<p>Hi, during my senior year I am planning on taking the following courses and self-studying: </p>
<p>AP Physics C or AP Chem
AP Gov
AP Macro
AP English lit.
AP Bio
AP Calc AB
AP Calc BC(AB and BC are a single class at my school)
AP Spanish 5
AP German (I have been learning German since age five because I lived there for a short while).
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Self Study: </p>
<p>AP Env Science
AP Stats
AP Micro
AP Physics 1 & 2(If I take Physics C)
AP Human Geo.
AP Comp Gov.
AP Comp Science
AP Music Theory</p>
<p>I have already bought one review book for stats, env science, and micro each so there is no way to get out of those. I am a very good history student so Human Geo and comp Gov should be easy(debating if I should take these though). Comp Science I learned at a young age( need to brush up for the exam and such), and music theory is kind of a curve ball- but I am interested in the course. If I end up taking Chem, I will have to self study physics C because I already bought a review book.</p>
<p>I have a few questions:</p>
<p>Is this overkill?(I REALLY want to be AP State Scholar of Texas)</p>
<p>What do you guys recommend? </p>
<p>Can I balance school, a part time job, and volunteering along with these courses?</p>
<p>Should I take Physics C or Chem?(I will be a Bio Major)</p>
<p>In terms of cost, I can have my school pay most of the cost so I can get $20 per test( total of either 18 or 17 tests depending on if I take Physics or chem~23 or 22 tests in total over 3 years).</p>
<p>Also, I have all summer to self study so I have that to my advantage too.</p>
<p>For bio majors it’s better for ap chem… You would literally have to have amazing scheduling and time management skills to self study for all of these APs, never heard of anyone taking so many Ina single year</p>
<p>Wow. That’s impressive that you’re even planning to take on so many APs. What was your junior year course load like? I’ve never heard of anyone doing so many APs in one year, either. Good luck to you, I’m not sure how achievable it is. Balancing school, work, volunteering, and all of those APs will realistically be impossible. There’s just so much information in all of them. </p>
<p>Thanks @ukitake123. At my school AP Chem is considered the hardest class in terms of workload while physics C is considered the hardest class in terms of the conceptual stuff.</p>
<p>@hopefulrm My junior course load had 4 AP classes-the most I could take given my restrictions. They were mostly history and English based, which I do well in(all A’s in the AP classes I have taken so far).I also love math and science but I regret not taking AP chem last year when I had the chance.</p>
<p>Only you can really determine if you’ll be able to manage those courses along side school and work. Yes, that obviously is a lot to handle in one year.</p>
<p>I have read a blog from someone who took 18 (it was either that or more 8-| ). Most of them were self studied like what you plan on doing. He/she managed to pass all of them ( I’m sure that doesn’t mean fives on everything though) and mentioned there there was an obvious overlap among subjects so that helped a lot. Also, time management was key for them. </p>
<p>Other than that, I personally wouldn’t take up that challenge mainly because it’s a lot to balance and there’s only so much time in one day. I really don’t want to discourage you if you feel confident in doing so but I think all that time could be better spent on getting ready for college the following year.</p>
<p>Why did you wait until your Senior year to do all these APs? Would you even have time to balance all these, along with your college applications, SAT/ACT, and ECs? That looks like death. </p>
<p>@letmeseetheworld I like to learn for the sake of learning and I feel like being a state scholar would help me get scholarship.One of my close friends went to college with halve of his fees paid for, then after his senior year ap tests, he found out he was an AP state scholar(not for Texas) and the school ended up paying for the rest of his fees for the duration of his undergraduate studies and was siphoned a lot of money(Prestigious private school). In addition, he got a bunch of opportunities because of this.</p>
<p>@animefan1998 my school kinda limits APs until senior year. Also, I I am almost done with all my SATs and ACTs and feel fairly confident that the schools I am applying to will see my current scores as more than sufficient(No ivy league schools just schools in Texas). In terms of ECs, I am involved in enough and will be in more clubs next year. I wont be in a leadership roles except for one at my church - which should free up some time for me. I also believe that I know how to balance my personal life with school work as I still play basketball with friends or watch movies with them often. I think the one thing I am going to have to limit is volunteering. By the end of summer I should have close to 200 hours, which should allow me to cool off in terms of how much service I do as the clubs I am in require only 30 hours per semester.</p>
<p>@Modern1 thanks for the insight! I didn’t know it came with all those possible benefits. I can send you a link to the blog if you decide to take on all those courses. </p>
