<p>Hi, I have to make my final decision on my junior year schedule by Friday, and I'm in a dilemma over whether or not to take AP US. Here's my tentative schedule:</p>
<p>AP Calc BC
AP Physics B & C
AP Psych
AP US History
Junior Gifted LA</p>
<p>The reason why I feel like I should take it is b/c I didn't take AP World or AP Human last year. Everyone else is ahead of me in that respect, so I feel like I need a SS AP. On the other hand, i don't know if AP US + Calc BC + AP Physics will be too much work to handle/get an A in every class. </p>
<p>Do you understand my dilemma?! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>It will definitely be a challenging schedule. However, the exact difficulty of the courses varies from school to school and even from teacher to teacher. This often makes the difference between a schedule being “hard” and being “impossible”. The best thing for you to do is to find current seniors and ask them about how much time they put for each of the courses to get an idea of how much work they will be.
You also have to look at your own extracurriculars and see how much time you will have to devote.
And, a question: are AP Physics B and C two separate courses or is it one course that teaches the material for both AP tests?</p>
<p>Wow, your school integrates all 3 AP Physics exams into one year course? Impressive.
AP US can be a lot of work, depending on the school. At some schools it’s practically nil, and at others it’s 5+ hours a night. Talk to past juniors at your school about it. AP Psych and BC are easy, Physics will be challenging but certainly doable. APUSH is a wild card.</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree about APUSH. From what I’ve heard at my school, it’s the hardest SS AP and yet others say it’s not too bad. There’s two teachers, and it really depends on which teacher you get. One doesn’t really teach too much, but the other gives CRAZY pop quizzes, where you have to know minute details. That just makes me more confused, because I don’t know what to expect.</p>
<p>AP Physics B is first semester, then AP Physics C is second semester. There’s this accelerated math/science pathway at my school, and that’s what those kids take jr. year.</p>
<p>I’ve been switching sides on this issue so many times for so long that it is literally driving me crazy. I can’t even focus on my schoolwork…</p>
<p>Does your school allow you to drop courses after a test period without the drop showing up on your report card? If it does, you should sign up for APUSH and drop it if you get the harder teacher. Otherwise, you should ask yourself if, in the worst case scenario, you get the harder teacher, can you survive? If you know you cannot handle it, then don’t sign up. Again, talk to upperclassmen to understand the level of difficulty better.</p>