Im picking classes for junior year and I’m wondering if I will be able to take 5 different ap classes and play basketball at the same time. Here are the classes i plan on taking:
ap lang
ap calc ab
apush
ap physics
ap comp sci a
athletic locker
what do you guys suggest i do. i really want to take these classes (except apush) but i also want to play basketball and i think it will be very tough to try to do fit all of it into my schedule. and are there any tips to try to handle this type of a schedule. can someone help a brother out plz?
This is too much. Take us history honors or CS honors. 3-4 APs would be plenty even for a highly selective college.
I notice you only have a foreign language - have you reached level 3 already?
My D did 4 AP courses while doing crew which was 4 hours per day, coming home with blisters on her hands. She liked always being busy and did well but it may have been too much. She might not be as intelligent as other high achieving kids but she has supreme time management and is willing to work harder than most kids.
Hopefully our experience helps the OP. The advantage of basketball is that it is likely normal practice days are just 2 hours or so. Games can really make school work tough especially if there is a lot of away travel/your school is in a rural area so the other teams are far.
5 is a little much and even more time consuming with basketball. I would recommend picking the one you’re most interested in or for your major. Up to 3 max if you manage time well and a hard worker but no more than 3. Good luck!
I will give the opposite advice. It all depends on what type of student you currently are. My son had 6 AP plus multivariate Calc (just as hard of a class). He went to an all honors school. He found the AP classes were easier then the Honors classes. I think he enjoyed the depth of the AP classes more hence did better in them. He also played a sport (track) during this and on the school traveling chess team. He was not great at time management but did get a lot of his homework done at school somehow.
It depends on the context. Specifically, how hard have your schedules been previously, and how well did you do in them? Also, would the alternatives to AP English, history, physics, and computer science be non-AP versions of the same courses?
It seems like history is one of least interest to you, so if you drop any of them to the non-AP version, you may want to do that with history. Calculus AB should be a keeper (or consider a change to BC if your school offers a BC course suitable for students who have just completed precalculus), since you should be a strong student in math, evidenced by being two grade levels ahead.
^ I wouldn’t suggest BC to a student trying to lighten their schedule, if they can take AB.
You answer your own question. You think it will be too tough and you want to play basketball. So don’t take them all.
I agree that it depends on the context, but for most students this would be way to much.
It will be a difficult schedule to manage. However, given that basketball is a winter sport, you’d have a couple of months to get used to the workload and decide if you can handle it before adding basketball to the mix. Have you talked to kids, teachers, and your GC to research the workload and level of difficulty those classes entail? It can be different at each school.
IMHO, I would stick with 4 and drop AP Comp Sci. Take it next year if you want. There are only so many hours in a day.
What does your counselor think? What colleges interest you? What requirements do those colleges have, and what. courses will best prepare you for success? Do you have an idea of what career fields interest you?
Depending on your answers to the above questions, is what will help determine your path for junior year. Here’s a fact - your courses, grades, and cumulative GPA at the end of junior year are KEY. This is the transcript that ALL of colleges to which you apply will use in consideration with your college application.
You are likely applying early action to your colleges. Those apps will go out in October, which is why that junior year is SO important. Yes. Colleges will see the rigor of senior year courses, so think about that too, but there won’t be grades to report.
HS Junior year is your year to shine. Blow it out!
I’d add, that there’s more to the college app than courses, GPA and test scores. You want to show you are passionate about one or a few activities (versus dabbling in many). Here’s my point. If basketball is your thing, then starting now, be passionate about basketball. Volunteer Coach elementary or middle school students. Be a certified REF for games of younger players. Maybe even play along with senior citizens at a senior center. But, show passion and dedication about ONE area, especially.
All the Best to you.