<p>I currently attend a school which offers ~25 APs. I am a Freshman with a pretty good GPA of 4.1 and am planning ahead for sophomore year. My mom told me to "challenge myself" since I've been doing well so far in freshman year, so we planned together this sophomore schedule. I'm not completely sure if it's reasonable since my school lists AP and honors classes as having "heavy" (over 1 hour) homework, and I've never been in an AP class before. So could you look at the list below and tell me what you think? I listed down the courses I'm taking this year, their grades, and the courses I <em>plan</em> to take next year.</p>
<p>Courses with 2 asterisks mean they're honors.</p>
<p>English 9 (A; 95) --> English 10 (mandatory - AP Lang comes in 11th grade)
Geometry (A; 92) --> Algebra II/Trigonometry**
Molecular Biology** (A; 94) --> Accelerated Chemistry** (chem is mandatory in 10th grade)
Chinese 4 (A; 96) --> AP Chinese
Western Civilization (A+; 98) --> AP Human Geography
2-semester non-programming computer courses (A+; 100) --> AP Computer Science A
PE --> More PEs?</p>
<p>So - depending on my grades and the nature of the AP and honors courses I'm about to take, can you help me determine if the courses are or will be too rigorous? Or, if there are suggestions for better courses, can you help me twist my schedule a little? Here, other APs open to 10th graders are mainly social studies courses - AP Euro, AP World, and APUS. The other 20+ APs are mostly open in 11th-12th grade, so 10th grade options are a bit limited (is 3 APs too hard?). The closest class I've had to an AP (which is not even an AP) is Molecular Biology**, which requires hard, hard work..</p>
<p>I'm mainly concerned about how hard APCSA is. I've heard it was a mixed bag; some say it's easy, and others hard.</p>
<p>Your schedule sounds about “right” for somebody in 10th grade and needing a challenge. It certainly is stepping it up, but I don’t think it’ll be too much for you at all. </p>
<p>The first few classes on your list (English, Algebra, and Chemistry) are definitely fine and are the norm.
As far as AP Chinese goes though, I’ve never heard a thing about it. If you do well in the pre-AP courses (Chinese I-IV… which you seem to be) then you should be fine, I’d assume.
AP Human Geography is definitely fine, as well. At my school AP Human Geo is taken by freshman, and then sophomores take AP World History. Since there are plenty of idiots (my apologies for lack of a better word) at my school who take and pass AP Human Geo in their freshman year, I’m sure you, an advanced and motivated student, can handle it in your sophomore year. But you should look into AP World History for your near future.
Regarding your comments on molecular biology: Since you did well in it, you should also consider AP Biology for you near future too. I’m taking it right now, and it’s a lot of material to cover and understand, but if you’re fairly intelligent, you can get by without putting forth too much effort (not that I’m advocating laziness; it’s just that if you can grasp the material in the lectures, you won’t need to spend too much time reading the chapter 10 times over like the lower-performing students do).</p>
<p>I’m curious to hear about AP Computer Science. It’s something I am really interested in, but I’m not sure of its difficulty. It isn’t offered at my school, so I may decide to take it online through FLVS.</p>
<p>But overall, your schedule seems to be on par with your abilities. I went from taking no AP classes my freshman year to two my sophomore year, and will be taking five in my junior year. Some of them are astonishingly easy (AP Psychology, for example) while others require more dedication. I think you’ll be able to easily handle three of them, regardless of how difficult APCSA might be.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input, SeekingUni. I’ve digested your helpful information and have eliminated my fears about AP Human Geography. Glad you think my schedule is appropriate.</p>
<p>I have another question about my schedule, though; it has to do with Chemistry. As I mentioned, I took Molecular Biology this year, which really got me to exercise my brains. In Middle School, rumors were that Molecular Biology was hard (and it is). In High School, they say XL (Accelerated) Chem is much harder. I’ve abandoned the notion of “just memorizing everything”, because my molecular biology tests require deep thinking. I was initially in regular Biology - it was easy; the tests were pretty much decorated with straightforward objective questions. The question: should I attempt XL Chem and risk getting an A-, B+, B, or, even worse, lower than a B? Or should I go for regular chem and try getting an A+ in it? GPA-wise, it will help; if things go well by the end of sophomore year, I’m hoping to have a 4.2+. Honors and regular courses have the same GPA weighting.</p>
<p>As for AP Biology - I will definitely consider it. Word around here says that the AP bio teacher is super.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>PS - Is it true that some colleges disregard AP Human Geography because it’s “too easy”?</p>
In my opinion, chemistry does require thinking, studying, and practice. I’m only good for the first of those three requirements (:p), and as a result, chemistry has been one of my most difficult subjects this year; perhaps even harder than AP Bio for me. It’s just very “different” than anything I’ve ever learned before, and it’s kind-of like its own language. Although I’ve maintained an A in the class all semester, and am one of the highest-ranking students, there is a caveat: I made an A on all seven of my mid-term exams, except one: chemistry (on which I made a B).</p>
<p>So as long as you pay attention, take notes, PRACTICE, STUDY, and PRACTICE some more, chemistry isn’t all that hard. ;)</p>
<p>
I’ve never really looked into it. Perhaps AP Human Geo is so easy (which it is) in order to give freshman an idea of what an AP course is like. If this is the case, then you may want to reconsider and perhaps go straight to AP World History (which requires plenty of reading, studying, and understanding; it is in no way a fact-based course (made up of pure memorization), but on the contrary, it involves the understanding patterns, concepts and changes/continuities of societies throughout history).</p>
Glad you think my schedule is appropriate.</p>