Hey. I’m currently a Freshman and my counselor has made me make a four year plan. I wanted to know your opinion on it. I am currently interested in studying Architecture and maybe Literature in college. Here is my course plan:
Freshman Year
AP Human Geography
Honor Written and Oral Comp.
Accelerated Honors Geometry
Honors Biology
Honors Spanish For Native Speakers 4
PLTW Intro to Engineering
Drivers Ed (Summer School)
Sophomore Year (Planing On Not Having A Lunch Period)
AP World History
Honors World Literature and Comp.
Accelerated Honors Pre-Calculus
AP Chemistry (2 Period)
AP Spanish Language
PLTW Computer Integrated Manufacturing
Junior Year
AP US History
AP English Language and Comp.
AP Calculus BC
AP Physics 1
AP Spanish Literature
AP Art History
PLTW Civil Engineering and Architecture
Senior Year
AP English Literature and Comp.
College Calculus 3
AP Physics C (2 Periods)
AP Economics (Micro and Macro)
PLTW Digital Electronics
AP Environmental Science
Notes: PLTW courses are like AP engineering courses where I can take and end of year exam to get college credit.
For your sophomore year, I think that you should rearrange your schedule that you have a lunch period. Ultimately, your health and well being is more important than how many AP classes you take.
To be completely honest, in my freshman year i thought that taking all the AP classes i could would help me in college, but i’ve come to learn that it’s so much harder. my conclusion has been to not take the classes i do not NEED because then i will over stress myself. All of those AP classes hurt so much. Like the above have stated, your well being is so much more important than how many AP classes you take. The only thing your GPA is worth is for scholarships. Colleges look more closely at your ACT and SAT scores. and you want to have time to study and practice for those.
^ GPA is extremely important. It’s silly to take classes you won’t excel in or will put too much pressure on you. You’ll regret not taking that lunch period haha
seems pretty good but just remember, you are still a freshman. My current schedule and my planned 4 year schedule basically veered in complete opposite directions of each other.
Personally, I’d advise you not to overwork yourself. Once you reach about 8 AP classes, the application benefit to work and time ratio becomes a bit much. Invest some of that time in doing something you love, something you’re really passionate about, and it will show to the people reviewing your application.
Do you love chemistry and sculpting? Excel in extracurricular programs that involve those.
Do you simply adore writing and band? Put a lot of your time into developing those skills and hobbies.
Do you like something different altogether, that doesn’t even involve school?
That’s still perfectly fine.
Whatever thing(s) you find that you love, take some of that time you’d be devoting to AP classes that you couldn’t care less about and really develop your passions. (Not to mention, if you feel overwhelmed, you could really damage your GPA by doing badly in these classes.)
Not only will that show immensely well on your apps, but you’ll be a much happier person overall.