Senior Year Schedule

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi, i'm currently a sophomore. I'm taking Honors Biology and Honors Chemistry this year, but I'm on tenterhooks about the sciences I'll be taking the next two years. I originally planned to do this:</p>

<p>Junior Year....................Senior Year
1st Sem.......................1st Sem
AP Biology....................Honors Anatomy & Physiology
AP USH........................AP Calc AB/BC
Honors English 3............AP Euro History
Pre Cal........................Honors English IV</p>

<p>2nd Sem.........................2nd Sem
AP Biology........................Honors Physics
AP USH...........................AP Calc AB/BC
AP Lang & Comp................AP Euro History
Spanish 2.........................Honors Spanish 3</p>

<p>But now I've been considering a schedule like this:</p>

<p>Junior Year...............................Senior Year
1st Sem...................................1st Sem
Honors Anatomy & Physiology.......AP Bio
AP USH....................................AP Calc AB/BC
Honors English 3.........................AP Physics
Pre Cal.....................................Honors English IV</p>

<p>2nd Sem...................................2nd Sem
Honors Physics..........................AP Bio
AP USH....................................AP Calc AB/BC
AP Lang & Comp........................AP Physics
Spanish 2.................................Honors Spanish 3</p>

<p>I realize that the second schedule plan is more competitive. However, I'm more interested in AP Euro than AP Physics, and i'm not sure how my GPA would cope under the pressure of that 2nd senior year schedule. I plan on becoming a neurologist, but I'm not trying to get into Ivy League. My dream is school is Duke but I would definitely settle for schools like UNC Chapel Hill or NYU. I have pretty good extracurriculars ( 4 clubs, 1 officer position) and plan on upping this as the years go by (i'm going to drop one club and hopefully get another officer position and participate in SGA) and have plenty of volunteer hours. I'm taking the PSAT next month and the SAT in march and plan on doing PSAT again next year and SAT again junior and senior years, and I study really hard so i'm confident in my test scores. My class rank was within top 5% last year and I plan on continuing that feat. I'm in the Duke TIP talent search pool and am always finding ways to make myself stand out. So, my question is, should I take the risk with my GPA and go with the second plan, regardless of my interests, or play it safe with the first schedule, which i hold more interest in? Thanks a bunch!</p>

<p>p.s. I'm sorry about how the schedule looks above, I did my best, but obv. I'm not the most savvy guy when computers are concerned. Just make sure you read it in COLUMNS.</p>

2

<p>First, you aren’t choosing between an elective and an AP course, you’re choosing between two difficult AP’s. Talk to your guidance counselor, but if you are interested in a medical field it would probably be for the best that you take physics to at least get a grasp of it; however, since you’re taking honors physics it wouldn’t hurt to explore your interest in euro history. I highly suggest looking through material from both classes and seeing if an interest is sparked. Also, since you are looking at the medical field, it would probably be for the best if you started gaining research experience.
Side note, take advantage of the AP courses offered to you! My school has five (chem, USH, gov/pol, and calc 1 and 2) and most of us end up having to independently study for bio and euro!</p>