<p>Hello. I am a sophomore student in an international school at South Korea, planning to take AP courses on my junior and senior year. One thing that concerns me is that I am planning to take 4 APs next year and another 4 on my senior year, and my parents warned that 4 in one year is too much. Since my school is a new school and thus somehow does not offer any AP courses until my junior year, I have no choice but to cram my APs in two years.
My current GPA in Honors/Regular classes is 3.93; my college counselor said that I would be fine, but I can't help heeding my parents' opinions as well. So....my questions are simple.
1. Is 4 AP courses in one year too much?
2. Could you give just a sense of how difficult is AP compared to Honors classes, and some practical advices? Do you think it's necessary to have tutors or academies to aim for 5?
(btw, I'm planning to take English Language&Composition, Physics, Calculus, and World History.)</p>
<p>You cannot even compare the level of rigor between honors and AP classes. Listen to your parents and take around 3. Better to Ace 3 ap classes than do average on 4.</p>
<p>Really depends on your strong suits. If you are good at math, then take the physics and Calculus. My school’s AP classes are really easy for me, but it’s probably because the teachers aren’t very strict. English AP was specially easy, since you just do in-class essays. I have never taken WH AP (not offered in my school), so I can’t help you regarding that class. 4 AP classes is very doable. If I had the option, I would have taken 6 APs this year, but I had to take 1 regular class for graduation. As for honor classes, it all depends on your school. My honors English class was much more challenging than AP. It all depends on your teachers. Then again, it all depends on you. Have you ever taken the SAT or ACT (or a practice test of these tests)? They can somewhat tell you what kind of a student you are. Generally, anything around 2200/33 means that you can take a lot of APs. It’s just correlation btw, so don’t entirely base your rigor on how well you do on college-entrance exams. Hopefully that helped towards answering your questions.</p>
<p>World History is extremely rigorous. You have to understand abstract concepts and physical events. I had to work hard to get a 4 on the AP exam. </p>
<p>I’m taking Calculus AB right now, and it’s not terribly difficult, especially if you enjoy math, like myself. </p>
<p>I suggest you pick which ones you are actually interested in and which ones will actually help you. If you take 4 AP classes, it doesn’t matter if they’re AP, if you did terribly. You have to make sure you can handle the course load. </p>
<p>The decision to take 4 AP classes in one year should be determined by a few things. Like people have already said, you’ll probably be less stressed if you take an AP class in your stronger subjects. Also, ask around and learn about the teachers. Are they strict, or a little more easy going?
My school didn’t have AP classes taught on campus, so I actually took a handful online. They turned out being relatively easy, so I took five in one semester. If you learn the teacher is not very strict (and you are up for the challenge), I say go for it.</p>
<p>I think it depends on you, honestly. I had a fine time taking 6 AP/IB courses last year when I was a junior and took 2 AP exams when I was a sophomore (APUSH and Lit, got a 5 on both because I’m strong in history and English). </p>
<p>Your GPA suggests you should be fine taking 4 AP classes. If not, you can just take 3- pick the ones you are strong in. Still, GPA isn’t everything. I say you have to look at how well you can manage your time, if you have enough time, your personal strengths, and how well you can manage stress. </p>
<p>I can’t really help you with honors classes versus AP classes as the honors classes at my school are nonexistent junior and senior year- for freshman and sophomore year, they just prepare us for the AP courses (so of course easier). Every school does honors classes differently.</p>
<p>It really depends on you and your strong suits, as well as how well the teachers teach the courses.
I took four last year, and I got 5s on all of them except for Biology. However, my Language and Composition teacher is an AP grader, so she was able to guide us fantastically on the essays. My Stats teacher had a pass rate of about 95%. I had to study my butt off for Biology, because there was a new version of the test implemented, and no one knew really what to expect. I am also taking four this year, and I’m doing quite fine, but that’s also because I’m not taking that many classes. My Lit teacher is also an AP grader, and my gov teacher also teaches We the People and our school’s team does really well at State every year. It’s really up to you, but if the classes are difficult and the teachers aren’t that great or don’t teach in a style that helps you, be prepared to spend time doing AP prep yourself.</p>