<p>17 AP’s? I took 8 last year (senior year) somewhat easily, but 17 sounds almost absurd. If you can knock out the studying (read through the textbooks and a review guide/two review guides while taking notes) for 5-7 of these over the summer (try to avoid overlap b/w summer and winter so you can review as easily as possible; i.e. do the work for Comp Gov’t this summer, US Gov’t during the school year) then you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>I know you said that AP Calc AB and BC are a single class, but you can only take one of the tests in a year, so you might as well go for the BC test since it comes with an AB subscore if you want.</p>
<p>I just looked at the AP schedule from this past May. If the schedule for next year doesn’t change much, it looks like about 8 of them are at the same times (across different days of course) and there’s a day where there’s 4/5 (not sure if you want to take both Physics C exams or only one) on the same day. But with the 3(?) late-testing days, I guess it could all work out, maybe…?</p>
<p>Don’t self study for AP Physics 1&2 if you are taking AP Physics C. AP Physics B barely counted for anything and each individual course won’t be worth your time.</p>
<p>Holy cow. The AP Scholar State award from the admissions standpoint, is a plus, but I don’t know if its worth killing yourself over. 17 does sound like overkill. Don’t forget that you also have to do well on the exams in order to get the award and they don’t come out until July in the summer. Are you already familiar with music theory, physics, and computer science? If not those could be difficult and time consuming. You’ll be spending alot of time with your coursework and college apps as well, so don’t underestimate the time of any of those.</p>
<p>There’s many more things you can do to get a scholarship that being the State AP Scholar, so while that one friend may have had a great experience, you have to decide for yourself if that stress is worth it. There is a reason sometimes schools have restrictions – sometimes it is to the benefit of the student. You clearly are a motivated student, so I’d see if you can get some of your school’s local scholarships and even see if you qualify for some of the larger ones as well. APs aren’t the ends but usually the means – showing that you can handle college coursework in that subject. Will concurrently studying so many subjects prepare you? That’s debatable.</p>
<p>If you do attempt to take multiple APs, I recommend talking to @Apollo11 who has alot of experience balancing multiple APs at once.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, @shawnspencer, I do! I totally forgot, wow…</p>
<p>the State AP Scholar thing is a great thing to have, HSL denizens, but is sure is pure hell to get. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>It only helps on college admissions if you get it before senior year. That means doing at least 13 APs with mostly 5s and 4s (Much harder than most give it credit for if you come from a sucky school or can’t self study well)</p></li>
<li><p>In some states, winning can mean taking as many as 27 AP tests</p></li>
<li><p>A lot of the AP Tests that you’ll take will never be applied to your major</p></li>
<li><p>Doing a lot of AP tests stops you from using say Dual Enrollment to explore a certain subject in great depth</p></li>
<li><p>Only 1-8 people will have State AP Scholar in all of America as a Junior on an annual basis; it really isn’t a big deal to not have. There are only 100-112 State AP Scholars annually, and the majority are Seniors.</p></li>
<li><p>It’s just a piece of paper. There will likely be no news or fanfare; you’ll just continue with your life</p></li>
<li><p>It doesn’t guarantee a great college. Nothing really does. MIT rejected an ISEF winner, the youngest guy to achieve nuclear fusion who did it by making a nuclear reactor in his garage. USABO winners get rejected at a lot of great schools. The point of that, or any of the previous stuff, isn’t to say “give up, thanks for trying”, but to instead say that MIT accepts people who don’t build nuclear reactors or win USABO; don’t freak if it doesn’t happen and instead, try to enjoy the ride.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In fact, I’m really only doing it since my ego craves it. To say I was able to compete with everyone in my pretty competitive state and be crowned the best (in my gender; this is important to note since I think you can cross categories if you are a transgender/looking to game the system as State AP Scholar is awarded to the best man and woman on APs in the state) is something that I simply want. So I started working…and working…and working…and eventually I finished 6 APs as a sophomore, and I look forward to ~9 as a Junior.</p>
<p>Thanks @shawnspencer . To be honest, I think I can do this but I am really motivated by the scholarship/the ability to learn. AP comp sci I am good at but I don’t enjoy it.I was forced to take a higher level of java during elementary school and middle school because my teacher felt like I was some sort of programing savant.I never thought of it as too hard, but I never enjoyed it. I am good for physics because i’ve take a honors physics class that I did exceptionally in.</p>
<p>I think you get it after college admin. I think I’m gonna be one of those juniors with Ap scholar. 1 Ap 8th grade, 4 Ap 9th. 6-7 10th. 6-7 th. And to win I don’t need more than 20.</p>
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