So I’m a sophomore in high school and this year I’m taking 2 AP Classes: AP Chemistry and AP World History. When I applied for these classes I heard other people that took them say that they’re easy and useful for when you go to college, so that’s why I signed up. But when I got in, I realized they’re actually not easy. In AP Chemistry I have a C, and I’m only passing because my teacher gives us credit for doing our homework, but I’ve been failing all of the tests miserably. It’s not that the material is so difficult to understand, but since I’m also taking AP World I have to do a lot of reading for that class everyday and that takes up a lot of my time. I have a B- in that class, along with only 2 other people. Last week we had a test in that class that I studied really hard for and only got a 78%. So when I talked to my counselor about switching out she said it’s impossible to get out of AP Chem because all of the regular chem classes are full, but there’s a chance I can switch out of AP World. I want to drop AP World because I think it will give me more time to focus on AP Chem, and other subjects, and because it’s taking up all of my time, and I really don’t want to fail my other classes just because I’m spending so much time on this. But will it look bad on my transcript if I drop this class second semester?
It probably will. Most counselors advise you to do it before the first initial grading period (which is a quarter in my district). If it shows up on your transcript, your previous grade shows up on the transcript too. Maybe try focusing on bringing it to at least a B+ by the time first semester ends?
Yes it will look bad. Think about it, an AP class is basically a college class. That will just show them you can’t take the heavy load. Maybe sacrifice some sleep? That’s what I do. I wake up at 3 AM sometimes to study for APUSH. I know AP World is kind of like APUSH, as in the workload. But yeah good luck.