Hi! So I’m a Sophomore and it is time to choose my schedule for next year. Right now I am debating on how many AP classes to take, an idea of what my schedule would look like next year is as follows:
AP English Language and Composition
Pre-Calc Honors
AP Bio (school requires two separate periods for the actual class and lab 8-| )
AP American History (Not sure about this one since all I’ve heard is that its extremely difficult)
Business Software Apps (my school is divided by Academies and this is required to become an academy completer although I really don’t want to take it)
Spanish 4 or AP
Some sort of computer programming/design class (I want to learn to create websites to open up my own shop)
I’ve never taken an AP class before (although I plan to self study AP Psych this year) a big mistake since my school offers over 19 AP’s as well as 5 dual enrollment courses. My huge dilemma is if these are enough AP courses to take and whether I’ll be able to time manage to keep up my GPA, I recently dropped slightly (Went from 3.7 UW/4.4 W to 3.69 UW/4.27 W) and really want to finish with a GPA around 3.8. I’ve always taken honors courses and have been extremely lazy when it comes to schoolwork but know that if I try I won’t get anything below a B. My friends tell me its crazy to take more than three (most of them are planning on taking 1 or two or none at all) but I believe its necessary if I even want to think about competitive universities.
As for time management I play Varsity Softball (practices are every day) participate in three clubs, work occasionally on the weekends when I can, and have a literary review blog. So my question is if the number of AP courses will be difficult to juggle? Or is it an ideal number since theres an abundance of courses offered and I haven’t taken any? Also, for Spanish should I take 4 or AP Language? I took Spanish 3 Freshman Year, I know how to speak and write but haven’t quite grasped the full extent of the grammar side. I don’t plan on taking AP Chem just in case you were going to suggest taking that over Bio (I’m taking it this year and can’t stand it) And is U.S history as hard as everyone says it is?
I apologize for the extremely long question and thank anyone who takes the time to read it and offer me some much needed advice 
That looks balanced to me, although I would definitely be cautious about the workload (definitely don’t slack off!)
AP Lang and APUSH are both very reading/writing based. If you’re a fast reader, good at comprehending and memorizing quickly, and can write timed essays well, you’ll be good in both. If not, you’ll pick it up fast! I personally don’t find APUSH as bad as everyone keeps saying, but I can also memorize stuff quickly.
AP Bio is also quite memorization based, so I hope you’re good at it! From what I’ve heard, it’s challenging but not impossible if you manage your time properly.
As for Spanish, I like to suggest only taking APs for subjects you enjoy–or you’ll be really unhappy. If you enjoy it but aren’t entirely sure if you’re up to speed, I think you can easily catch up. And since you did Spanish 3 as a freshman…what did you do this year?
I should probably say this too: if you have a webdesign class, it’ll likely cover HTML and CSS, which are not programming languages. If it covers basic JavaScript, that is one, although it probably won’t be the focus. I think most HS programming classes cover Java, since AP CS is in Java (clarification: Java and JavaScript are two different languages).
Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!
I think 3APs and other honors classes will give you a pretty challenging junior year! I just want to address a few things:
Im not in APUSH and Im not good at history so Im not the best person to give advice about this one, but take it if you can absorb a lot of information at once. It varies from school, but my friends are tested on like 50 pages of college textbook material around once every two/three weeks. My school requires 2 full years of US history, and the fact that AP American history covers all those stuff in less than a year shows how hard it is. But, if you like history, then APUSH might be good for you. It really depends on whether you truly like the subject or not.
As of AP Lang, it varies by teacher and school. I honestly hate this class with a passion (English is one of my least favorite subjects), but I still have a B plus. But if you love reading and writing, it shouldnt be too bad. In fact, I think more than half of the students have either A minuses or As. Always be prepared for a pop quiz (or even a pop essay) in an AP English class! My friends who like to read and write honestly looooove this class.
Remember, on top of your pretty challenging courseload, youre in varsity softball and you participate in clubs, and you have the SATs/ ACTs to study for as well! And to answer your questions- yes, 3 does seem enough, and I think youll be able to manage your time well if you spend your time wisely and dont procrastinate. Junior year is tough (I know because Im a junior right now), but if you try reallly hard (and unless your teachers are notoriously hard) your GPA wont be too bad.
