Please help, running out of time! AP courses for senior year

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

Hello everyone!

I’m completely freaking out about my senior course classes, I’m not from this country and I keep finding out about opportunities too late, things are starting to pile up and I’m going crazy without anyone to ask for help. I already received a bunch of messages from my school to hurry up and register but I just can’t decide on my own! I also have no idea how college application works so I don’t know how to do what they are usually looking for. My school is also really big so guidance counselors don’t usually have the time or attention to help us. Someone please pull me out of this blackhole!

I study at a prestigioius arts public high school and they require students to take three periods of art classes without exception, which takes away space for other classes. I want to take AP Biology next year, but since it is a double period course I have to remove Spanish class (the only optional course in my school); I can only have a maximum of ten periods in the day (including lunch and gym). I had to do the same thing for my current junior year (I removed Spanish since I’m taking double period AP chemistry), so now I’ll only have two years of foreign language and no classes in physics.

Now I’m applying to senior classes and I don’t know which one I should do: AP Physics and Spanish because I haven’t taken any physics yet (and I only have two years of Spanish), or AP Biology because I want to be pre-med in college and the teacher already knows me from freshman year, and we have a great relationship? I haven’t looked at a lot of colleges yet but I know that I definitely want to apply to Columbia. I don’t want to be “chanced” into the school, but which of these two options will hurt me the least?

As a disclosure, I was living in Brazil for twelve years where I became fluent in Portuguese. I had grammar and literature classes there in Portuguese up to seventh grade; will that at least balance out my two years of foreign language in high school? I’m going to write a list of the graduation requirements for my school:

English: 4 years
Social Studies: 4 years
Science: 3 years
Math: 3 years
Foreign language: 1 year
Physical Education: 4 years
Health: 1 year

Also, my school has an accredited arts program, where the usual three-year foreign language requirement to get an Advanced Regents Diploma is replaced by the Arts studio programs. As a result, every foreign language class after the first year is an elective.

Here is a list of my courses to help you. Thanks in advance!

Current GPA: 99.21% (Weighed, and the school does not rank)

PSAT: 1410 (750 math 660 English)

Freshman:

Honors English 1 (Grade: 99)
(has a reputation of being twice as hard as any AP Eng. Class; everybody avoids that teacher. I actually loved it, even though it was hell to keep a 98 GPA. I also took Honors 2 with her and it was a continuation of her challenging class)

Algebra 1 (99)
Living Environment (99)
Pre-AP Global History (99)
Spanish 1 and 2 (95)
Studio Practice 1 and 2 (double period) (100)
Gym

Sophomore:
Honors English 2 (99)
Geometry (97)
Chemistry (98)
AP Human Geography (Score: 3, I didn’t understand how serious the source was) (98)
AP World History (Score: 4) (99)
Spanish 3 and 4 (97)
Studio Practice 3 and 4 (double period) (99)
Ceramics and Printmaking (100)
Yoga

Junior (grades so far):
AP English Composition (98)
AP Chemistry (Double period) (93)
AP Chemistry again
APUSH (100)
Algebra 2/Trig (96)
Advanced Oil Painting (double period) (98)
Anatomy/realistic drawing (100)
Health/PE (98)
Self-Studying for AP Statistics, AP Environment Science. and I might re-take Human Geography

Planned for Senior:
AP English Literature

AP Calculus AB
AP Biology (Double period) or AP Physics 1
AP Comparative Gov/AP U.S Gov +Economics
AP Art History
Photography (double period)
Advance Digital Media
Spanish 5/6 (only if I don’t take AP Bio)
Yoga

I appreciate any guidance. Please forgive me if I’m posting this in the wrong place!

2

I’m sorry to disappoint, but either decision will inevitably turn away some colleges and attract others. Colleges typically want to see four years in core classes such as math, english, history, and science. Four years in a foreign language is also preferred, with two years or less making you less competitive in comparison to other applicants.

Considering your goal as pre-med, I do suggest taking a science class over Spanish, if only to continue your demonstrated interest and importance placed in the sciences.

