<p>Hey guys. I'm a junior right now in New Jersey. This year I've taken AP chemistry, AP psychology, AP English and Composition, Hon. Physics, Hon. Pre Calc, Hon. Chinese 4, and, obviously, gym. Next year I was originally signed up to take, brace yourself, AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Bio, AP Literature, AP US History (our school does it all in one year), and gym. In my school AP Biology and AP Physics are two periods, and I was eager to take both; however, for some reason, the guidance office decided to schedule the two classes at the same exact two periods. Since I want to do some biochemistry related in the future, I figured AP Biology would be more beneficial. So, since AP Physics is a two period class, I decided to take AP Chinese and Honors Western Philosophical Thinking (because it really interests me) to fill the void. In addition, since these two classes are pretty hard, and because in my school AP US History is all in one year (unlike many other schools) making it one of the hardest courses in my school (which is totally absurd), I chose to just go down to Hon. US 2. I have a perfect 4.0 unweighted GPA, SAT scores around 2200 range, SAT 2's above 700, play 3 varsity sports, and do many extracurriculars and volunteer stuff. </p>
<p>My question to everyone here is: Would going down to Hon. US 2 and taking an Hon. Philosophical Thinking course for my pleasure affect college admissions and/or scholarship opportunities? Please help me out here guys!</p>
<p>Just stick with the APs it isn’t worth it to switch now at your position. And speaking of hellish schedules, my friend is taking:
AP Lang
AP Bio
AP Chem
AP Physics
AP Calc BC</p>
<p>lol.</p>
<p>Haha that’s pretty crazy too. Do you think colleges put a huge emphasis on senior year coursework? I mean… even without those classes… my schedule is still pretty insane.</p>
<p>Take it easy! I don’t think colleges will mind if you only take 3 AP’s (although I’m taking 4 next year, haha). You sound like you mustve had a really hard junior year–3 Varsity sports?!? In addition to the million AP’s you took!</p>
<p>Actually I’ll be taking 4 APs- Calc, Bio, literature, and Chinese. But yeah, it was tough at times; however I definitely don’t regret it now!</p>
<p>It still amazes me how many incredible students there are. These kind of students are unknown to my area. Good luck in your endeavors.</p>
<p>What area is that? I feel like many of the “incredible students” are concentrated in the urban West coast areas (SF, LA, SD) and the East Coast. Just a meaningless generalization, though.</p>
<p>Rialto, Californi. It’s a small suburban area. I attend a very low performing school as well. Universities love our top students though. :)</p>
<p>soo… anyone have insight on my question?</p>
<p>Dude. Don’t worry, seriously. You’re taking a very difficult schedule, and I doubt dropping one AP class would really make colleges look down on you. </p>
<p>But in response to your comment that AP Biology would be a better choice for biochemistry, keep in mind that a general physics course would most likely be required for a major in that field. I don’t know if that really affects your decision though. </p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck next year – I’m taking quite a hellacious schedule as well (6 APs and 5 honors classes).</p>
<p>I’m taking Honors Physics this year, and I’ve also taken Honors Biology freshman year. So since I’ve taken both, I figured bio would be more beneficial. And how do you have so many classes in one year?</p>
<p>My school doesn’t have traditional scheduling. Classes go from 8 in the morning to 8 at night, as it is a residential school. Also 2 of those APs are only in the second semester, and the honors classes are only a semester long, so it’s still manageable.</p>
<p>EDIT: I would totally take AP Biology anyways. It was my favorite class this past year.</p>
<p>Ohhhhhh okay that makes more sense. Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>As long as you don’t decrease the number of AP classes you take, you should be fine. I took 4 AP my junior year, and then I took 5 my senior year. But, I think senior year grades do matter. I got straight A’s on my second semster, and I think it helped me gained admission to top colleges. So, just do your best in the classes you’re taking. Seniors grades may or may not be very important, but it can’t hurt to do well.</p>
<p>well I’m going to do well regardless; i just wasn’t sure if it would matter if I’m taking four APs instead of five my senior year.</p>