How is this schedule for my junior year? What could I improve?
AP Language and Composition
Spanish III Honors
AP Environmental Science
AP Psychology
AP US History
AP Statistics
Do you tend towards math/science or the humanities?
My first impressions: you don’t have a ‘regular’ math…have you already taken pre-calc & calculus?
Also, assuming you may have already taken (AP) Bio?..I think Chem or Physics might be a better choice then EnvSci.
Depends on what you’ve already taken, and what your plans for college are (the first question).
I tend towards math and science. They come naturally to me. I haven’t taken bio, but I have already taken chem and physics. I also have not taken pre calc or calculus but my teacher recommended me to jump to AP Stats for some reason.
I would strongly suggest AP Bio over APES. My kids all took AP Bio in 10th grade and did very well. It was their first HS biology class and they are different (ranked ~1, 9, 10, ?15 in their respective classes). APES is definitely not considered one of the more challenging AP courses. It’s fine if you have an extra spot to fill senior year and would enjoy it (my daughter did it as an extra, out-of-school class via Virtual High School so she could fit it in senior year) but I don’t think it shows you’ve chosen the most challenging sciences, if that is your goal.
AP Psychology is also a bit of a question to me. One of my sons got a B in his AP Psych class, but scored a 5 on the exam (i.e. he didn’t work too hard in the class, as noted by his grade, but still was able to ace that exam. No special studying, no practice tests, etc.) From my experience, I’d put it in about the same category as APES - if you’ve got an extra spot and are interested, great. I definitely would not take both of them in one year.
AP Statistics is great, but to me it does not replace a typical math sequence class. (It too, is a somewhat ‘easier’ AP from our experience.) My kids all took it the same year they were taking pre-calc. You are planning AP Physics for senior year - while AP Physics 1 may be algebra-based, the selective schools are going to be looking for a math/science student to have calculus.
I would VERY strongly suggest that your don’t skip pre-calc. (schools do vary in how they promote curriculum, but it seems odd to me that a teacher would suggest skipping pre-calc for AP Statistics. I think it is important to continue on your math sequence without skipping a year. I will be interested in what other posters might have to say in regard to this.) You look like a student that can handle pre-calc and statistics (my 2 juniors will be doing that next year, as my others have) and then you will be ready for calculus (AP or not) senior year.
If you were my kid, my suggested schedule for next year would be:
AP Language and Composition
Spanish III Honors
AP Biology
Pre-Calc honors
AP US History
AP Statistics
If you don’t think 2 math classes suit you, I would pass on AP Stats and continue on a rigorous math sequence (pre-calc and AP Calculus). Colleges would rather see success through a typical math sequence, ending with calculus senior year, than AP Statistics and no calculus. In lieu of AP Statistics, you could take one of those other APs - APES, Psych, CompSci? or does your school have PLTW (engineering-prep)? etc
Take calc over stats. A lot of school see stats as a blowoff math vs the much more challenging calc bc
I definitely agree with @WhataProcess . You need to make sure you take biology, chemistry, and physics so definitely switch one your classes for Bio(preferably AP depending on how your school does it). Also do not skip a math class. I was a junior this year and took pre-calc honors and AP Stat. Ap Stat is not a substitute as most colleges will like to see that you got pre-calc (at the bare minimum). Most of the kids at my school that take AP Stat are juniors who take it with pre-calc or seniors who are already done Calc BC and need something to take. I would recommend that you do the exact schedule that whataprocess recommended. But at my school AP Bio is two class periods so depending if yours is 1 or 2 classes and how many classes you have to take per year at your school, you can plan accordingly. Good luck.
@WhataProcess Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it. In your opinion, is Pre-Calc a skippable class at all? My counselor gave me the option to take it online this summer (though I haven’t been able to start, as I am on vacation) so I could take Stats or Calc AB next year. But should I just take Honors Pre-Calc instead?
My junior son (who will be ranked in top few, possibly 1st in his class) also had his math teachers suggest he may want to skip pre-calc by studying over the summer so he could take AP Calc junior year (AB I think; and then could take BC senior year). The biggest issue for him is that high-achieving kids from within the district were encouraged to double up math as freshman (Alg 2 & geometry) so that they were already taking pre-calc as sophomores. Since he is from out-of-district, we were not aware of this practice, so he is ‘behind’ the other high-achievers with respect to his math sequence.
He considered it (skipping pre-calc), but not for long. He already has summer work for his AP classes, and will be away on a volunteer trail crew for a month, so he really didn’t need any more work for the summer. And he really needs the down time to run, fish, hike, bike, explore…stuff he doesn’t often have sufficient time for during the school year. I didn’t try to sway him either way, but definitely did not encourage him to do it (if he really wanted the challenge I would have supported him, but frankly I’m glad he decided not to)…I think its pretty important to have some balance and really, it’s the summer. (we are not the high stress, SAT flash card toting types that you might find around CC). I don’t mind a bit of assigned summer work, but with multiple AP classes, it can add up.
I can only tell you what seems right for my kids (both juniors), and they will both be taking Pre-calc Honors and AP stats, and then AP Calc senior year. My son is at or near the top of their class, and I have no doubt will have many suitable opportunities when it comes time for college. I don’t think one math class will make any difference. And if it means he’ll have a class that he gets through with a bit of ease, then good for him. And then we know he’ll be ready for Calc.
If you have the time and inclination, and want to get PreCalc done over the summer, then go for it. But keep in mind that if you don’t take Calculus right away, you may need to review again next summer to make sure the material is still fresh. I think my recommendation in that case would be to take Calc AB now. Senior year you could take BC.
Good luck to you.
We are in the exact same boat regarding math. I too, came from out of district, and I am behind many of my peers where math is concerned, since I did not have geometry as an option before high school. I am ranked number 5 in my class, though I am sure that it would not affect my rank either way. Thank you very much for your advice, I think I will take Honors Pre-Calc next year, just to make sure I am ready.