I’m a sophomore in high school and the registration form for junior year has come!
This is what I’m planning to take:
AP English Language
Honors Pre-Calculus (or AP Calculus A/B if I decide to skip a math)
AP Biology
AP US History
AP Spanish Language
Choir
Intro to Computer Programming
I’m not taking these classes for the sake of taking them. I really love learning and am willing to take on any challenge. I know that a lot of students are taking much more rigorous courses than I am, but I don’t want to be the person who takes as many AP classes as possible to get the highest GPA. The only reason why I would want to skip a math is because math is one of my academic strengths–I started another thread about my math decisions if you’d like to take a look).
If I had to take out one AP class, it would be AP US History, because even though I enjoy history, it’s not my forte.
Is this too many AP’s? I’m very ambitious but I don’t want to be a burnout, if you catch my drift.
Tenth grade is going pretty well. I’m only taking one AP class right now (AP Euro), and there’s a lot more work than I expected but I’m learning to manage my time well. Other than that my classes are pretty easy.
No, I took 4 my junior year (APUSH , CHEM, Psych, HumanGeo) and was able to manage them and get A’s. Don’t skip pre-calc. I took 6 Ap’s last semester (BC CALC , stats, microecon, gov, bio, physics C) and one non-- honors/ Ap class as my school caps on how many you can take and Once again got all A’s. You won’t burn out if you are able to manage your time well and get enough sleep. Last semester I was tutoring 6 kids, volunteered, and had track nearly everyday. I think what helped me manage my time was that I got a calendar that I put in my bookbag where I would fill in what tests/projects were due on what day and what dates I would be volunteering and tutoring. Then if I had a particularly busy day ahead, I could just plan ahead and get the work done.
What I meant to say is, would a university rather choose an applicant who takes, maybe three AP’s in their junior and senior year in the classes they love, or an applicant who only takes AP’s and other advanced classes just to get a high GPA?
Honestly, I like having a busy schedule–it means I’m actually doing something productive every day. But some teachers/other adults have told me that colleges don’t like students who take all AP’s because “all they see is a burn out who just wants A’s. They want someone who is passionate about whatever they like, and if [one has] too many AP classes when [he] graduate(s), it’ll be hard to point out what [he’s] willing to do and be capable of in college.”
I don’t know. I’m getting more stressed out about this than I should be.
@Decepters Will skipping pre-calc (and then taking AB in my junior year and then BC in my senior year) help me in college if I were to pursue a STEM field?
Depending on your school, APUSH and AP Lang could have a lot of homework. You should really ask opinions of students who are currently enrolled in these classes at your school. AP Bio could be time consuming with lab reports, on top of the normal HW. You know your own limitations. I’ve known juniors who have taken 4+ AP’s with no problem, and others who have crashed and burned.
Skipping pre-calc is just counter-intuitive, unless you plan on studying the concepts over the summer. There’s a reason that it’s called pre-calc after all.
@greeneggsandsam9 Unfortunately, I am not a native speaker in Spanish, but I’m in Spanish 4 right now, and I’ve always gotten A’s in Spanish ever since I took Spanish 1 in 7th grade. I really want to take 4 AP’s (English Lang, Bio, US, and Spanish Lang), but I feel like it’s too many for me, and my parents don’t recommend it. Plus I have extracurriculars to worry about. If I were only to choose 3 AP’s, it’s a decision between APUSH and AP Spanish.
I’m so stressed because I don’t want to take too many and burn myself out, but I want to get into some of the top universities (e.g. Stanford, Harvard, MIT).
I just wish I had the option to skip to Al in 8th grade.
If you think you can only handle three, then only take three. It’s not worth crashing & burning or killing yourself from stress. Plus, as you said in your original post, you’d be most likely to drop APUSH out of the APs you want to take, so given the choice between in and AP Spanish, I’d say drop APUSH.
take ap spanish. you said history wasn’t your strength and that you got A’s in spanish before. you don’t have to be a native speaker to do well in it. It also looks better that you have 3 years for a language for colleges
