<p>My parents are not involved at all with my education. I am trying to plan my senior year schedule for school and am torn between a very rigorous AP lit class, and a standard american lit and college writing class
i took AP lang this year and have about a 97% overall, and also got a 5/5 on a paper that determines whether or not you are allowed to take AP lit(you need at leasst a 3.5...most kids get a 4..only 6 of us got 5s)</p>
<p>I'm a very well read student, and truly love reading. BUT, i have read all the AP lit books and liked very few of them..
i also don't know if i will have the motivation to do AP lit on top of my 3 to 4 other APs..
i have no plans on applying to any top schools...maybe Tulane, but even that would be a stretch...and i'm already in the top 1% of my class and not taking shouldn't affect me..</p>
<p>so..if i was your kid, what would you advise me to do...</p>
<p>I think that you never know that 3–6 months from now you might be aiming your sights for colleges “higher”, and might regret not taking as rigorous a schedule as you could have. If you feel you can handle it, I think you should do it. Don’t worry, you really will have the summer off before college–maybe one book to read for your college.</p>
<p>If you have 3-4 other APs and you don’t plan to be an English major, I’d recommend you take something that is interesting to you - Photography, choir, drama, psychology, level 1 of a new language…</p>
<p>its funny
even though you guys gave completely different advice…they both kinda helped…
i hadn’t considered a few things you both had said…
although it still doesn’t really help…but thanks!!!</p>
<p>If you take AP Lit, you may be able to take higher-level English courses when you get to college. I have a feeling AP Lit would be a cinch for you and if you’ve read the books you are way ahead of the game. But 5 APs seems like too many so I don’t know.</p>
<p>It sounds like you can handle it so go ahead and take it. You don’t actually have to ‘like’ the books they make you read, my guess is that most don’t. The important point is being able to analyze and understand the books.</p>
<p>I think you sound like a capable student who can handle the work.
But it seems like you think you should take the AP class even though you don’t really want to take it. </p>
<p>The other posters have given good advice and plenty to think about.</p>
<p>Not applying to the top schools can actually help you in the financial aid game because second or third tier schools will try to attract students like you by offering merit aid.</p>
<p>If you already read the books then you really just have to review and write about them. Are the regular class books better and more interesting to you? (My son also hated many of the AP lit books this year! He moaned and groaned about them and I admit they were not my favorites either!). </p>
<p>There probably isn’t a wrong answer here. Either path is probably totally fine. Why take a class you dread just because it might look better on your transcript if you arent going for the tip tip school? On the other hand…you are clearly capable so why not?</p>
<p>I think you are very smart to consider this. I would ask if you have any friends in this year’s senior class you could ask about taking 5 APs… at some high schools, it is do-able, at others it can be bad…a student you respect who took the class this year might shed some perspective and well as some reality on grading and workload. As this is the key time for senioritis, they can give you reality.</p>
<p>I echo others not to feel compelled to take 5 aps if you don’t really want to. However, most colleges look for 4 years of English, so the 5th class would have to be an an alternate English if you don’t have the 4 years.</p>
<p>Any insights available on the teacher of this proposed AP course? It could help a lot in the decision process if you know that the teacher is fabulous/awful/tough/funny/picky or whatever.<br>
Also, what are the options in the standard course (ie, is what they are reading any better? worse?). Details could help. Good luck! You sound like you really have your act together.</p>
<p>I am a senior in HS but my advice is take AP Lit. It might seem hard at first; if, after the first monthish, it’s still ridiculously hard, would you be able to switch to regular English (“English 12” or “English 4”… whatever they call it at your school)? Last year (junior year), I was in AP Euro, and it was hard at first, but it wasn’t getting any easier (I wasn’t “getting the hang of it”, it was too much reading, and plus I hate history!) after 2 months, so I switched into regular history (and still got in to some pretty good schools).</p>
<p>you already have good stats and with the 4 other APs, no one can say you are slacking off.</p>
<p>you’ll be glad you have less work when you need to write the college essays and senioritis kicks in.</p>
<p>I’m taking 5 APs now, my senior year, and this year has been harder for me than others and I wish I didn’t take one of them that I did.
Some of my friends are taking 5/6/7 APs and could handle it, but it can be hard. You will have a lot of other important things going on that you will want to focus on.</p>
<p>I think you’d probably be fine taking a regular English class, in fact, if I were you I’d try to sign up for whatever class is being taught by the best English teacher and/or whatever class has the most interesting reading. In general I found that a great teacher could make even so-so reading interesting. There’s a small risk that you will change your mind about how high to aim for colleges, and that some college might ding you for not taking the most rigorous curriculum available to you as a senior, but I’m inclined to think that it will be all right having done one AP level English course, to skip the other. My son didn’t even take honors English as a senior because of a scheduling issue and got into some great schools.</p>
<p>I want to highlight this because it is often true. UC Berkeley grants exemptions from the freshman writing series based on test scores, and a 5 on AP Lit waives the entire requirement. Consider it a potential “work now, play later” scenario (though of course you should see how it would work at your intended school).</p>
<p>I suggest that you take BOTH the AP LIT and Lang exams this May, if you school allows it. My son was able to do this after taking an AP Lang English class and scored 5’s on both tests.[ He was also a strong, independent reader] If you don’t do great(4-5) on the LIT exam, and WANT to take the class next year, then do so, but I really don’t think you need to. If you want to impress admissions officers then show the range of your academic abilities by taking AP classes in different subject areas, instead of taking another English AP class.
Remember, the college application process can take as much time as a part time job , ON TOP OF the classes you will be taking your Sr year, so don’t load up on more AP classes if you don’t have to. It is much better to have a great GPA with fewer AP classes, than having your GPA suffer because you tried to do too much.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d check the college bulletins of the schools where you would most like to go, and see what you can get for college credit from AP tests. </p>
<p>My S is at Stanford, and you can’t get any college credit for AP Eng Lang or AP Eng Lit there, even with 5’s. My S took AP Eng Lit (along with several other APs) his senior year, but since he was admitted early and knew that where he was going did not offer credit, he chose not to take the test. </p>
<p>However, if he hadn’t gotten into Stanford, he would have taken the test, because that score, combined with AP Eng Lang would have gotten him out of all English requirements at several other schools where he had applied.</p>
<p>My D took 4 AP exams at her sophomore year, 8 AP exams at Her junior year, get 5 on most. But the problem is she got 3 on Eng. Lang & Comp.
On her senior year she is in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options program full time at U of MN. She is taking Eng. Lit.: Intro Shakespeare now.
She is not going to take Eng & Lit. AP exam.
At this fall her freshmen year in Berkeley, do you think she still has to take R&W course?</p>
<p>OP- I think you should take your likes or dislikes of the books on the reading list out of the equation. You can read whatever you like in any free time you can find ( ) or later on. If you can receive college credit for the AP course, that frees you up to take other classes you like, to take fewer courses in a semester or two, or graduate early. These are great options to have.</p>
) or later on. If you can receive college credit for the AP course, that frees you up to take other classes you like, to take fewer courses in a semester or two, or graduate early. These are great options to have.</p>