Hello,
I was wondering whether it would be possible to take 6 AP classes (and do well in all) my junior year. The APs would be APUSH, AP Lang, AP Calc BC, AP Stat, and AP Physics 1.
Thanks!
Edit: Sorry, I forgot to include AP Computer Science A. I already know must of the curriculum for that one so it would be an easy class for me.
Hey, @blazingminotaur! I notice that this is your first time on CC, so welcome to CC! We’re glad you’re here. But in order to give a better answer, we may need more information. What classes are you taking right now and how are you doing in them? Are they easy, hard, or okay for you? Do you know what you want to major in in college? Knowing can help you take more courses useful for the major, which give you an advantage.
Do you mind giving us more info? It will help us give more information. With the information you gave me, all I can say is that taking 6 APs any high school year is not a very good idea for most students. Even Ivy League schools will not expect 6 APs in a high school year, and it is not necessarily worth taking as many APs as you can.
Good luck and have a good day!
I would skip AP Statistics. Are you taking a foreign language? How about an art or music class?
I would be taking Spanish 3 (Non-AP)
Hi @anthonytheboy, Right now I am a freshman, I am just thinking ahead because I need to create a four-year plan.Right now my classes are very easy for me, and my lowest grade is a 99.5%. They are: Biology, P.E, English 1A, Math 2, Band, Computer Science, and Spanish. Unfortunately my school doesn’t give much choice to incoming freshmen about classes so I’m stuck with pretty boring classes. In college I want to major in Engineering or something else in the STEM field.
Thanks!
Come back again in the Spring of your sophomore year when you are doing course selections and see how your grades are at that point. Additionally, you should probably plan what your Senior year courses look like as well. Yes, I think 6 will be too many, and AP Stats and AP CS stick out as 2 obvious choices to move to another year. Some juniors do 4 or 5 AP’s with no issue, while others struggle with 1 or 2. But at the end of the day, nobody he knows what you are capable of. Nor do you looking ahead 18 months.
@blazingminotaur I am glad you are happy and doing well in school! Your grades are stellar!
Because you want to major in STEM, do take AP Physics 1, Calc BC, and Comp Sci A. They will be very useful. AP English Lang is also helpful for learning to write high quality reports, but because you’re going into STEM, it is not a necessity. Because you are good in English, however, it’s a good idea. APUSH is a good class to take, but you should only take it if you are very good at and have a vast interest in APUSH. History classes are very hard in the AP level to do because they can have a lot of reading, writing, and homework. Even if you’re not good at history, it’s only best to take it with an interest.
I agree with @ciervo. AP Stats is useful, but not as much as AP Calc BC and AP Comp Sci A. I would recommend saving it for senior year or just taking it in college.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Best of luck and have a good day!
You can plan now and adjust as needed. Some kids will easily handle 6 APs. Many won’t. My D had a 4 year plan that included 7 APs junior year and 7 senior year. She ultimately adjusted those classes, but did end up with at least 7 each of those years and did well in all.
Thank you for all the advice! I’ll submit my plan as it is and talk to my counselor about it next year.
It really depends on your school. My kid knows about what the grade distributions are for her classes because there are some grade-dependent perks. Most of her APUSH classmates have a B or better prior to the semester final, and there’s rarely significant homework other than reading. Two thirds of her Physics I class had a C or lower going into the semester final, the mean score on the final was a 42% prior to the curve, and both problem sets and labs are time-consuming.
First, top schools don’t expect more than 8 total. So, 4+4 Jr and SR year is perfectly fine.
AP lang is a big one.
Second: Look at the sequence progression on math:no point in taking BC junior year if there’s no math to take senior year (if you take BC junior year, linear algebra or discrete math, perhaps at a cc, should be a possibility. If not, there’s no point).
Add two to those.
AP CS can be taken senior year.
@MYOS1634
It could be possible that he wants to get math out of the way. For me personally, I regret not taking AP Lang Junior year along with Honors Mod Lit and Honors Brit Lit, as I wouldn’t have to worry about an English senior year.
Math and English must be taken all four years. They can’t be “gotten of the way”.
@MYOS1634 You are exactly right, the reason I want to take calc bc junior year is so that I can take more advanced math at a cc senior year. I know many people at my school who are currently doing that.
@MYOS1634 I have to take cs because I am in a cs pathway that requires me to take ap cs junior year…I was hoping to take it sophomore year but I wasn’t allowed to because of the pathway. I was thinking about leaving the pathway but the pathway gives a lot of opportunities for field trips/ competitions/ec’s
What is Math 2? would you take Alg 2 or Geometry next year or Precalc?
I would not take AP Stat. It is more important to do well in the AP classes than to take more and not do well
@bopper Short answer - the second course in the 3-course Integrated Common Core Sequence. If you really want your head to explode, read more here:
http://assets.pearsonschool.com/correlations/Pearson%20Integrated%20HSM%20Common%20Core%20Correlations%20correlations.pdf
@bopper My School uses integrated common core, we have math 1, math 2, Math 3, Precalc, Calc AB, Calc BC, and AP Stat. Next year I would be taking precalc because I would take Math 3 over the summer.