Hi,
I am an incoming senior this year and currently unsure on whether my course load is too much to handle with college apps, sports, and 3 leadership positions. I have taken four APs in total and gotten A’s in all of them. Here is my course schedule:
Ap Calc AB
Ap Literature
Ap Microeconomics
Ap Stats
Ap Chinese and Language
Ap Physics II
Do you think I should drop, self-study, or replace some courses with easier ones? Or is my schedule fine given my situation?
If you’re sure you can handle it, then I see no problem with your schedule. It all depends on the type of student you are.
Considering college apps and EC’s, I would try to get it down to 4 APs maybe? Don’t get me wrong, AP classes are great, but you want to be sure you’re doing well in each of them and balancing other factors at the same time. It makes a lot more sense to take 4 and really do well in them opposed to 6 and be a lot more stressed and pressed for time. You don’t want to risk lowering your GPA just for that extra AP class (this is simply seen as desperate and overdoing it). In terms of which to drop, this depends on your strengths, weaknesses, interests, and plans for college. Get back to me on these and I’ll help you pick which are best to drop.
There’s really no way for anyone here to know “your situation” from a couple of paragraphs. What schools are you targeting? What major do you expect to pursue? These all affect course selection.
Going from 4 APs total through Junior year to 6 in one year is a big jump. But if they were all Junior year, plus Honors/DE classes, and you got all A without working hard, that’s a different story.
Will you have college apps mostly completed over the summer, or will they need to eat into class time? Sports - club bowling once a week or varsity football with daily 3 hour practices? Leadership positions - significant time investments, or figurehead?
Only you can consider all of these factors, your own history and dedication, and decide if it’s achievable. Other students certainly have. But others haven’t. Every student is unique. Do you have a guidance counselor who knows your history that you can review it with? GC’s typically have seen hundreds of students over several years, so know the challenges of the specific courses in your school.
I woudl ditch AP Stats…
My intended major is actuarial science so my classes are geared toward math(hence two math classes). I take a while to write, so even if I do complete most of my apps during the summer time, they may still consume my time over the semester. I reviewed my schedule with my guidance counselor and she expressed my no concern with schedule. But my mom said otherwise.
Is it because of the difficulty or workload?
I’m comfortable with all subjects. But writing essays and understanding new concepts in math take longer than usual.