I’m currently a sophomore in high school with straight A’s, and I’m wondering what will look better on college applications. So far, my classes look like this:
Freshman:
Biology Honors
Spanish 1
Integrated Math 2 Honors
Computer Repair
English 1 Honors
Tennis
Sophomore:
Spanish 2
Integrated Math 3 Honors
Chemistry Honors
English 2 Honors
AP European History
Tennis
And if I keep going with my current plans, the rest will look like this:
Junior:
AP U.S. History
AP English Language and Composition
AP Chemistry
Pre-Calc Honors
Spanish 3
Tennis
Senior:
AP English Literature
AP Physics
AP Calculus
AP Economics/Government
AP Biology
Tennis
So, once again, my question is, should i take out Spanish 3 to take AP Biology my junior year? If I do that, I will have most likely have AP Environmental Science in its place senior year. I’m not sure if I will even be allowed to do this yet, though, since my school usually doesn’t allow more than 4 AP/Honors classes in a single schedule, unless you have good enough grades for them to let you take 5 AP senior year. I’m hoping they might make an exception and allow me to take a 5th AP/Honors next year if I keep my grades as straight A’s. I definitely plan on keeping tennis within my schedule all 4 years.
I just want to know what would look better on my transcript, because I know only 2 years of foreign language are required, but 3 is recommended. Basically, I’m just asking if doing this would make me look better for colleges or not.
Most colleges like to see that you have completed at least 3 years of a foreign language. IMO, replacing Spanish 3 will make your transcript weaker, not stronger.
Take Spanish 3 (unless you are a native speaker). I would even say take Spanish 4 your senior year instead of 2 sciences. Most colleges have a foreign language requirement and the further you get in it, the better off you’ll be in the long run.
Agree, most colleges do want 3 or 4 years of a foreign language so stick with Spanish. You should look at the recommended/required HS courses of colleges you are considering. You may want to take Spanish in your senior year as well.
High school is not a race to take the most APs you can squeeze in your schedule. For the top tier colleges, you just want your guidance counselor to be able to check the box that you have taken the most rigorous courseload available at your HS (which doesn’t mean the most APs).
I took Spanish 3. It might be good for you to take it because you might have to take 2 classes of foreign language in college depending what you want to major (unless your college has placement exams that let you skip that requirement if you do well). I dont know what you plan on majoring in but I know that you only need to pass 2 AP sciences to finish the general education science requirement.
Take Spanish 3 and consider taking Spanish 4. Senior year, I’d replace either AP physics or AP literature with its honors version. 5 AP 's senior years won’t achieve anything 4 AP wouldn’t as far as college admission and preparation would go, and you’ll need time to polish your essays.
On top of that, AP Bio and AP Chem together is often a death sentence. In addition to the rigor that is inherent in an AP class, these two classes have extensive labs (and accompanying lab reports) that often require double blocked periods and/or before/after school sessions to complete. College admissions is not an arms race where the applicant with the most AP’s wins.
I agree completely with @skieurope on not taking AP Bio and AP Chem. That’s a really bad idea to take both of them in one year. You also have the problem of scheduling in two labs now if you go that route.
Most top colleges like to see four years of language. It’s preferred, but go for what you want to do. Are you struggling in Spanish? You said you have all As so I don’t think you are? So keep taking Spanish for the rest of your high school since 1. You will have to take it eventually in college unless you make it to AP and write the exam, 2. Around Spanish 4 is where I think students start to become more proficient in the language.
If you stop at Spanish 2, then you’ve barely become versed in the language and you’ll have a gap of two years before you take a Spanish course in college.
Unless you think you are VERY strong student in sciences and going to be able to handle the workload of two in-depth science APs, then I would recommend against taking both of them junior year. My older sibling took both junior year, but that was because she was quite strong in science. Unfortunately, she had to quite Tennis that year, but maintained her other ec’s.
Not only would I recommend keeping Spanish 3 in your junior year, I would also recommend taking Spanish 4 during your senior year. Colleges want to see more than the minimum in anything, and just adding on APs in other subjects doesn’t make your schedule look better.
I agree with the others and would also add that your proposed schedule looks very solid. You’ve got your bases covered: the three core AP sciences; both AP English courses; math through calculus, AP Euro, US, and Gov/Econ. In my opinion adding APES is of little value and completing a third and ideally a fourth year of Spanish would greatly enhance your profile.
I’d amend this to say “College admissions is not an arms race where the applicant with the most AP’s necessarily wins.”
It comes down to the transcript. In general an AP class will “look better” than a standard version of the same course and a transcript reflecting a rigorous course load will be better received than a less rigorous one.
Beyond the transcript, “the most AP’s” can provide other benefits:
avoiding sitting through boring classes surrounded by unmotivated students,
earning college credits for high school work,
advanced placement in college courses,
meaningless AP Scholar Awards to put in a scrapbook, and
you never know who might be impressed down the road.
As to number 5, I was recently told the story of a job applicant, three years out of college, interviewing for a position that many HYP wannabees would fantasize about. Oddly, somehow during the course of the interview the topic of high school AP classes came up (clearly this wasn’t part of the normal interview script) and the interviewer happened to ask the applicant about their AP scores, which had been phenomenal. The applicant was offered the job.
@sherpa I don’t think anyone here is disparaging AP courses or their value – however in the OPs case he/she is asking about taking one or two extra APs (10 APs rather than 8 or 9 APs) and dropping Spanish after sophomore year. IMO not having at least 3 years of HS foreign language would leave a gaping hole in his/her transcript.
I think the suggestions here to: 1) check the recommendations/requirements of colleges he/she is considering and 2) to take one or even two less APs and continue with Spanish at least through the third level would be the correct call. I believe that @skieurope and others were noting that it is critical to consider the overall transcript and not just chase every possible AP class.
Correct. It’s all within the overall context. 9 AP’s vs. 10 AP’s is not an appreciable difference in rigor. However, having a boatload of AP’s while not meeting the college’s recommended HS preparation without a valid reason (and I’d argue that shoving in APES to get an additional AP is not a valid reason) will do the applicant no favors.
Thank you all of you for your answers so far. They’ve helped me a lot, but there’s one thing I’m confused about: Are Spanish 4 and AP Spanish the same class? Sorry, it’s probably a stupid question, but I’m not very familiar with how it works, because my school offers AP Spanish after Spanish 3. There is no “Spanish 4” as far as I know.
@MuffinLord1 I believe the reason I’m not struggling in Spanish is because the teacher’s I’ve had so far have been quite easy on the class, or just don’t teach much in general. I think it’s either that or maybe I’m just really good at Spanish and haven’t noticed it, but I doubt it. I am 0% Hispanic and seem to be able to speak Spanish better than most of the Hispanic kids in that class, even though I’m pretty sure I’m not good at it. It just seems like the other kids aren’t trying, which forces the teacher to make the class easier. I go to a high school that is generally pretty ghetto, so I guess that could be why the students don’t care as much. Anyways, my point is I don’t think I’d be able to understand a 4th year of Spanish based on my current level. I’m not completely sure though, so I guess that option is still a possibility.
Yes, generally AP Spanish Lang is fourth year, and AP Lit is fifth year if you have a district where you can take Spanish )or other language) in middle school.
In some districts, the progression is Spanish 1,2,3, 4 with 1 offered in middle school and sometimes 2; or Spanish for native speakers 1+2; then AP Spanish Language and sometimes AP Spanish Literature.