I’m a STEM oriented person with interests in biological research. Does it make sense for me to skip an AP World History class in Junior year for another science class like AP Chemistry, meaning I will be taking both AP Bio and AP Chem Junior year. I plan to then take AP World History in senior year. Does doing this hurt my application to colleges?
It depends on your target colleges. If they ask for 4 years of history/social science, then yes, it’s an issue. The bigger issue for me is taking AP Bio and AP Chem concurrently. In addition to the time commitment required by virtue of being AP’s, each requires a lot of time for labs and lab reports. For many schools, these classes are either double-periods, or require additional time before/after school. Maybe you are the 1% of the 1% who can handle these 2 together without your grades tanking, but that’s something for you and your GC to confirm.
Depends on where you are applying to college. Some schools may want to see three years of history. In our home state, three years was required for graduation and all seniors had to take gov and econ. Be sure to check with your guidance counselor.
And FWIW, many here on CC counsel against taking two lab heavy courses at the same time.
You need to: 1) be sure you will meet HS graduation requirements with only three years of Social Studies and 2) be sure you meet the recommended/required HS coursework for any college you plan to apply to. The way you check item 2 is by looking up the common data set of each college (google “XYZ College common data set”) and check section C. If any college (especially any top tier college) wants 4 years of SS then you should meet that standard.
I also agree with @skieurope that taking two AP sciences in one year can be a challenge and I would not recommend it for anyone who isn’t a real science whiz kid. In general, I think having a balanced schedule is the way to go.
You’re a soph. It’s not too early to dig into what your possible college targets want to see. Be informed. I’d be concerned something causes you to have a schedule conflict in senior year and miss a critical core social science course.
You say you’re stem oriented, but in another thread are worried about your math.