Picking classes for senior year

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
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Hi! I am currently a junior in high school and Vanderbilt is my dream school. I’m deciding what classes I want to take next year and I was hoping I could get some advice.
Just some background on the AP/honors classes I’ve already taken:
9th grade - Honors English, Honors World History
10th grade - Honors English, AP World History, Honors Algebra 2
11th grade - Honors Precalculus, AP Lang, APUSH, AP Psych

Next year I am set on taking AP Lit, AP Gov, and AP Stats. (I’m not taking AP Calculus because I am very, very bad at math.) I also do not enjoy science very much, so I am very nervous about taking AP Chemistry. I know that I could do it, but it would be very time consuming, and I’m not sure I can deal with the stress. (Junior year has been immensely stressful, and I don’t want to repeat that senior year)

So what I’m getting at is… do I need to take AP Chem if I want to get in to Vanderbilt? What if I take AP Art History instead? I think it will be clear in my application that my focus is much more on history/English than math/science, so I’m leaning towards not doing AP Chem.
Also, could I get away with just not taking a science class senior year?

Haha sorry this is so long. Please help me!

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Does your school offer AP Environmental Science or AP Biology? That would be a nice way to round out four years of science and involve almost no math. I don’t know how important it is to take four years of science, but Vanderbilt does take a liberal arts education very seriously. You’ll be required to take math and science courses at Vanderbilt, should you end up here, so I’m sure they prefer to see well-rounded schedules no matter what your interests are.

You certainly do not need to take AP Chem to get into Vanderbilt. Most incoming students did not take it (or did not score 4/5 on the AP exam). If AP Chem is your only science option, it’s probably not worth your time/effort. Only taking three years of science will not be a deal-breaker, particularly if you fill the gap with another solid course like AP Art History.

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Thank you so much for your response! I think I’m going to take regular Physics instead. :slight_smile:

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Oh yes, if you haven’t taken regular physics, you should do that.