Okay so next year I am going to be a Senior and I’m having a hard time deciding what classes to take.
These are the classes that I might take:
AP Physics 2
AP Calc AB
AP French
AP Lit
AP Gov
AP Macroeconomics
AP Computer Science
Choir
PE
I know that this is A LOT of AP classes to take, especially in my senior year so I was wondering if any of them aren’t worth taking. Which ones have a big load and which ones are pretty easy? Will I be able to have a life outside of school if I try to do most of these?
I want to go into physics, which is why I am taking physics 2, calc ab, and computer science. Since I wanted to go into Physics, should I go for Calc BC or does it matter?
I toke Ap European History sophomore year and scored a 3, so history isn’t my best subject. Right now, I have A’s in AP Lang, Physics 1 and AP US History.
Thank so much for any help, I am just so flustered. Sorry for so many questions all at once!
Similar to what I took and it should be pretty doable. Gov and macro are relatively light-weight. Lit depends entirely on your teacher. If you have a knack for Comp Sci, it should be pretty easy as well. Can’t speak to language but AB content is not bad. I was not a fan of physics but since you seem to be, it should be manageable. + your senior year grades are not much of a factor for admissions so even if you slip up in a class or two, you’ll be fine. Of course this is just my experience and your experience will depend heavily on the quality of your teachers.
As far as AB vs BC, I think it would be a good idea to have BC under your belt before entering college (could give you more flexibility and the AP exam is curved to be easier). Your grade won’t be too important so it’s not like that should be too much of a worry.
It’s hard to say without knowing your school. @dblazer said what most people seem to experience with gov and econ but at our school they’re easily the 2 hardest social science classes at our school.
At my school AP Gov and AP Macro are some of the easiest. I took one my freshmen year and one my sophomore year and got 4’s on both. AP Gov was much more interesting though, unless you like economics.
AP Physics 2 => necessary
AP Calc AB => the big differentiator for General Physics is whether you’ve had calculus before. So AB is fine, unless you feel you can handle BC (much faster pace); if you take AB, “retake” calc 1 freshman year to ensure thorough grounding (you’ll still benefit from having taken it in HS, since it’ll make General Physics 100% easier, and it’ll mean you’ll have one easier class Fall freshman year). If you take BC, “retake” calc2.
AP French => keep if possible, as it’ll likely waive all foreign language classes, but if it’s too much, cut and plan to take 1 semester of French in college. (Bring basic grammar book for orientation so that you score as high as possible on your placement test).
AP Lit => Not necessary since you have AP Lang: take Honors English or an English senior seminar.
AP Gov => good
AP Macroeconomics => good
AP Computer Science => good
Choir
PE
4-5 APs is plenty - so keep Physics, Calc, Gov, Macro, CS (and French if you really can handle it along with the rest.)
Remember that no college will be impressed with a C in an AP class and even the most selective colleges expect 8 APs at most (as Stanford put it “it’s not a game of who has the most APs, wins.”)
Your first quarter grades are used for EA/REA/SCEA/ED, and your first semester grades are sent in the midyear report to most CommonApp schools. However, many public universities only look at 12 grade’s course rigor and check you didn’t get a D or F (which leads to being rescinded - and yes, every year it happens).