First of all, sorry if this is in the wrong forum; I’m a little fuzzy as to where this should go.
So, basically, I sort of have a dilemma regarding my schedule for next year (sophomore year). I’ve been playing the violin for about 8 years now and have participated in some sort of orchestra ever since 4th grade. That being said, I’m really bad at the violin; it’s actually pretty embarrassing. Anyways, we got our orchestra audition results back very recently and I’m still in the same orchestra (III), while ALL of my friends got promoted to the highest orchestra (IV). I feel really bad about it and it’s going to be pretty awkward (for me at least), but what’s done is done and I’m trying my best to get over it.
My official schedule for next year right now is:
AP Calculus AB/BC*
AP World History/Honors English*
AP Environmental Science
AP Chinese
Honors Orchestra III.
(All classes with * are block/double period classes. Also, my school goes by an 8 period schedule, INCLUDING lunch).
I asked my counselor to drop lunch and APES for AP Biology* a while ago but it looks like she hasn’t done so yet. I AM planning to take AP Bio* next year for sure though.
Because of that, I’m going to end up with all block classes next year. AP Chinese is 8th period, which means that I needed to get into the highest orchestra, which is 5th period, to be able to fit orchestra in my schedule. Orchestra III is 2nd period, so it would be physically impossible (since I wouldn’t have anything 1st period) to take Orchestra next year.
As I didn’t get in, my options are now these:
<ol>
<li>Take a 6th AP class, APES (My schedule would be AP Calculus AB/BC<em>, WHAP/H. English</em>, AP Chinese, AP Biology*, and APES <<the 6th AP class). The good news is that this would be a more “rigorous” schedule and make me more competitive with my peers, but I don’t know how bad this workload would be. </li>
<li>Take Lunch. The obvious good in this is having a break and an opportunity to study. However, most of my friends aren’t taking lunch next year and I’m scared to death about not having anyone to sit with. Being alone is basically my biggest concern for this option. </li>
</ol>
So, any advice/recommendations? Also, how bad is not taking orchestra continuously, even if I have a legit reason? Sorry for the long and possibly confusing post, and thanks in advance!