What’s up CC first post on this website, it’s gonna be pretty trash but whatever. I’m a rising sophomore and here goes:
I base my core class requirements on this quote from Harvard University
- The study of English for four years: close and extensive reading of the classics of the world’s literature
- Four years of a single foreign language
- The study of history for at least two, and preferably three years: American history, European history, and one additional
advanced history course (for me it will be WHAP)
- The study of mathematics for four years, including the particular topics described
- The study of science for four years: physics, chemistry, and biology, and preferably one of these at an advanced level
- Frequent practice in the writing of expository prose (copied and pasted from website)
9th grade:
AP Human Geography
Medical Terminology
Honors Spanish 2
Honors Art 1
Honors Biology
Intramural Tennis (for PE credit)
Honors/GT English 1
Honors Geometry
10th grade: will take SAT for first time October 7 or November 4 cuz I will apply to TAMS this year
AP World History
AP Art History
AP Biology
Honors Spanish 3
Honors/GT English 2
Honors Algebra 2
Honors Chemistry
Study Hall <at least 1 required for 10, 11, and 12
* *Summer school: government and economics (required for graduation and I want to take other class for social studies senior year)**
the below portion is if I don’t get accepted into TAMS
11th grade
AP United States History
AP/GT English Language and Composition
AP Spanish Language and Composition
AP Physics 1
AP Physics 2 or AP Chemistry (haven’t decided yet)
Honors Pre-Calculus
Honors Anatomy & Physiology of Human Systems
Study Hall
12th grade
AP European History (i wanted to take this class b/c Harvard recommends this in the Choosing Classes portion of the undergraduate admissions section of their website)
AP/GT English Literature and Composition
AP Physics C
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics 2 or AP Chemistry (depends on what I took last year)
IB Spanish V SL (our school doesn’t offer AP Span Lit & Comp)
Do not feel you have to take two lab sciences at once…that is difficult in scheduling as they often take two periods.
Are you particularly interested in Spanish? You would not have to take any after AP if you don’t want.
For the lab sciences... I won't have room in my schedule later on to take AP Bio so I want to get it over with in 10th grade
For Spanish... yes I am interested in Spanish cuz I already know 2 other foreign languages (Urdu/Hindi + Punjabi and Arabic) and I'm really good at Spanish classes, plus I want to take 4 years of high school Spanish (not including the Spanish 1 I took in 8th grade.. so yeah
It’s too much. You will NOT get brownie points for taking that many AP’s.
For instance, you DO NOT have to take all three sciences at the AP level.
If you really, really want to take one each of the sciences at AP level, I’d take AP bio and AP Physics1 together junior year, and AP Chem on its own senior year (it’s very intense).
Do you want to apply to engineering? It looks more like you’re preparing for premed. In that case, your choice AP’s would be AP Physics 1, AP Chem, and AP Bio, plus AP Calc AB (or BC). If you want to go into Engineering, your choice AP’s will be AP Chem, AP Calc BC, and honors physics or AP Physics 1+ AP Physics C. So, 4 STEM AP’s.
Then, AP English Language and/or AP Lit (but Honors English Lit is fine too), and limit your AP’s to 4 per year MAX. For 10th grade, I’d cut AP Bio because it looks like too much.
That seems too much. Not all APs are as easy as AP Human Geo and most of them take up a lot of time. Going off of @nick3162, I think you should incorporate ECs into your plan too.
@nick3162 and @clo2021 i will start a Spanish club at my high school next year cuz it doesn’t have one. Also:
ECs (9th): UIL Science, Science Club
10th: HOSA, science club, science national honor society, mu alpha theta, student council
11th (If not in TAMS): HOSA, science nhs, mu alpha theta, i will apply to NHS
12th (if not in Tams): HOSA, science nhs, mu alpha theta, hopefully NHS, if not then key club
ECs are slightly generic. It’s certainly a good start, but try to find some more depth and don’t solely rely on opportunities beholden to your high school.
P.S. just saw your username. That really isn’t cool.
Your ECs are not what they’re looking for. They’re looking for initiative, creativity, impact. ‘I’ll join x ’ or ’ I created a z’ only matters if you make a huge difference. That’s way more important than how many APs you have - head to the results threads and you’ll notice top schools are serious when they say (the way Stanford did) “it’s not a game of who has the most APs, wins”. You need those 6-8 APs or equivalent. But then the difference is made in what you accomplished outside of class.
Hey. It’s a good plan, my question is when it comes down to EOCS and semester exams, will you have time to study with all the classes and ECs. Also your senior year will be a completely struggle. It’s not about the amount of AP classes you take, it’s about passing them with high scores. Take all those classes and fail half won’t get you anywhere. So at least incorporate a few other classes where it gives you time to study because study hall isn’t really helpful when you have 5 APs to work on.
Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond to my thread. I really appreciate it! After reading all these comments, I’m thinking of lowering my AP classes from 15 to maybe 13 or 12 (I’m not sure exactly but probably dropping Physics 2 and Physics C and, probably not, but maybe art history)
Same as above. What do you think they’re looking for. Please help me out. What do you mean by “initiative, creativity, impact”?
@Nkemdirim
Thanks. About EOCs, English I and II are no problem (On english 1 EOC I got a 100 on multiple choice and 95 on essay {based on my teacher’s grading standards}, I already did Algebra I EOC (100), and that leaves Biology and US History. Biology I had a 98 in the class the first semester, 99 this semester and on the practice EOC I got a 100 so no problem there. US History I have no basis to judge but I know for sure I will definitely take APUSH.
Also, you’re going to be applying for colleges in senior year so keep that in mind. I’d say wait until after sophomore year to decide whether or not you can take all those APs in junior and senior year. By then you’ll have experienced having 3? (too lazy to scroll up) APs and can reflect off of those instead of AP HuGe.
@clo2021
Yeah I know this is just a rough draft of my plan. I just wanted to know what other people thought of my proposed schedule. I agree with you on waiting until after sophomore year just thought I would start planning out my future :))
Hey! I’m also a rising sophomore and is also looking toward a medical career (most likely pre-Physician Assistant). Everyone always says I’m looking too ahead but I was like having a set plan (even though it will not be perfect). idk what TAMS is but if it’s similar, in junior and senior year I’m also planning to apply/attend TJHS which is a half-day career program (mine will be health) where you learn the basics and get an internship. It’s so interesting and seems exciting and helpful. Also, as a freshman, you can’t take AP at my school (currently have a 4.4 GPA) so in sophomore year, I’m taking
Anatomy and Physiology
Hon Chem
Hon Alg 2
Hon Eng 10
AP Govt
Volleyball then Health second sem for credit
Foundation of Tech (needed tech credit)
I’m also planning to self-study AP Environmental Science and/or AP Psychology
So I will probably have a total of 6-8 AP classes/scores by senior year
Most of my dream school does not have a REQUIREMENT for a language (I’ve completed Spanish 3) and it’s easy but it isn’t interesting for me.
Thanks and nice to meet you @scholarette
Sounds like a rigorous schedule for applying to TJHS. Also I don’t think TAMS is like TJHS because in TAMS you are literally attending college and you have to stay at McConnell Hall in UNT (university of north texas). You also get at least 57 college credits before you graduate high school. The reason I’m applying is because there are many college science classes (such as organic chemistry or biology) and medical-related classes (such as microbiology) that you can take for transferable college credit (mostly to public texas colleges) that may be applied to your degree plan (for me it would be pre-med). If the credits don’t transfer over, I don’t care because I’ll have a solid foundation for my pre-medical studies later on.
