Should I take AP US History next year?

Test Preparation AP History & Social Sciences
1

I’m just finishing up my first semester of junior year, and class registrations will be coming soon, probably after this week’s finals or possibly the beginning of February. After looking at what I wanted to take for next year’s courseload, I realized I have a free credit in my schedule that I’d like to fill. I haven’t had the chance to talk to the teacher, counselor, or past students of APUSH, but even when I do speak with them I’d still like a general consensus from here.

I’ll already have taken AP Calc AB, Calc II/III dual enrollment, AP Chem, AP Psych, IB English HL I, IB Physics SL, IB Theory of Knowledge, and IB German SL I. Next year I plan to also take AP US Gov, Anatomy/Phys, IB English HL II, Linear Algebra or some college math equivalent (mostly dependent on what our local community college offers), and IB German SL II. I was wondering if APUSH would be too much of a workload my senior year, especially since I’ll be taking US Gov, and I also took “Accelerated” (read: really no more work than regular US History) freshman year. Unfortunately my school doesn’t offer many APs, so taking this would be pretty much the last one offered besides probably a few. If I should simply not take the class, or substitute it for a different class, AP or otherwise, or even if it’s suggested in my best interest to take APUSH, I’d like to know.

2

If you already took Accelerated US History, I would probably suggest taking another course that piques your interest rather than yet another survey course in USH.

3

Fair enough, although I’d like to mention that Accel. US History was for the most part just basic US History in ninth grade to fulfill graduation requirements.

4

Update: it’s been about two weeks, and we’ve just received course booklets for registration next week. I managed to talk to a guidance counselor last week, and she suggested I take it “to get some more AP credits.” I also spoke with a friend briefly about that matter, and she is unsure if I should [take the course].

As it stands right now I only have about 4.5 credits planned out for my senior year, not including potential dual enrollment math courses at our local community college. I’m not certain as to whether I should take the extra challenge or leave my potential courseload at that to relieve myself a bit during senior year.

Perhaps the biggest setback would be the potential schedule conflict it might have; the only period the class is offered is the same time as another class I want to take, so if the time for the class doesn’t change for next year, I won’t take it. Other than that I will continue to talk to friends and past students, and possibly the instructor, to find out if taking APUSH would be best for me.