Next year I will be a junior and I am having trouble deciding whether 5 AP’s is too much. I am currently taking 1 AP which is AP World History, but I dont plan on taking APUSH bc I really dont want to major in history. Many people keep discouraging me from taking 5 APs, however I want to maintain being top 10% of my class. My school, especially my class, is very competitive and I really dont want one decision from preventing me from getting into my top schools, UVA and UNC.
The courses that I plan to take are:
AP LANG
AP COMP SCI
AP CALC AB
AP CHEM
AP ECON
SPANISH 5H
INTRO TO BUS + MARKETING
I am willing to do whatever it takes to succeed, but I really don’t wanna burn myself out cause I have to focus on EC’s and SAT’s. I also plan to major in computer science or business. If I were to drop one AP, it would be AP CHEM bc i do not plan on to major in science, however I do like chemistry and am willing to challenge myself. Plus if I don’t take AP Chem, I’ll be taking APs in 2 core subjects which is not what my school is looking for. In all honesty, I do not want to screw up my chances.
Any advice??
Difficulty of classes and work load??
Hey there!
I am a junior taking 5 APs right now, and I can tell you it’s not easy. There are many nights that I only get 3-4 hours of sleep (all the tests seem to land on the same days at my school…). I have taken the ACT and done well, but I would like to improve–unfortunately, it’s hard finding time to study with so much coursework.
If you’re like me, the amount of ECs you are in has exponentially increased this year. I also got a job and two volunteer opportunities. This meant my life had to be extremely well scheduled, that I couldn’t procrastinate (like anything at all), and that I had to learn how to make really hard sacrifices (taking a year off from viola lessons because I just didn’t have the time anymore). They were all really tough decisions to make.
But if I had to do it all over again, I would. I honestly can’t tell you how much I’ve grown this year. The amount of responsibility I’ve gained from juggling school, work, ECs, and a social life (yes, that’s also a priority!) has been huge; I have finally stopped procrastinating so much; and most importantly, I have learned that you don’t have to be perfect in everything. I got my first A- ever in AP Macroeconomics last semester, and while it hurt at first, I learned to accept that I couldn’t always get straight A+s like some of the insane powerhouse kids at my school. This is something you’re gonna have to learn sooner or later, and I am so glad I learned it now.
So in short, it’s definitely possible to do well in 5 APs, but know now that it is going to take WORK. I have maintained a 4.0, but I slept less than I have any other year. You sound really dedicated already, which is great, so I think you can handle it. If you think you can handle sleep deprivation and a very intense school life, you can do it. But, if you want to be absolutely CERTAIN of good test scores and EC involvement, I would drop one or two. Four APs is still very impressive, and it might save you a few hours of sleep or a good ACT score.
I guess it’s mostly up to you. Haha sorry my post wasn’t super helpful, but that mostly summarizes my experience taking 5 APs this year. Hope it helps somehow
Oh–for what it’s worth, AP Chem has a very bad reputation at my school. If you wanted an easier course load, I would drop that one and replace it with something a bit easier. But I know schools vary on quality of teaching, so don’t take this comment into account too much.
If I did, it would be Physics DE. See the thing is based on my other AP’s I feel like it would be maybe managable, emphasize on maybe lol. The thing is the college I want to go to says to take challenging courses and do well in them, and take AP’s in core classes. If I take 4 APs, I would be taking two AP electives and 2 core APs. If I take AP Chem, then I would have 3 core AP’s and 2 elective AP’s
You do NOT need to cram your Jr schedule, [or your Sr schedule for that matter] with AP’s in a false attempt to “impress” colleges. There is no contest to see who can take the most AP’s. Those with the most AP’s dont win.
Stanford’s admissions website clearly states what all colleges are, and arent looking for:
What colleges care MOST about is your overall GPA and the overall rigor of your HS transcript. . Your Jr year schedule will be plenty rigorous without AP Chem. Save some AP’s, like Chem, for your SR year. Spread the AP’s out and get the best grades you can in both years.
College admissions is not a game where whoever has the most AP’s wins. After 6-8 AP’s for your entire HS career, the law of diminishing returns kicks in - each add’l AP will not add significantly to your application. Don’t take an AP course just to say you took another AP course.
Personally, if you have not yet have had a physics class, I would opt for physics over AP Chem.
No college is going to sit and analyze your transcript and count up how many AP’s you took. Although you will spend hours and hours on your applications, each application will be read for 12-15 minutes tops. As long as your GC marks your schedule as “most rigorous” on the Secondary School Report, admissions will not delve much further into the content of your schedule. They want you to earn good grades in the classes you do take and do not want applicants who are only AP junkies.
For a computer science major, look online at some colleges of interest and see what the curriculum is. Do you have to take Chem? Also look if you got a 5 in AP Chem…would you get credit for it? or just moved on to the next Chem class?
