Scheduling and changed priorities ruining my chances.

Applying to College
1

I really messed up- Please just read and I’ll explain what my worry is.
Hello everyone, here’s my situation:
I go to a hyper-competitive independant high school with like 21 APs total, and right now is course sign ups for my Junior year.
Current schedule:

  • Bio (no honors option)
  • Advanced Pre-calc (not honors, though)
  • AP Lang
  • Political Rhetoric (honors)
  • Sustainable engineering
  • Mandarin 4 honors
    But here’s the thing- I want to substitute sustainable engineering with AP chemistry, but because of my school’s competitive culture, i think i might not get it because the class is full. this would leave me with literally ONE AP COURSE by junior year (I am; however, taking 3 my senior year, and self-studying for the gov and envirosci exam this year).

Context:
I used to be super into theatre and I thought I’d go into it as a profession, so sophomore year I took advanced choir and dance with no honors courses at all. BUT my priorities have significantly shifted and I’ve discovered my love for (environmental) science. Now, I want to apply to schools like Tufts, WashU, Brandeis, etc. and these colleges want to see a student who has consistently challenged themself- and i haven’t rly until junior year.
Now I am terrified because if I don’t get AP Chem in my schedule, no college will want to accept me because I haven’t adequately explored the difficulty of my curriculum.

More context:
I currently (as of the end of sophomore year) have a 3.9 GPA (4.0 scale with 0.5 bump for honors/AP) and given my ability as a student, I can expect somewhere around a 4.03 GPA by the end of junior year.
If I don’t get AP Chem, are my chances for the schools I mentioned before ruined? I’m so stressed thinking about how my prior class choices and my current scheduling ordeal might literally ruin my life (I know it’s dramatic but I’m freaking out so it’s hard to hear the voice of reason)
Additionally, I am expecting based on my practice tests that I’ll get a 33-35 on the ACT

What do people think? Am I going to get immediety rejected from everywhere I want? lol

TLDR; I didn’t take honors/AP until my junior year where I might only have 1 AP class (and two self-studied tests) and now I’m worried competitive colleges won’t want me because I didn’t explore the offered curriculum fully enough even though I didn’t realize I wanted to be super academic until the spring of my sophomore year.

Thanks, everyone for listening!!

2

A few comments:

– I would recommend against taking two science courses in a year unless you are a science whiz kid. The lab components for two science courses will add additional time/work/stress to your schedule.

–If you want to take an AP instead of the sustainable engineering course I’d recommend a social studies course since that subject seems to be missing from your schedule.

–I would not bother to self-study for APs. Self-studying is not generally a factor in college admissions. IMO your time would be better spend doing as well as possible in your HS classes and increasing your involvement in ECs.

–Talk to your guidance counselor about how he/she would rate your schedule in terms of rigor and if your schedule (including projected courses for senior year) will make you a competitive candidate for the schools you are considering.

–There are a whole host of amazing colleges and universities out there where you can have a wonderful 4 year expereince and get where you want to go in life. Expand your horizons. Do the work/research to seek out reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (run net price calculators if money is a factor) ad that you woudl be excited to attend.