I’m currently a sophomore in hs planning my classes for junior year. I can’t decide whether I should take AP Lang or english electives. I’m already planning on taking 3 AP classes: chem, calc, and comp gov, not including lang. Chem is supposedly one of the hardest AP’s at my school, and three in general seems like a lot. I’m not sure if I can or want to handle four AP classes, especially as I struggle more with English, specifically writing. I’m also in a varsity sport and involved with music, which both require a lot of time. Despite this, I don’t want to take English electives which colleges might take as “slacking.” How beneficial would it be to take AP Lang on top of those other classes? Is it worth risking getting a lower grade to take more AP’s? How much do colleges care about AP Lang?
- Whey AP chem and not Physics junior year?
- What do you want to major in?
- It would be better to take AP lang than AP Comp Gov
- What is your English grade now?
- Does your teacher recommend you for AP Lgn?
I’m currently in chemistry(my school doesn’t offer honors), and I’ve heard reccomendations that AP Chem should be taken the year after chem as to not forget things. As for a major, I still do not know specifically, but I’ll likely do something along the lines of biochemistry or bioengineering, although I would also like to minor in economics, business, or polisci.
My current English grade is an A, and I got an A in the accelerated English course I took in freshman year. My teacher last year said I could take AP Lang, but he didn’t necessarily recommend it. Despite having an A in the accelerated class, English is still my worst subject. I did get an A on all of my big essays, but close to failed every timed writing assignment. I do not know recommendation my current teacher would give.
Have you taken us history and does your school offer us history honors?
Could you take AP Lang or AP gov senior year?
What’s your full schedule and what are your plans for senior year?
One of the most important things to consider in cases like these (aside from your own personal preparation for the course) is its reputation at your school. Ask kids that are currently in the class about the work level, quality of teacher(s), and how prepared they feel for the exam. You may also be able to get stats from the guidance office about how successful kids at your school tend to be on the Lang exam.
One note, however, is that 55% of your score on the AP Lang exam comes from timed essay writing so if this is a weakness, you will need to dedicate some time to improving if you hope to score a 4 or 5. Also, I hope you realize that 50% of your score on the AP Comp Gov exam comes from timed writing as well. If you are willing to take on the challenge, I would recommend only doing one of them because it will take a lot of work to improve this skill and you don’t want to overwhelm yourself too much.
One other thing to consider - AP Lang helped my daughter incredibly on her ACT and PSAT. She’s more of a STEM kid and always struggled for her As in english but she rocked her standardized tests. She says it’s because of AP Lang.
I forgot to mention, in addition to the quality of the teacher, you’ll also want to find out about the teacher’s “style.” If the teacher’s attitude toward the class is “this is an AP class so I expect you all to be amazing writers already and I’m just going to assign work to make it feel like an AP,” then you’re not likely to get the support you need to succeed. On the other hand, if their main focus is on teaching the class how to read/write better with a little exam prep in May, then you’ll still need to put in a lot of work but you have a better chance of being successful. Ultimately, the best course for adcoms to see is one that you’re going to do well in and that you’ll get something out of.
AP Lang will truly teach you how to write. Highly recommend. My teacher doesn’t give much homework, but we learn so much in class! In my opinion, it is the most useful class I am taking this year, as in I will actually be using the skills I am learning years from now.
I’m in AP English Lang right now as a junior, and before I give my answer, I want to mention I want to be a creative writing major, so my answer is very, very biased, but I do agree with the posters above. It is a very good class, which spends a lot of time on how to write well. It’s very fun with a lot to learn. There isn’t that much HW, but this does not make the class easy as there are lots of timed writings and lots of tests and quizzes. However, the skills you learn are very useful and can be applied to nearly any career. I highly recommend it.
Have a nice day.