For someone who wants business/comp sci it would be find…i would take an honors science at least…
I personally think that 5 APs is definitely doable. I also took one AP sophomore year and jumped to taking 5 APs my junior year (lang, bc calc, world history, spanish, and biology) and I got A’s in all of them and I did ok on the AP exams (passing grades of 3, 4, 5).
However, looking at your schedule, you should keep in mind that you would be taking a double period AP Chem class (at least for my school it’s double) and an extra AP test (since econ has a test for macro and a test for micro econ) so you’d be taking 6 AP tests. Also, don’t forget to take into account of any extracurriculars that might take away some time for studying.
But it seems that you’re really determined and hard working so if you are willing to put in the work for studying and willing to sacrifice some free time, then i think you can definitely do it!
When you’re evaluating what to take you have to look at it solely from a grade-point-average, or GPA perspective. Thus, whatever gives you the highest grade point average will boost your class rank and make you more appealing to colleges. AP Chem, AP Comp Sci, AP Econ, AP Lang, AP Calc AB, Spanish 5H and Intro to Business and marketing equals 5.5 weight. However, with your adjusted schedule you’re only getting 5.0 weight. At my school [We have a lot of Indian [ORM] people grueling to get into UVA although most of them are hugely unqualified], AP Chemistry is manageable and I did it as a sophomore and I currently have an A in the class. Keep in mind this is on top of AP Biology and AP World History. Chemistry is not a very time consuming class, although some concepts are rather challenging. However, I still strongly advise you to add physics to your junior year schedule as it is essential. Especially for Computer Science in college, I would imagine that you would need to have AP Physics as someone previously had said. For the Business Major, maybe you might not have to take AP Chemistry, but you have to understand the class of 2018 competition is ruthless and there will be people who have taken every AP science and probably Calculus BC as juniors. If your school is truly competitive, I would imagine the majority of intellectual juniors will go take AP Chemistry. Also, keep in mind that if you do not take AP Chemistry that you would have only taken ONE AP Science in all of high school which is Physics. Again, no matter what they want to major in, students will have very, very strong schedules that do have a great emphasis on STEM. If I were you, I would drop Spanish 5 and take Chemistry and Physics concurrently, which would actually look more prestigious to colleges. You already have four years of a language and after that, despite all of the word that goes around, it’s kind of pointless. You have Physics/Chem which are essential subjects versus Spanish which is just “Good to Have”. From a GPA perspective, if you replace Spanish with Chemistry you’ll still have that 5.5 weight. In no way will Spanish prepare you for any of your degrees if that is the premise you are going under. My friend’s friend got into Princeton University with just taking three years of a language and all of his peers did not stack up on languages either. If I had to say, class rank, GPA, and standardized testing are the most important three factors in the college admissions process. Then again, taking Chemistry and Physics concurrently is a good combination because you get used to applying mathematics skillfully in Chemistry while learning the basic concepts of Physics. This will ultimately make AP Physics run much more smoothly.
Stress-wise, 5 APs is very doable if you have the work ethic needed. Pushing yourself is very well worth the class rank and GPA which will at least put you on that baseline to gain admission into UVA and UNC. As for standardized testing, you just need to make time to do that. Use your weekends or study in your study hall periods for it if you’re trying to study effectively and efficiently. Again to remind you, from my school only 5-9 people have been admitted to UVA in total and most of them are in the top 5% of the class and the minority is in top 10%. On that premise, taking AP Chem to get that GPA boost is a lucrative option.
You are 100% right, our school is VERY competitive, I LITERALLY HATE IT SO MUCH LIKE PLS CHILL. I just do not want to die next year. Like I’d rather do well in the classes I take, rather than fail in some classes. Chem is fun and easy but you know im just worried with basically all academic classes with a lot of work load, I will not manage. And also something REALLY bad bout me is that I have terrible anxiety and stress issues. It gets so bad that I hyperventilate sometimes so yeah its just really bad. I dont want to constantly be crying and have anxiety next year so yeah. I just want to know if without ap chem, my schedule would be strong enough. And if Spanish is really worth it.
Also for Spanish, next year I am quitting orchestra which I have continued to since 6th grade bc I do not have time plus I need to focus on dance as a performing arts extracurricular. And spanish is the only thing ill be continuing. And if I do not continue, I feel like it would not be good. And honestly I hate doing things to impress colleges, I really do want to be myself and take classes I want but, the competition at my school is like unreasonable. I hate it.
If you think you can handle sleep deprivation and a very intense school life, you can do it. But, if you want to be absolutely CERTAIN of good test scores and EC involvement, I would drop one or two. Four APs is still very impressive, and it might save you a few hours of sleep or a good ACT score.