Picking classes for senior year, prospective CS major - too late?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hi everyone! I’m a rising senior trying to decide on classes for next year. My plan is to apply to top CS schools, such as MIT and especially Stanford.

For context, my school has a 7-period schedule for each semester.

Freshman:

  • Algebra 2/Trig
  • German 100
  • Marketing, Engineering, Art
  • Pre-AP English 9
  • Pre-AP Bio/Chem
  • World History (non-AP; this was a mistake)

Unfortunately, I wasn’t planning so far ahead back then and was not aware of just how competitive selective colleges can be, so rigor is lacking. I had the option to take AP World History this year or the year after it. The other classes (arts, marketing) were for grad requirements.

Sophomore (COVID-19):

  • Advanced Biotechnology (I think this was a mistake — it counts as lab science but now I technically lack a full-fledged biology class, although Pre-AP Bio/Chem qualified me for this class and it was recommended to me)
  • AP Prep Precalc
  • Business Law, Health (grad requirement)
  • German 200
  • PE Life Fitness
  • Pre-AP English 10

I wasn’t aware of being commonplace at the time, so unfortunately, I think this year is also a bit lacking. I should’ve taken AP Euro History.

Junior (current):

  • German 350
  • Advanced Programming 2 (I was allowed to repeat the second semester and skip content in the first semester after proving my skills to the teacher, who pushed for counselor and principal approval. I’m essentially working on two large-scale programming projects, one per semester, for this class.)
  • Animation (remaining grad requirement)
  • AP Calc AB
  • AP Lang
  • AP Physics 1 (unfortunately, my school doesn’t offer Physics C)
  • APUSH
  • Planning to take PE online soon (grad requirement)

Senior (draft, worried about workload and the free period):

  • Free period in the morning, to get better sleep
  • AP Lit
  • AP US Gov & Politics
  • AP Calc BC
  • AP German
  • AP Chem
  • AP Statistics (I was hesitant about this one due to the workload, but I opted for it because there are few non-AP courses that I haven’t taken already and)

SAT, ACT: scheduled to take the tests for the first time in a few months, then planning to study/prep over the summer and take them again next school year in the few months before early college apps.

ECs:

  • Worked on many of my own open-source software projects, building an audience on GitHub and Patreon (thousands of stars on my projects, over 1000 followers from software developers, considerable income). Many other projects incorporate my work in some form. My work and/or fun (but technical) experiments have been featured by quite a few tech news publications.
  • Released a mobile app and currently working on more. For context, my income from this is already far more than a typical high school part-time job would pay thanks to my online audience, and I plan to build a business from this (especially over the summer).
  • Participated in a big hackathon, where our team was one of the winners.
  • Internship with either a tech startup or company led by a CS professor at Stanford (with an official recommendation letter if it goes well) this summer.
  • Possibly aiming to become a coding club officer next year

To be honest, I actually want to take AP Statistics and AP Physics 2 for the information, if not just to build understanding of those topics as I’ve encountered them in my hobby projects outside of school, but I realize that I can also get that knowledge elsewhere. On the contrary, I have no interest in AP Chem but I’ve selected it to make up for not having full-fledged biology/chemistry courses other than the combo prep course “Pre-AP Bio/Chem” that I took in freshman year.

My school also just added Calc 3 and Differential Equations for next year, but because I wasn’t planning for such options to be available, it’s a bit too late for me to move ahead — especially with my plans to continue my current trajectory and grow in CS-related ECs over the summer. Calc AB is a prerequisite for BC at my school.

Just to clarify, I don’t think I’d devastated per se if I don’t get accepted to my “dream schools”, but I’d really like to get in and would certainly be disappointed if it doesn’t work out. I’m not sure what safeties I’d be happy with if not. Because of this, I’m not particularly interested in destroying my mental health for the sake of appealing to colleges, so I’d like to arrive at a decent balance.

Thanks in advance for any advice :slight_smile:

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Sorry, I forgot to add: my unweighted GPA is 4.0 so far. My school doesn’t calculate weighted GPA or class rank.

I realize that I’m late to the SAT/ACT, but I hope I can mitigate it a bit by making heavy use of the full-length practice tests.

Sorry for the wall of text!

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I’m going to be brutally honest with you. CS is just about the most competitive major at any school these days. Targeting CS at schools with a single digit overall acceptance rate is like buying a lottery ticket, except your odds might be better buying the lottery ticket. Those schools turn away thousands of students every year, and we aren’t talking about 1350/3.5 students either - 4.0/1600 students! There just isn’t enough space to accommodate all of the qualified applicants. Getting rejected isn’t going to be because you didn’t take AP European History.

