<p>Hi, I'm a high school senior in Minnesota. First semester, my schedule is, in order:</p>
<p>Honors Chemistry
AP Government
AP Calculus
Lunch
AP Literature
CIS Spanish (CIS = College in the Schools. It's run by the University of Minnesota and is essentially a UMN class done in your school - I even had to enroll at the UMN to take it)
Student Aide Hour (basically students being aides for teachers)
Art I (graduation requirement ;))</p>
<p>Now, I go to a pretty small high school. The only classes that I am taking that are offered at more than one time of the day are Art I and CIS Spanish (which is offered 2nd and 6th period). This semester, though, CIS Spanish is being offered 1st and 2nd period. That means, if I were to continue taking CIS Spanish (the highest level offered at my school, if I were to take a different one it would be a lower level that I've already taken), I would need to either drop Honors Chemistry or AP Government. Now, I can't drop AP Government because it is also a graduation requirement... which means I have to either drop CIS Spanish or Honors Chemistry. On one hand, CIS Spanish is probably more impressive. On the other, I want to go into Engineering, so every additional science class I have is important. Honors Chemistry is my 5th year of a science class and CIS Spanish is also my fifth year of a Spanish class, four of which were in grades 9-12.</p>
<p>Or, in the same line of thinking that alethiometer was going at: Maybe you could drop Chem and take CIS Spanish and take Chem at a local community college or something?</p>
<p>Well, the U is about an hour away from where I live so taking Spanish there wouldn’t work too well… and, as for local community college, how would I go about setting that up? I don’t even know if there are any local community colleges within a short distance of where I am (I live in the suburbs).</p>
<p>Some schools let you take a class there while in high school- you could talk to your guidance counselor about it. There probably is a local community college or branch of one near you- maybe a less selective college or university nearby that has some extra spaces in its classes? See if they have ‘duel enrollment’ programs.</p>
<p>Your guidance counselor will probably know best, but if it’s not common for highschoolers to take college classes where you are, you might have to do some research and arranging yourself.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks, I’ll look into if there’s any community colleges around. I already set up an appointment with my guidance counselor to talk about it, too.</p>
<p>Well, I talked to my counselor today. Originally I had planned on doing an Independent Study of Chemistry, however, my Chemistry teacher said that that wouldn’t work since it’s a lab-based class… It turned out that I could take regular Chem in place of Honors, but I had to drop Advanced Acting. Now, this is something that I really don’t want to do. Throughout my time in high school, I’ve stuck to pretty much the same stuff: math, science, computer science, and English where necessary. I was really looking forward to taking Acting, which is unlike anything that I have done before. So, this brings me to my next question…</p>
<p>Is Chemistry really necessary? I meet the requirement for the years of science anywhere, as far as I know (4.5 if I drop the next semester). As a prospective Engineering student, wouldn’t I have to take Chemistry again anyway (as it’s not an AP class)?</p>
<p>Yup, you will. Having some chem experience will help you a little for when you do it in college, but that’s about it. </p>
<p>You have more than enough years of science, so I’d drop that one if I were you. You deserve to have the acting- it’s your senior year, have some fun.</p>