Hello! I’m currently a sophomore, and I have a pretty typical schedule, and in that I’m taking one AP class. That would be AP Computer Science A. I have trouble grasping the material at times as the course seems to move pretty fast. The only way I still have an A in the class right now is because the teacher allows students to come into his class after school on Wednesdays and get help from him with whatever the issue may be. He’s an incredible teacher and he does his job very well, it’s just that I cannot pick up on the material as fast as everyone else in the class. The other reason might be that I am not very interested in computer science.
Anyways, next year I was thinking I would take 3 AP classes, but looking at the way I’m already struggling that may not be the best idea. I absolutely love liberal arts, and I would actually be upset if I couldn’t take AP English Language, so I for sure am going to take at least one. The other two are AP Environmental Science because I like to learn about the environment and I hear it’s an easy class, and AP United States History because I feel like as an American citizen I should know more about my country. Do you all think this is do-able? Any tips for being able to understand a class more easily? Also, if you have taken either of these classes, what are your thoughts on AP Environmental Science and AP United States History? Thank you very much!
Some of this is simply about your own organization/study habits (not picking material up quickly isn’t a problem if you’re willing to commit to rigorous study habits) and some of it is about the classes themselves. My kids felt that AP Enviro was the most interesting and easiest AP they took, and that seemed to be the pervasive feeling at their high school. Similarly, both enjoyed and excelled in AP Lang and didn’t feel it was any more difficult than Honors English. On the other hand, APUSH was a pretty rigorous class and although they did well in the course at school, they didn’t do well on the AP exam. The big caveat here, of course, is that this is my kids at their school, and you may have different sorts of teachers, different strengths, etc.
Talk to a guidance counselor about your concerns. (Be sure to ask, too, what the policy is for “dropping down” if you start in those classes and realize you need to make a change. One of my kids started off in AP Bio only to discover it was not going to be a good choice, and dropped down to Honors Bio a few months in without a problem.) Also talk to some students in those classes now to get an idea of the workload. If you have demonstrated previous strength in those areas, and kids tell you they find it manageable, go for it. And start getting your study habits organized NOW so that you’re in good shape for next year. That may mean blocking out weekly or even nightly times which you’ll dedicate to note-taking/review in areas where you struggle. The goal is to be challenged but not drowning. If AP CS is hard because it’s just not your thing, don’t let it scare you off of the other classes.
It depends on your personal strengths and weaknesses. I would say it’s definitely doable! It also seems like you actually like the subjects, so that’s a good sign. For understanding classes and making sure I get good grades, I like to watch videos on topics that I’m not certain about. Whenever I have any questions, I make sure to search it up or ask the teacher. I research what I can and learn as much I can about the topic if it’s not covered in class.
I never took APES so I wouldn’t know, but I also heard it’s an easy AP class. For my friends and I, we like APUSH and we find the history APs as the easier APs. However, I know that there also people who find history boring and the AP history classes hard. I’m still taking APUSH, but I took AP Euro last year. For history, I read the textbook before a test and memorize the facts. If you memorize all the important facts and events (important for the class/course), then it’ll also be easy to analyze the information for essays and short answers. In my school, we take AP Lit in junior year and AP Lang in senior year. AP Lit is a harder AP for me. It’s very fun though. I heard AP Lang is better because it’s less analyzing text/writing but more identifying language usage whatever and memorization. I never took it though.
Thank you both for your incredible inputs! After reading both of your comments, I’ve realized that my work habits are poor as I am checking my phone quite a lot, therefore wasting a lot of time instead of studying. I’m going to start putting my phone away somewhere else when I’m doing homework so that I will be distraction free, and I think that this will help me become a lot more attentive with homework.
I have also talked with some of my friends who are currently taking AP World History and they say it is a tough class (it’s one of the harder AP history classes at our school) but they said that they all work together to figure out problems and devote study time to get things done. They also have an AP group chat for that class so everyone can communicate their questions easily throughout the group. The people I talked with all agreed that they are going to take APUSH next year, and they’re willing to help me, so I think I’m going to give it a try. As for APES, it sounds interesting and fun as well. Again, thank you both for your inputs!
It’s actually very doable! Like the above posters said, it’s about your personal strengths and study habits. From personal experience, I did just that. Last year, I took 5 AP classes - this was junior year. I did decently in them: AP Spanish (5), AP Psychology (5), APUSH (4), AP English Language and Composition (4), and AP Macroeconomics (4). I also had a 95+ average on all of them. I’m by no means a genius or a super smart person - I’m just a very good at organization and managing my time. I also played to my strengths; I took mostly social science APs, since those classes are what I usually do well on. APUSH is probably the most time consuming class in your schedule, but if you keep up with the copious notes, you should be fine! Good luck!
I’m a junior and I don’t take any AP yet but I really want to take at least 1 or 2 next year, buy anyways save APUSH for next year, its harder than the others based on my friends’ opinions, unless u want to get it out of the way but they usually have at least 2 hours of homework most nights
3 AP classes is definitely doable. Sophomore year I took AP Euro, Physics, and Psych as electives, along with a full schedule of Pre-IB and IB classes. The AP classes were actually the easiest thing I did, they were mainly just there to fill extra space in my schedule. That said, you need to be organized and not get lazy about it. If you sign up for a class, you have to be committed to it.