Should I take AP English?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I am currently a sophomore in high school and just registered for my Junior year high school classes. I’m currently signed up to take AP English, AP Java, AP Chem, AP Calc, AP US History, AP Chinese, and Band. I’m torn apart between choosing if I should drop AP English down to Honors or not (my school doesn’t offer GT). I’m absolutely disinterested in the liberal arts and I plan to either become a pharmacist or go into software engineering as a career. I’ve had quite mixed reviews from other people of how tough it is and the amount of workload, but everyone has said that the English teachers are notoriously hard graders. My GPA is around 3.3-3.4, so definitely not the greatest (I messed up Freshman year so I’m going to take community college courses to bring it up), but for the most part I’m not too worried about the other classes (especially Chinese, java, and band) except calc and chem. But the things holding me back from making a decision is:

  1. I'm afraid it would drop my GPA, thus coming to the irrational conclusion that I won't be accepted into any college (specifically UMBC which is where I want to go)
  2. I have people saying they're only taking it so they don't have to take Intro to English in college which is supposedly brutal
  3. I have a seriously bad habit of biting off more than I can chew and I don't know if the workload is going to be too much for me, especially since I'm also doing varsity volleyball during the Fall and club the rest of the year
  4. To put it simply, I just really don't like English
  5. But I also know English isn't a class that I should skimp out on because it could help my writing a lot

It’s mainly just ‘I know it’s good for me’ vs. ‘I might die in that class’

2

Also sorry if it’s in the wrong category, I’m new here

3

In my kid’s experience, AP Eng Lang was chill, but AP Eng Lit was brutal. But it depends on teacher.

You should check for your interested colleges to see what type of credit/subject credit is offered as far as College English goes, and what kind of score is needed to get that credit. Schools often have different criteria and thresholds.

4

6 APs is too many for any student IMO. Re-read what you wrote in your point #3. You have a B/B+ average now.

AP Chem, APUSH, and AP language were a ton of work in my daughter’s HS. Talk to other students at your school and your GC to see if this is even a doable schedule for you.

You want to balance your course rigor with a high GPA.

5

Personally I would keep AP English, but drop APUSH in favor of an honors level history. Every school has different workloads for AP classes, however, so you really have to do your own research, plus talk to your guidance counselor. There is no wrong answer, but ideally you need to get that GPA up a bit in order to keep all of your options open. CS and software engineering are highly competitive majors.

I think you mean AP Computer Science A; there is no AP Java.

6

Drop AP English - you so obviously do not want to take it.

7

Which AP English is it-the lit or the writing? If lit, I’d drop it.

8

For a junior:

AP English, AP Java, AP Chem, AP Calc, AP US History, AP Chinese, and Band

I think 6 APs is too many. I would drop AP English and maybe something else.

9

I agree with @Groundwork2022. IMHO 6 AP classes will be too many, especially if you will be heavily involved volleyball all year and have struggled a bit with your GPA and biting off more than you could chew in the past.

I would take Honors English and possibly Honors US History.

@momofsenior1 is correct: You want to balance your course rigor with a high GPA.

10

The 6 that she listed isn’t too bad, I’ve seen worse. AP Chinese is easy for a native speaker; AP CS A is fairly easy and the other 4 are standard APs for a smart 11th grader. Which Calc is it? AB or BC? AP Chem and AP Calc BC are the hard ones.

11

I’d drop AP English and APUSH. UMBC will admit you more easily if you have A’s in these two subjects.
Basically for UMBC you need 2-3 AP’s with grades in the B+ range, plus as many A’s as possible in honors/regular subjects.
Have you taken Chemistry Honors?
I’d take:
AP CS A
Band
AP Chinese
AP Calc AB
Honors US History
Honors English
Chemistry Honors or AP Chem or Honors Physics

12

I would keep English but be warned… it is very brutal along with Chem. It also depends if you’re taking Calc AB or BC. I would drop APUSH and taking an honors or reg. history course. Did you take AP Bio? It would also if especially with pharmacy.

13

6 AP classes is a LOT, and you don’t need to oversaturate your schedule with AP classes to impress colleges.

If you are having doubts about AP English (I’m assuming English Language & not Lit, as Lang is more common for juniors) then don’t take it, or consider dropping one or two of your other APs to an honors level instead. If you know that you have a tendency to bite off more than you can chew, don’t risk hurting your GPA further by overloading yourself!

Junior year is a stressful year on its own with SATs and ACTs, plus you have your extracurriculars to manage. If you’re worried about college acceptance, it’s more impressive to show them that you have the ability to balance your workload by understanding the extent of your own ability than to fill up on too many APs and have your grades suffer as a result of overestimating how much time or work you could put towards each.