I’m currently a sophomore right now, and have already begun looking at classes for next year. My school doesn’t offer too many APs prior to Junior year. There are none offered for Freshman, and 2 for Sophomores. Though looking back now, I really regret not taking the opportunity to try one out. So now I’m worried about how I will look to colleges compared to my peers unless I start stacking up on more rigorous classes. I also have a part-time job where I work 15-20 hours a week.
The courses I’m planning on taking are:
AP Chem
APUSH
AP Lang
AP Art History Online Class
Algebra II Honors
Spanish
Biology Honors
Forensics
I’m worried that with no prior AP experience, this may be too ambitious, though I have taken 6 honors classes as of now. Do you think this is doable for me? Will it have a big impact on my chances for top colleges if I stick with a less rigorous schedule?
AP Art History is the one that appeals most to me and is not offered at my school, but it is an option with the online programs that my school is partnered with
If it is online, can you take it over the summer perhaps? Having a study hall could make the difference between struggle and success. Lots of kids take four (or more) APs at a time, but every school is different. Ask around. Can the teachers tell you about the expected workload? Can students who have taken those classes confirm the teachers estimates? Does your GC think you can handle it? What are your options if you find yourself unable to handle it?
Honestly not too sure what I’ll major in. Liberal Arts was a possibility in my mind, but nothing too set in stone. In my school Physics is taken Freshman year, Chem for Sophomores, and Bio for Juniors. The classes are required to be taken in this order. I was looking at taking both because I’m doing really well in Chem this year, and thought it would be one of my best options at succeeding in AP. Not completely sure if Bio is required or not, but I think it’s required from what I’ve heard. Will probably drop it if it’s an option.
I am somewhat interested in art, but AP Art History seems particularly interesting to me and I think it would be the most enjoyable class for me.
Forensics is another science-related course, and is heavily focused on analyzing crime scenes and such with the use of blood splatter patterns, fingerprints, etc. Not too set in stone on taking this course though, was looking at possible alternatives.
I do have a 1 hr 30 minute study every other day which will give me a good amount of time to get some of the work done.
Ok, I don’t know too much about you, but my sophmore daughter is planning on taking 4 AP classes next year. Her oldest brother did 4 (College class of 2020), and her next older brother took 5 (College Class of 2022). Both did very well. My second son was also a 3 season state ranked athlete. But, school and learning are things he really enjoys. He always focused on learning the subject and not just getting the grade.
The other thing to consider is our HS does block scheduling, and for them that means only 4 classes a semester, but what traditionally is an year course at some schools is only a semester long. So at any one time, they only had 2 or 3 AP Classes.
APEuro is a great class and my second son says that class was the one where he learned the most on how to be a college student. He liked APUSH, but he didn’t think it was as good as APEuro. So if you can choose either of those, I’d suggest that.
APLang and APLit helped him to learn to write critically and he would rank those two classes as the next two most beneficial. He took APChem as a Junior (it was the only AP test he didn’t get a 5 on, he scored a 4).
Neither took AP Art History, so I can’t comment on the amount of work you are signing up for. When you say “Online Version,” does that mean it is a study at your own pace and the only validation is the AP test? If so, it sounds like you can do this at a schedule that fits you.
AP Art Online is still a structured class with a designated teacher to help you along the way. They provide you with resources to learn the material and complete the work. There are still assignments and due dates, the same as a class would function in person. The grades I get throughout the course would be sent to my high school and added to my transcript. So it’s essentially an 8th class, compared to the mandatory 7 at my school.
It honestly depends on your course load and how much time you can handle. I did a similar schedule, but took Honors Precalc for math. You are basically taking 3 science classes (forensics is a science elective right?). I would say to drop AP Chem because it is really difficult, especially if your math class isn’t too advanced yet. Maybe try taking biology over the summer? AP Art History isn’t related much to APUSH. It would have been better to take it with AP Euro (if you have/had that option). Also, I did no job and my stress levels were already pretty high.