Hey guys. So I’m gonna be a junior next year, and we’re getting out course cards this week. So I’ve been thinking about the classes I wanna take and Idk what to do. Could you help?
These are the classes I’m for sure going to take:
-AP Physics 1
-AP Spanish Lit
-Honors Band
Ok, so now here’s the classes I’m not sure about. If I wasn’t factoring in my sanity, I would take all APs, but 6 APs is unrealistic. 5 is my max.
-AP Calc
-English (AP Lang, Dual Enrollemebt, or Honors)
-US History (AP, Dual Enrollment, or Honors)
-Elective (either AP Stat, AP Psych, Hon Communication Technology, or maybe another band class?)
So yea I’m not sure which class I should drop a level in… Any reccomendations?
English and APUSH are alot of work/reading. What do you like better? Pick either one. Choose an Ap you enjoy from the last list. What interests you? Stats? Psyc?
Remember, protect your unweighted GPA at all costs. Adcoms won’t care if you take 6 or 8 across junior and senior year, but they will see your unweighted GPA.
As is AP Spanish Lit, although the workload in any class really depends on the teacher. Personally, I would sacrifice any tertiary classes (stat/psych) before any core classes (calc/English/USH/possibly Spanish), but the answer depends in part on what you want to do in college.
Take AP Calc because it goes with the AP Physics. Drop the English down a level - the AP version is insanely timeconsuming and not a true reflection of how lit courses are taught in college (they’re fun, and AP English in high school isn’t). For the rest do what interests you. It sounds like you are headed toward a quantitative or science major in college. The AP Statistics will be useful.
Thanks so much guys!! All of your input is very helpful. So, I was talking to my friends today, and the general consensus is to drop down English. But one idea my friend had was to take AP Lang online. I like that idea because then I can take the dual enrollment science friction literature class that they have at my school, and do most of Lang over the summer. I have taken 3 online classes, including one AP (currently) so I have a good idea of what to expect. Plus science fiction would be really fun to read in school lol. I’m still unsure about my last elective, but I doubt I’ll choose an AP looking at how much I will have to do.
@suzyQ7 yea, I’m taking 4 APs this year (World, Seminar, Spanish Lang, Enviro (online)) as a sophomore. I’m slightly stressed, but that’s mostly because of AP seminar which I won’t take next year. Thanks for your advice!
@skieurope from what I’ve heard from my friends, Spanish lit is a medium amount of work, Lang is a ridiculous amount of busy work, APUSH is very little compared to world, and Calc is a TONNN (at least 50-75 question a night, if not 100).
@nyucorgi I think i would be able to pass the Lang exam by self studying since I got a 700 (out of 760) on the reading/writing portion of the PSAT, so I’ll think about that.
Maybe AP Literature, but I hardly had that experience in AP Lang. IMO there is almost nothing to learn material wise in Lang except that it’s basically a how to write good essays 101. Like Logos, Ethos, Pathos? I don’t even recall every using them after the first week.
Thanks so much for all your advice so after talking to juniors who took AP Calc, and taking my most recent pre-Calc test (studying for 3 hours apparently doesn’t help much) I’m going to take AP stats for my math class. So my classes will be:
AP Physics 1
AP Spanish Lit OR DE Spanish (I’m going to talk to the teacher, but she’s been sick for a few days)
AP Lang
AP US History
AP Stats
Honors Band
Either AP Research or Honors Comm Tech (depending on my decision on Spanish— Guidances doesn’t let people take 6 APs)
AP Lang is very useful but if it’s taught in a “busy work” manner at your school, you may be better off taking it online and taking the DE Sci Fi seminar during the year. Being excited about a course and conveying this in essays or interviews will be very important.
1+2+4 +6 = good
AP Stats: will you be able to take this class in college (because it’s very light compared to a college stats class, you won’t get credit for it). It’s very important to take a college stats class. It’s one of those classes you can always list under the “relevant coursework” part of your resume in the Education section. It’s an easier math class so it’d balancer the other classes well.
7 = take what you prefer. What matters with electives is that you’re excited about them.