That being said, take the classes that interest you and do the best that you can. Don’t just try and impress AOs at top schools. Apply to a dream school but really put your time and effort into identifying affordable, likely schools that you would be happy to attend, and that would be equally happy to have you there.

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I agree wholeheartedly. Do the things that you enjoy, hope for the best, but prepare to be rejected from both.

Why? Because there are roughly 27,000 high schools in the US. That means at a minimum there are 54,000 Valedictorians and Salutatorians every year. Stanford and MIT admit about 3000 students per year combined. A huge number of #1 and #2 ranked students want those schools, and that’s not to mention those who have very high stats, but aren’t at the tippy top. There are just too many kids applying for the spots they have.

Feel free to apply, but try to understand beyond the bumper sticker why they might actually be your dream. Then look into other great programs that are a little less competitive, but still very good, like HMC, Pomona, Olin, Michigan, etc.

Most importantly though, look at safeties. There are lots of very good ones. What’s your home state?

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Yes, I understand that there’s no certainty of being accepted at top schools, and they definitely won’t be my only targets. But despite that, I’d like to make the most of my senior year. I’m mainly concerned about the free period, Chem vs. Physics 2, and AP Stats in my context.

As for safeties, I’m in Washington state. I know UW also has a low acceptance rate for CS, so I wouldn’t consider it a safety.

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For CS, Physics is probably better than Chemistry, but I’d take the one that interests you more. I also wouldn’t worry about the free period causing problems.

Washington is a WICHE state, so you’ll be eligible for WUE tuition exchange. Oregon State and Utah both have good CS programs, and would be good safeties. The under the radar option is Cal Poly Humboldt. Humboldt State just became the third Cal Poly, giving the degree more cachet. It’s a pretty campus in a pretty area.

Good luck!

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AP statistics is not generally considered a difficult course compared to some other AP courses. It is also unlikely to give useful subject credit for a CS major; any statistics or probability theory course (or material embedded in some other course) is likely to be calculus-based.

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I’m far more interested in physics than chemistry, but my concern is that my lack of full-fledged chemistry and biology classes (other than the combination “Pre-AP Bio/Chem”) will be an issue otherwise.

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Don’t overthink it. Enjoy the journey. No one can argue that Chem or Bio are “better” than Physics. Physics is the most applicable to your major. If you don’t get into your reach schools, it won’t be because of this choice. It won’t be due to anything really in your control.

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Take AP Stats if you’re more interested in the topic than other available courses. If other courses are of more interest, take them. You already have a rigorous Math course. Stats is an interesting topic, but don’t think that the AP label means it’s a huge addition to course rigor.

You said your school doesn’t offer Physics C, so the Physics/Chem “choice” is unclear. What would you take instead of AP Chem?

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I was thinking of AP Physics 2 instead of AP Chem. I’m more interested in physics and would’ve just taken it, if not for my lack of dedicated biology and chemistry courses.

I chose stats because it’s one of the relatively few remaining course options that interest me, not for rigor, but I’m slightly worried about the additional workload on top of AP Calc BC.

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BC is 2/3 rehash of AB and 1/3 new material. For my son, it was one of the easiest math classes he took because his AB instructor was so good. If your AB background is strong, it shouldn’t be a problem.

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Interesting, because the BC teacher told me that the reason AB and BC are separate at the school is because earlier classes under-prepare students for AB. They also said that BC includes more new content than AB.

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AP Lit, US Gov, and Chem/Physics 2 are the classes I’m concerned about in terms of workload based on what I’ve heard. That’s why I’m worried about adding Stats to the mix because I will also have to work on college apps and retaking the SAT/ACT.

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BC does include more new content. As I said, 1/3 of the class is new material. BC essentially encompasses all of AB plus a little new material. It’s why some schools allow students to skip AB.

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Agree with above. Calc BC is mostly a rehash of AB.

Opinions vary but 6 AP’s senior year is rough in my book. College apps, essays and visits eat-up time. Add in SAT’s and senioritis.

AP Stats is probably the easiest. Some of the others could suck up time though. At this point your EC’s, awards and essays probably matter more than one more AP class.

Good luck.

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I think that really depends on the school and the student. At my sons school, APs were classes like any of the other classes. It was a private college prep school and there weren’t easy options per se. He took Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, neither of which has an AP version, and they were as challenging as any other course. In fact for him, a person where math and science come easily, literature required more work due to the volume of reading. Personally, I look at APs like any other class.

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At least in theory, organic chemistry and biochemistry should be covering more advanced material than general chemistry (AP chemistry).

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They did indeed. Neither is an AP class though. It was offered as a little defense for my classifying APs as just another class. Some are more challenging, some less, but the AP label, or lack thereof, doesn’t really determine that. :+1: