Hi, i’m a rising sophomore and I would like advice on my schedule. The classes I will be taking are:
Honors Pre-Calculus
AP Biology
AP World History
Honors Spanish III
Honors Chemistry
Honors English
What are the difficulty levels of the courses? What are the classes like? Is the workload manageable? Thanks!
It’ll vary from school to school, of course, but I know a lot of people who had similar schedules their sophomore years, and they definitely lived.
Your schedule can definitely be adjusted a bit. If I were you, I’d be taking only one Science course at a time. Typically, AP sciences are for upperclassmen years, so only take Chem Honors for this year and then if by next year you want to do an AP, go for it. Pre-Calc Honors is a difficult course for juniors, so as a sophomore, it will be very demanding. If you’re up to the challenge, you can go for it and see if you want to do AP Calc AB or BC for junior year. Also, you should probably have a plan for what math course you’d be taking senior year. That way, you don’t forget a lot of the material covered.
I also don’t know what your plans are for after high school, but if you’re looking at going into an Ivy League school, this schedule you currently have would be ideal. Otherwise, if you’re just looking at a liberal arts school or state university, take my advice for your schedule.
I’d keep AP Bio for junior year.
Usually AP Bio has honors chemistry as a pre-requisite and is very difficult.
If you want to take a science AP, see if you can take APES or AP CS principles.
I agree with ^, taking AP Bio without chemistry would be a challenge but definitely not impossible. If you’re interested in taking more than one science I would recommend H physics w/ H chemistry (i’m not sure what classes you’ve taken so). I’ve taken it myself and received college credit for it, it’s an advanced class for sure.
Honors Pre-Calculus will really depend on what math classes you have already taken, but I found my experience to be alright (a bit hard but not too bad).
I excelled at Honors Chemistry (A+), but my teacher was absent most of the year. Let me know if you need any help or awesome free resources. I have also taken AP Chemistry (if you’re looking at advanced coursework)
AP World History for me was fun and I did score a 5, just practice your essays a lot and make sure you tie your information back to your thesis and the prompt.
English depends on the curriculum, do you have any more information?
I would say that the schedule is absolutely fine. She is taking the 2 Science classes so that she can take AP Chem next year I’ll bet. I’ll bet she’s also going to take some sort of Physics next year as well so that she can take AP Physics C as a senior.
Most everyone at my kid’s HS takes AP Bio as a sophomore right after Honors Bio.
That’s what my schedule looks like, except not precal
At my school, some kids actually skip Chem H and go straight into AP Bio. I would try to find out if you could do that; it could lighten the workload.
If this will be your first year of AP courses, then I would suggest to drop AP Bio so you can focus on AP world and get the score you want.
Your schedule seems manageable, depending on your school. My school is not that rigorous, and I took a similar schedule my sophomore year (1st semester- Amer Lit, DE Biology, Algebra II, Pottery; 2nd semester- DE Precalculus, AP Bio, AP world, Art comp II). I ended up doing well in both of my AP classes and making a 5 on both exams. Also, I hadn’t taken chemistry before AP bio and had no problems with it.
@CarlBe Wouldn’t DE Bio help with AP Bio though since they are basically the same thing or almost the same thing?
DE biology would make AP Bio a cinch since major concepts would be covered in DE Biology.
@clo2021 and @MYOS1634 That’s a good point, the DE biology class only covered cellular processes though, but it still did help me a lot in AP bio. At my school you are required to take a pre-AP biology class or DE bio first, so I’m not sure what the class would be like without that.
Honors Pre-Calculus
AP Biology
AP World History
Honors Spanish III
Honors Chemistry
Honors English
My sophomore year schedule was basically the same as this one!! I hope my advice/insights help you!
I took PreCalc Honors w/Trig my sophomore year and I ended up doing great. As far as my precalc class went, it was intense and there was a lot to cover. If you plan on taking AP Calc I would focus on really understanding concepts from Pre Calc so you can know/remember them for AP. I didn’t and I did bad in Calc (failed most tests, 2 on exam). If you are going into AP Calc, take a look at the AP Calculus Course and Exam Description book on the CollegeBoard website, specifically the prereqs on page 5 to know what to pay a lot of attention to.
I loved AP World History. It is a very intense class, with a ton of reading. I think the thing that could’ve helped me do better (got a 4 on exam) was actually knowing the timeline. The exam is very specific on time periods for the writings. Otherwise, just take notes, watch videos, read your assignments, and also invest in the AP World crash course book if your school doesn’t provide it.
I took Spanish 2 Honors my sophomore year, so basically the same thing as your schedule, except your’re just further ahead. It was probably my favorite spanish class to date, and I was able to balance my time well with other classes.
Chem honors was great for me 1st semester, but I do not blame myself for my experiences during 2nd semester. I won’t get into anything specific, but my teacher wasn’t exactly the best for the 2nd semester I have no idea what changed). I failed or barely passed with a C for most of our quizzes and tests. For our final I made a huge study guide, taught myself everything, and got an A+. I guess this can translate into advice for not letting your teacher get the best of you, no matter the situation. Chem honors was a great experience (besides my teacher) and I loved what I was learning.
I took AP Lang my sophomore year and it was a great class. I don’t know what your Honors English entails but they’re both advanced. Didn’t conflict with other study time.
The other classes I took were health (required), marketing, and PLTW Principles of Biomedical Science. With all of these classes I still had an unweighted 4.0, it is not impossible. Just make sure you have time for all of your classes.
As far as AP Biology goes, I wouldn’t take it until junior or senior year so you have chem honors. The basic advanced science pathway at my school is:
9 - Bio Honors
10 - Chem Honors
11 - AP Chem
12 - AP Bio
Students take physics any of these years, my school just suggests taking it after PreCalc.
I hope this helps!