Which AP classes to take for senior year?

<p>I'm in the middle of my junior year and my school has already started the course registration process for next year. </p>

<p>Right now, the only AP class I'm taking (and ever took) is A.P U.S. History. </p>

<p>Next year, I'm thinking of taking AP Stat and AP Chem (or AP Physics). </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Do you think that is enough APs to take for senior year if I want to go to SUNY Binghamton or like UNC or UF (or schools like that in terms of competitiveness).</p></li>
<li><p>My parents told me it is better to take AP science courses in high school because in college the into science courses are 10x more difficult (more so than any other subject). Is this true?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it a good idea to take a lot of difficult courses senior year and then sort of slack off once you get accepted? Rather than take a lot of difficult courses junior year? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>1) I don’t know about SUNY Binghamton or UF, but I know that UNC (Chapel Hill, I’m assuming) is pretty competitive for out of state applicants. I don’t think a total of three APs would stand out, but if you’ve taken other challenging courses and have a good GPA/rank/SAT score, then you could definitely make up for your lack of APs. It also depends on how many APs your school offers in general. If it offers 20, you may be screwed, but if it only offers 5 and you’ve taken 3, then you’re in good shape. </p>

<p>2) Probably true, but it depends on what you want to major in. If you want to go into engineering/pre-med then you should definitely take a science AP, but if you want to be an english major, then I don’t think it would make much of a difference. Although, it is important to keep in mind, that some AP classes have a reputation for being a lot harder than others and colleges will also consider that probably (ex: AP Calc is viewed as harder than Stats and APUSH is harder than Gov, generally speaking). </p>

<p>3) NEVER SLACK OFF! If your grades drop, you could have your offer of admission rescinded.</p>

<p>1) You’re evaluated in the context of your environment. So if you school only offers, say, 5 APs, taking 3 is no big deal. If it offers the whole range of APs and most people take close to all of them, your rank and weighted GPA will reflect that.</p>

<p>2) Yes, science and math are harder in college, as are most courses. Getting a heads up on how to write a lab report and a basic understanding of the material can only help you, especially for those brutal “weed-out” classes in science majors.</p>

<p>3) Your senior year course difficulty should be consistant with the difficulty of your four years. And don’t be stupid, slacking off is a terrible idea. I’m not saying be the one dweeb who shows up on senior skip day, but keep your grades right about where they were when you were accepted. Colleges will and can rescind your acceptance if your performance dramatically dips.</p>

<p>Take what you can handle. Like if you think you can handle another AP class, then go for it. But don’t overload yourself because then that’s when you’ll start slacking.
Good luck!
I’m looking for APs to take too. I have a problem with taking too many though, lol.</p>

<p>Take whatever AP classes you can handle, because it’s easy to underestimate the intensity of 4 or 5 AP classes. You need to make sure you can handle all your classes with passing grades because it’s the worst thing to mess it up at the last minute your senior year. I have a ton of friends that are taking 4 or 5 AP classes and it’s killing them. I started out with 4 AP classes and an honors class but ended up dropping AP spanish lit and AP stats cause it was just too much. Just do what you can without killing yourself lol</p>

<p>^Exactly. It’s easy to get seduced by the course catalogue, especially if you’re as nerdy as most CCers, but you need to be wise about what you can actually handle. In fact, I’d recommend purposely underwhelming yourself with your schedule–take one less AP course than you think you can handle. It will be a godsend while your friends crumble under ECs, 5 APs, and college apps.</p>

<p>AP Stat is a good idea. but AP Chem and AP Physics are much harder than AP Stat. I would say they are probably the hardest APs I ever took. If you are up to the challenge then that’s great! But make sure your workload is manageable. If you want easier APs maybe you should try AP Gov/ Econ since you already took APUSH this year. It will be easier and plus you have an AP history background. Also, I needed some help for my registration too. </p>

<p>Registration for classes is coming up and i am in a weird situation. I will be a senior next year and know that I want to major in pharmacy.</p>

<p>Here’s what classes I will take next year:</p>

<ul>
<li>AP Gov/ Econ</li>
<li>AP English 12</li>
<li>AP Environmental Science</li>
<li>Anatomy & Physiology</li>
</ul>

<p>For the last two classes I could either take:

  1. Chemical Technology and Photography</p>

<p>or </p>

<ol>
<li>Pharmacy Clerk at a vocational school (will last 2 class period long).</li>
</ol>

<p>What option should I choose if I am majoring in pharmacy? The problem with the pharmacy clerk is that it is at a vocational school (not sure if it will be easy to find a job) and the good thing is I will gain experience in the field before entering college. What would you do if you were in this situation?</p>