I am a rising junior for this upcoming year, and I am thinking about the courses I want to take as a senior. How does my potential schedule look?
1: AP Psychology
2: Wind Ensemble (Honors)
3: AP English Language
4: Jazz Band (Honors)
5: AP Stats
6: AP Enviro
7: AP Enviro (lab) / Study Hall
8: Business law/Study Hall
Thanks in advance!
I think it’s a pretty manageable schedule. I don’t know anything about AP Psych because my school doesn’t offer it, however I know for a fact that Stat, Lang, and APES are some of the easiest AP classes there are. Don’t slack off with senioritis and you’ll be fine.
You have a lot of AP classes, which are good, except some of them are considered “AP Lights,” and may be seen as taking the easy path.
AP Stats – did you already take Calculus BC (assuming your school offers it)? If not, I recommend taking that (or whatever math class would be next in your sequence). It would look better than AP Stats. If you already got through Calculus BC, taking AP Stats is totally reasonable. Though, I wouldn’t replace Stats with Pre-Calculus or even Calculus.
APES – This is notorious for being a really easy class. Unless you have a genuine interest in environmental science (or science isn’t your strongest subject), I’d take a different class: AP Biology, AP Chem, AP Physics 1, etc.
I don’t see a world language on your schedule. Have you taken a world language throughout high school? If you already have taken a world language and haven’t reached the most advanced level, you really should continue with it for one extra year. It is best to have four years of language in high school. If you have already reached the most advanced level of your language that your school offers (ex: at my school, it would be AP Spanish Lit), look into taking a DE Language Course. If you haven’t taken a language in high school yet, try one out senior year. One year of language is better than none.
Also, do seniors generally take AP English Lang in your school (or do most take AP English Lit)?
Otherwise, you have a pretty good schedule. Good luck with your junior year!
@h08vs20 thanks so much for your insight!
I am taking Honors Pre-Calc next year. I want to see how I do in pre-calc before deciding which math class I take, so AP Stats could easily change to AP Calc.
Science is not my strongest subject (however, I did maintain a A average in Honors Chem this past year). I will be taking AP Physics next year. For AP Biology and AP Chem: if I had to take one I would choose AP Biology. I would like to take APES because it is something different and I am not sure if I would remember bio from freshman year. Thoughts?
I have taken Spanish throughout high school. Next year I am taking honors Spanish 4. How much would you recommend taking AP Spanish Lang as a senior?
Regarding AP Lang v. Lit, I am not sure what most people take. My school just lowered AP Lang from a senior course to a junior/senior course. Which do you think would be most beneficial?
Thanks again for your advice and I would really appreciate if you answered these questions as well!
If your school does offer Calculus, I strongly advise you to take it. It will set you apart from the students who only made it to PreCalculus. If you find pre-calc difficult, maybe you can choose to take honors or academic calculus instead of AP. Unless you want to be a statistician or REALLY struggled in pre-calc, AP Statistics isn’t the best math course to take. It makes it seem like you chose to “slack off.”
If you find APES more interesting, then by all means, go for it. You shouldn’t do things for the sole purpose of looking good to college. Though, if you want the more challenging class, take AP Biology. It varies from school-to-school but students at my school may taken Biology in either freshman or sophomore year and do fine with it later on in high school. You may want to do a general review of biology before advancing into the course though.
Taking a language all four years of high school is generally a good option. Taking AP Spanish Lang senior year is definitely better than not taking anything and will show you took an accelerated route in Spanish. Not taking it won’t be the make-it-or-break-it of college applications though. An AO isn’t going to reject you solely because you chose to skip the class, but taking it (and doing well) could definitely benefit you. If you don’t take it, make sure it is replaced with something worthwhile, and you do have a pretty good and balanced schedule
Generally AP Lang is taken junior year and AP Lit is taken senior year. So, it probably would be best to take AP Lit (assuming your school offers it).
Also: are you interested in law and/or business? If you are, then Business Law is a great class to take, but if you feel it would bore you or isn’t related to anything you plan on doing in the future, opt for a different elective that interests you.
My school does offer calculus. If I do well in pre Calc I will take AP Calc. At my school there is no lower level math courses, only AP Stats and Calc.
I might end up taking AP Bio… We’ll see how I’m feeling during scheduling XD
thanks for the insight
okay, both are offered. If I want to get better at writing should I take Lang though?
As for business law, a business class is required to graduate so I’m taking business law.
What’s your intended major? (You don’t need to comment it, just keep it in mind as you read!) In AP Lang, you analyze arguments in nonfiction pieces and determine how effective they are. In Lit, you analyze themes and stuff through literary devices (fiction). Lang is therefore more applicable to a wider range of majors & Lit is good for humanities majors. I’d go for Lang (seems a bit more practical), but that’s just my two cents!
@“Liesel Anne” thank you so much for the insight! I am looking to go into a more science based field, so I’ll be sticking with AP Lang. Thanks again!