As to AP Physics 1 or AP Biology, I hate to say this, but your school pretty much screwed you over in comparison to standard high schools which require at least one year in biology, chemistry, and physics. This is because colleges prefer to see this as it illustrates an overall strong foundation in the sciences. Both physics and biology are critical for pre-med, but you have to consider that pre-med is not a major. It is simply a path that you follow, as it consists of courses that medical schools require for admission. So in this, you have to consider what you want to major in. Do you want to do something with engineering, such as biomedical engineering? Or do you wish to major in biology? If yes to engineering, take AP Physics 1. If yes to biology, take AP Biology.

To be honest, either way, you will be sacrificing one over the other. Both biology and physics are considered standard and staple core science classes that all high school students, and ones that colleges expect. From your past and future course schedules, it looks like you have not taken either in previous years.

But don’t worry! Colleges are not unnecessarily cruel and they want you to be admitted into colleges where they believe you fit in and can succeed in. On most - if not all - college applications, there is an additional information section where you can inform colleges you apply to about additional circumstances such as your own. In this, you can note that as an art high school, the required course load is atypical when compared to standard public high schools. Here, you can talk about how, despite your interest in the arts, it inevitably caused you to make difficult decisions about your schedule. You can talk about how you couldn’t take all the science or foreign languages you were interested in.

3

@Chemartgirl

How does foreign language work in your school? Is it by semester or level? I see Spanish up to level 4 so far. Were you in accelerated Spanish because of your background in Portuguese?

What kind of college do you hope to attend? Are you going to continue to pursue visual arts? Could you list some colleges that you might want to attend to see if your ambitions are realistic?

Is summer school an option? Could you take biology during the summer at your HS or at a local community college? Then you could take Spanish and Physics next year.

4

Can you get an external certification in Portuguese (from a cultural center or an institute- those often have their own exams that certify your level)?
You could also take the SAT subject in Spanish and in Biology in May or June.
Subject tests are recommended to required at many selective colleges.
Self studying won’t really help so stop - instead, focus on ECs, make an impact in your school or community.
It’s not as many APs - after 6-8 the law of diminishing returns applies.
You are URM so that will help you.
Does your school offer regular Physics?
If you can demonstrate your level in Portuguese through an external certification and get 700+ in Spanish on the subject test, you’d be good with foreign language.
So, I suggest
AP Lit
AP Calc AB
AP Bio
AP Bio
Physics Regular/CP/ Regents
Honors or regular gov/econ
AP art history
Advanced Digital Media
Photography
Yoga

5

Thank you all very much for all of your help, it really helped to hear some advice from someone else on this.

  1. I understand that the art class requirements from my school has really messed up my scheduling, but I’ll do my best to make the decision. I already started to look into doing an exam to get certification in Portuguese, hopefully that will work.

  2. Spanish classes in my school are numbered by semester. For example, the first year of Spanish is called Spanish 1/2, the second year is Spanish 3/4, third year is 5/6, and the next available class is AP Spanish; also, I was not accelerated in any of my Spanish classes.

  3. Despite my art background I hope to do pre-med in college. Since my mom and I did not live here for long we don’t have a lot of knowledge about colleges, but Columbia is the only example I know that I really would like to go to.

  4. Unfortunately, my school does not take credit from any classes outside the school, whether that is on a college or online. I also wish that I could take both AP Physics 1 and AP Biology, but the schedule simply won’t allow that because of the three periods of art that I have to do.

I’ll continue to weigh the options with what you told me for the next few days until the program request deadline. Thank you again so much for your support!

6

You can be an art major or a Portuguese major and be premed. Premed is an intention, not a major - you take general biology with biology majors and must rank in the top 10%, you take general chemistry and organic chemistry with chemistry majors and must rank top 10%, etc. You have to take the pre-reqs along with your general education and major classes and you must show excellence as well as excellent time management skills. So, in a way, your art school is a good preparation for being premed.
Columbia is ‘reach for everyone’, like all schools that admit fewer than 20% applicants. If you qualify financially you may have to apply HEOP but I don’t know if you are eligible academically.
You need to get a Fiske guide or Princeton Review’s Best Colleges.
What’s your EFC?
If you live in NYS, look at SUNYs as well as colleges such as Hamilton, Vassar or Skidmore (reach), St Lawrence, Marist, Ithaca, Hobart&WilliamSmith…