. </p>

<p>I just don't know how you people can do that much work, b/c I know from taking AP classes, that it can be a lot of work at times, especially those social studies AP's. </p>

<p>But to deal with 6 AP's at the same time? I think that's over-doing it and I think it's people like that who really need to get a grip on reality and figure out that you don't gotta do that. </p>

<p>4 should be the most anyone takes in any 1 yr. More than that is just going over the extreme.</p>

<p>Those who want to get into top-tier colleges (HYMPS) often feel the need to take many APs. My counselor says that one should have more APs in senior year than in junior year. She knows what she's talking about, too.</p>

<p>Sophomore (now): 1 ap (bio) and then 3 honors (us1, precalc, and english)</p>

<p>Junior: AP English Language, AP Calc AB, AP Chem
Senior (projected): AP English Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP French, and possibly AP Stat</p>

<p>Freshman: AP Environmental
Soph: AP Stats and AP Bio
Junior: APUSH and AP Eng. Lang. and comp.
Senior: AP Eng. Lit, AP Physics B, AP Micro, AP Govt., and AP Calc BC</p>

<p>I don't think it's too difficult to manage a lot of AP's...I was a crazy studier in my fresh and soph years but have since relaxed a lot more. This year wasn't difficult at all (even with 5) mainly because our teachers understand that we're seniors and after we send in our apps don't really care anymore. </p>

<p>And the 10 that I've taken total is probably the lowest number of tests of people I know...my school is AP CRAZY!</p>

<p>I took those classes because I would probably do worse in school otherwise. If I feel that a class I'm taking is pointless, I have extreme difficulty in motivating myself to do work. The courseload can be difficult, but it's worth it because I enjoy myself and I feel that I've accomplished something. Also, I'm hoping that these classes will help prepare me for next year, even if I don't use that many credits.</p>

<p>
[quote]
My counselor says that one should have more APs in senior year than in junior year. She knows what she's talking about, too.

[/quote]

I think that's overdoing it - counting the number of AP's you're in and using it to measure your progress. I'm taking 5 AP/1 Honors junior year, and then 4 AP/1 regular/1 independent study senior year. That's because I've taken all the honors/AP-level science classes my school has, so I'm doing an independent study; and I'm choosing a nonweighted class over an AP because I'd rather study law and government than more history. I take classes for what they offer me as a student, not for what they offer my GPA.</p>