UPDATED: Critique my Junior/Senior Year Schedule and some other info

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

The colleges I’m applying to and would be happy to get into any of them include:

  • University of Virginia
  • Yale University
  • Duke University
  • University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
  • Northwestern University
  • Cornell University
  • Washington & Lee University
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Villanova University
  • Tulane University
  • Dartmouth University
  • John Hopkins University
  • University of California-Los Angeles
  • Brown University
  • Stanford University

This is my approved schedule for the next two years, I will post my other scores and stats as they come in. This year I’m taking the: SAT II: Mathematics Level 1, PSAT, SAT, and ACT.

Junior Year:

  • DE Analysis/Pre-Calculus (through the local community college)
  • AP US History
  • AP Lamguage and Composition
  • AP Psychology
  • AP Biology
  • Biology II Honors (anatomy and physiology)
  • Chemistry II Honors
  • Study Hall*

Study Halls are periods dedicated to doing homework. They dont show up on your schedule only the seven other appear

During my senior year/junior summer I will take the: SAT II: Biology E/M, US History, and Mathematics Level 2; SAT, and ACT.

Senior Year:

  • DE Literature
  • DE Calculus
  • AP Statistics
  • AP Enviromental Science
  • AP Chemistry
  • AP Comparative Government & Politics
  • Physics I Honors
  • Study Hall

My major will either be, Chemistry or Human Biology and my minor will be the opposite. ((ex: Major: Human Biology | Minor: Chemistry) or (Major: Chemistry | Minor: Human Biology)). My dream is to become an orthopedic surgeon.

2

Your schedules look alright for the schools you’re applying to except for the absence of a foreign language both years. Many top 20 schools and ivies want 4 years and it looks like you’ll only have 2 (if you took a class freshman and sophomore year). No AP Lit or AP Calc at your school huh?

3

@zbrown01 I took 3 years of Spanish, Spanish I (8th Grade, Spanish II (9th Grade), Spanish III (10th). The classes are offered through a local CC, but taught at my school. They label them as AP/DE, but we get college credits also and, in the words of the teachers, are taught more then enough to get 5’s on the corresponding AP exams.

4

Thanks for clarifying. Your schedules seem pretty good then but if I were you I would try to fit in Spanish IV and AP Spanish if possible but it may not be that big of a deal.

5
  • jr year, taking both AP Bio and bio honors is overkill - replace honors bio with Spanish 4.
  • Sr year, take only one from APES or AP stats. Replace the other with AP Spanish language. (The universities you're aiming for really will expect level 4 or AP. Don't put yourself at a disadvantage right off the bat.)

Overall though that’s a good plan.
Are you planning to be pre-med?

6

For the caliber of schools you are applying to, I really think you should drop AP Psychology for Spanish IV. AP Psych is a fine class as an elective but I think it’s considered more of a “fun” AP. I believe for most of the schools you are applying to, four years of FL will the norm for applicants (if not AP FL) and the competition will be fierce.

IMO, after avidly reading this forum for almost two years, you should plan to apply to a couple of schools (that you would truly be fine going to) that are solid but less selective than those on the list above, even if you are a top student. For example, if you’re instate for NC, apply to NC State. Every year there are truly impressive students posting in March that they didn’t get in anywhere. These are the students who have been told by teachers and parents all their lives that they are headed for Harvard. These teachers and parents have no idea how crazy the competition is…

7

@MYOS1634 okay thanks, I’ve been dwelling on Spanish and if I should continue or not, but I think I might, and yes my plan was to be pre-med. The only problem with Spanish is, I’m horrible, that’s where my only B’s have been in and they were regular level.

8

@inthegarden okay thanks man. I’m a Virginia resident and my dream college has always been UVa or Dartmouth, but I totally understand where you’re coming from.

9

@MYOS1634 and @inthegarden | Do you think by any chance that if I take AP Physics 1 (alg. based) and get a 4 or 5 on all of my AP Exams that an elite college would overlook my 3 years of a FL and respect my 4 sciences that I received a received a good AP score on?

10

Ok then stop at level 4. And senior year take a&p?
Beware that your DE grades WILL be counted toward the grades factored into your med school applications GPA’s (regular and sgpa).