<p>I'm having trouble with deciding what courses to take next year. I am aiming to be valedictorian and am trying to maximize my GPA as much as possible, but I need advice as to what APs to take.</p>
<p>So far, the courses I am definitely going to take are:</p>
<ul>
<li>AP English</li>
<li>AP US History</li>
<li>AP Studio Art</li>
</ul>
<p>The courses I'm not sure about are:
- Pre-Calculus Honors
- French IV
- AP Human Geography (online at Georgia Virtual School)</p>
<p>The students who I'm in competition with are all taking AP Chem, but none of them are taking AP Art. I am skipping out on AP Chem at my school because I am not a good science student. I'm even a little iffy on math but did well this year due to an excellent teacher. I am worried if I should take Pre-Calc H next year because likely I'll be put in the track that prepares students for AP Calc BC with a teacher that I've had before and have not particularly cared for. Do you think that I should stick with it because it's an honors?</p>
<p>As for French, I want to major in it but our school firstly does not have a French teacher at the moment (the present teacher just retired) and secondly there is no honors/AP/French V, so it would be an unweighted course. I realize that it doesn't make much sense to drop French from my schedule if I want to major in it, but considering that as of yet they are not planning on having a continuation after my junior year, I feel as though there it doesn't really have a purpose and is only bringing down my average as an unweighted course. What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>To make up for this loss of an AP class, I'm considering enrolling in the online AP Human Geography course, but I haven't heard good things about students who take online APs. According to the online school's coordinator, students generally receive worse grades than they do in a live classroom. I've been a consistent A+ student in high school so far and do not want to risk bringing my average down because of this AP. This course will cost $500 so I'm having reservations about enrolling. Should I just skip it? Any advice?</p>
<p>Sorry that this was so long. I appreciate your thoughts and thank you for any advice!</p>
<p>You should take at least one math, science, history, language, and English class every year if you’re planning on applying to top colleges.</p>
<p>I’d stick with French if you’re planning on majoring in it in college…the small grade deflation isn’t worth it, and colleges look at your unweighted GPA, too (some even completely recalculate it). Even if there’s no French class for seniors, you could always take an online course if you’re that interested.</p>
<p>Does your grade in the online class get weighed into your GPA? If it doesn’t, I wouldn’t take it. There’s really no point in self-studying human geography if you’re not interested in a field like anthro/doing it just for the AP credit. AP Chem is much more difficult than AP Human Geo anyway; don’t take AP Chem if you don’t think you’ll dedicate a lot of time to it, but don’t feel that you need to compensate a lack of APs by taking an online class, either.</p>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice! I think you’re right - I’ll stick with French and Pre-calc, but I still will skip out on the AP Chem because of the lab cycle (I’d like to reserve a few study halls here and there because of extracurriculars until 7 pm). </p>
<p>As for AP Human Geo, my counselor will incorporate the course weight into my GPA if I give them the forms, but I’m really worried that I’ll receive low unweighted marks. I might have to do some scavenging and see what other people report about their past experiences at GAVS.</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks again for your help - I really appreciate it! :)</p>
<p>You could also take some classes at your local community college, maybe once you’ve reached the highest level in French at your high school you should take French at a college level. I’m in a similar situation, I could use some advice. I took Italian freshman and sophomore year, but there won’t be a 5/6 class this year (the next level I should be going to) I’m a native Spanish speaker, I’ve signed up for AP Spanish language, do you recommend I take this class or take Italian at a community college? The reason why I took Italian in the first place is because I wanted to learn another language since I’m already fluent in Spanish (lived in Mexico for 10 years) but I’ve realized that Italian is not very useful to begin with, I sort of regret taking it. What do you recommend?</p>