Take 5 APs Junior Year?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

So Im currently a sophmore and Im thinking of taking these classes my junior year.
AP Lang
AP Calc
AP Bio
AP Enviro
APUSH
Marching Band
Drumline
French 3 online

Is that too much to handle? My school has block scheduling so on “odd” days we have classes for periods 1,3,5 and “even” days we have classes for periods 2,4,6. Also, odd and even days alternate, so every other day its an odd day and same for even (idk if im making sense). So, Im thinking the block schedule will make 5 APs more manageable?

I’ve only taken one AP class so far. APWH, this year, and I found it to be pretty easy along with my other classes. I didnt really find this year to be particularly challenging. All the other classes I took this year were honors classes.

From what I’ve heard, AP Lang is a lot of essay writing assignments and etc which I think for me will a lot more than my current english class but I think It’s manageable since Im somewhat decent in english.
AP Calc I know will probably be one of my hardest classes since Im not the best at math. I gotten all As in my previous math classes except for the precalc class Im taking now. Also I heard the math hw takes at least 1.5-2+ hrs per night.
AP Bio, I think will be okay. I took regular bio freshman year and I pretty much sailed through that class. I personally really enjoy the topic and found the material to be easy to comprehend. AP Bio is a class a lot of sophmores take so I think I’ll be okay. But, I heard the class assigns a lot of hw (mainly “busy work”) so I feel like it might be pretty time consuming.
For AP Enviro, I heard its one of the easier APs. Im personally interested in the topic and I heard the workload for the class is somewhat light for an AP class.
APUSH I know will be more of a challenge. I’ve heard its pretty hard compared to APWH, like its a lot more detail oriented and information dense. I also heard the workload is a lot so it’ll probably be one a more challenging class.

Im thinking of taking French 3 online because by default at my school makes each student takes 6 classes and an option of a 0 or 7th period class (but only limited amount of classes are available). Theres no classes for French 3 in 0 or 7th period and with all my academic courses and marching band, I have no room for my language. I thought french 1 and 2 were pretty easy but Im afraid french 3 will be harder and taking it online might not be the best idea.

Im also doing marching (which is a 6th period class) and drumline (a 7th period class). So afterschool, during the fall semester I have band practice on wed and fri from 4.30 to 8 and during the spring semester, I have drumline on mon wed fri from 3-5.30. So, Im pretty occupied with practice afterschool. I know people in band/drumline that have taken 4 and 5 APs so its possible, but I know it’ll be hard and I’ll probably suffer a lot.

Some people have suggested that I drop AP enviro (do it senior yr) and replace it with French 3 so I dont have to take it online and to lighten my workload. However, I was going to do AP Physics next yr and its known to be the #1 hardest AP at my school so I dont want to double up science next year.

So basically… Idk if those 5 APs along with the rest of my schedule will be too much to handle. Im not the best at studying super well all the time but I know that I can, as long as I kinda force myself to stay on top of things. I think my study habits this year havent been the best. I procrastinated a lot throughout the year with hw and studying, but so far I’ve managed to get off with decent grades. I know that if I really made an effort, I can stay super on top of my academics but idk if I’ll super overwhelmed next year or start slacking.
Do you think these classes will be ok?

2

"So basically… Idk if those 5 APs along with the rest of my schedule will be too much to handle. "

If it were me, I would cut back a bit. To me APs are what you take in subjects that you really like and that you are really good in. I think that it is better to take four APs with four A’s and four 5’s on the AP tests, rather than 5 APs with 3 A’s and 2 B’s, and a bunch of 4’s on the AP tests. Take APs in subjects where you expect to get an A, and in which the A would be rather easy if it weren’t an AP class.

“I was going to do AP Physics next yr and its known to be the #1 hardest AP at my school”

I think this depends upon what you are good at. For me, AP physics would be a lot easier than AP literature or AP history. For most people, perhaps it would be a different order. However, you said that you are not all that good in math, and physics has a lot of math in it (which is why it was my favorite science – I was a math major in university).

When you are studying French, also listening to some French on-line (such as watching movies) might be helpful. However, I think that it is easier to learn a language talking to actual people.

Do you need AP enviro at all?

3

That’s the one I would drop.

But to answer your question as to if the schedule is OK - none of us knows you. Some people can handle 5 AP’s with ease; others struggle with one. Since you admit that your study skills are not the best, you should work on your time management, but in the interim, recognize that 5 AP’s may be going overboard.