And just as a side note, I take 2 APs right now (up to you to decide if thats a few, but based on your reaction to your friends taking 2, it seems like you think they cant get into relatively prestigious private schools), and if im correct, that is so not true. Its quality over quantity. It shouldnt matter too much how many AP classes you take. Generally speaking, wouldnt colleges like to see As/Bs from 2AP classes than Bs/Cs from 3~4 APs? And they might take fewer APs but more honors classes and still have equal chances of getting accepted to hard private schools.
@Andr01d Thank you so much for the advice! I really appreciate it.
This year I didn’t take any language class, I had requested AP going into Sophomore year but didn’t get it put into my schedule. I don’t necessarily enjoy Spanish but don’t dislike it either. Mostly I need to complete my foreign language requirements and think it would be valuable to become fully fluent in the process. Is AP Spanish Language difficult? How time consuming is it?
Also, one of the technology teachers offers a dual enrollment course (Intro to Microcomputers/Programming) and told me that they code in Alice and that her other normal Intro to Programming will cover a bit of everything from HTML, CSS, etc. So I’m thinking of taking that one. Also, which one of the AP’s that I listed above do you think is the most time consuming?
Thank you so much for your help!
@misschodin Hi! 
Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
I know that the number of AP classes isn’t the only factor colleges look for when admitting students so I don’t think that by my friends taking one or two AP courses they wont be able to get into private schools. Someone could take 3 courses and still have a better chance than someone who takes 30.
I definitely agree with you on the fact that its quality over quantity. I’m just saying that for my particular case since there’s an abundance of AP courses and an IB program offered at my school shouldn’t I take multiple during Junior year to make up for my lack of participation during previous years since I’m told that I should be taking the most rigorous course load available to me? And if I don’t wont that hurt my chances of admission?
AP Spanish does not get you anywhere close to fluent.
Depends on the teacher. Ask current students in the class.
Again, depends on the teacher. APUSH, AP Lang, and AP Bio are all time-consuming in their own way, IMO. AP Spanish, not so much.
@KaliIsabel np! And this is just my opinion and what I would do if im in your situation… Im not sure if colleges would actually know if your school offers a lot of AP classes or not. And i think in your case, 3~4 APs seems challenging enough (I know someone who takes 5AP classes and gets almost no sleep, but again it does depend on the person), and those AP classes like APUSH and AP Bio are considered one of the harder APs. And I think you mentioned that you want to take a lot of hard classes next year to make up for a lack of rigorous classes from previous years. I totally understand where that feeling comes from, but its hard to adjust. Short story- I took regular history 9th and 10th grade, and my 10th grade history teacher was relatively easy (i rarely read my textbook because my teacher tested us solely on the notes that she had created), and I got recommended to honors 11th grade. And here I am in honors 11th grade history, still not knowing how to study for tests. Our honors textbook is actually a college textbook (10th grade textbook is a high school textbook), and we are expected to study from both notes taken during class and the 50pages + textbook. It was honestly such a hard transition to go from just one regular class to honors (kind of biased though because i hate history). It was so hard and bad that I read through my notes from class and studied the way I had done in 10th grade and scored a legit F (lower than a 50% lol) on my first 11th grade honors history test. Making these transitions from reg to honors, reg to AP, etc can take a long time to get used to. And imagine going through that for mutliple classes.
I dont mean to sound all negative and mean. I hope someone had given me this type of advice when I was choosing classes a year ago.
And again, that is just my experience. Ultimately, the best choice for you is to not be negatively influenced too much by my story, but to consider if you are capable of taking the classes youre considering. It is really up to you and your strengths/ weaknessses. Good luck!
Maybe, i’m the wrong person to take advice from, but APUSH for me is really not as bad as everyone says. You get like 40-50 pages of reading+notes, but it’s not like you have to do it all in one night. If you split it up into days, it’s not much work at all. Though I must admit the DBQ’s are tedious.
In my school honors pre-calc is hard, so make sure you don’t fall behind and get extra help.
AP-lang like others have said, is basically big on reading. Just like APUSH if you don’t procrastinate until the last minute you should be fine.
AP Bio- this will probably be the harder one of your classes. Just make sure you pay attention and don’t procrastinate even in the slightest, it’s easy to fall behind.
In my county, you have to take spanish 5 ( which is harder than ap) before AP. So i would recommend taking 4 or you risk maybe not doing so well.
Also is it better to take AP Bio or AP environmental? I just found out Bio takes two periods out of my schedule so I’m not sure now
Definitely AP Bio!! AP Environmental is known to be a significantly easier course and won’t give you the rigor you are looking for.