I’ve been able to maintain a 4.0 unweighted GPA, while taking mostly honors courses, plus 2 AP classes. It will be my junior year and I want to stand out and show what I can do, but don’t know if I am pushing it. I am taking:
Spanish 3 Honors
AP Seminar
AP US History
AP Literature & Comp
AP European History
AP Calculus AB
AP Biology
Thanks!!
You are taking three difficult APs all in one year (APUSH, AP Euro, and AP Bio), this will be difficult to manage unless if you quit most/all of your ECs, or if your teachers don’t give homework (both terrible/impossible scenarios).
I suggest you take off one of the history classes. If you’ve only ever taken 2 AP classes before, don’t jump into six APs the following year.
Showing rigor doesn’t necessarily have to be taking all AP classes, as long as your counselor checks the “most rigorous” box you’ll be fine. Use the free time you gain from avoiding unnecessary APs to explore your interests and build upon your ECs.
I would agree. If each class requires a research paper, odds are they will be due at the same time. Move AP Euro to senior year.
As for the others, some students do fine with 5 AP’s, while others struggle with one. None of us here knows which type of student you are. Additionally, the workload of any class depends in part on the teacher, so you should ask students at your school who have taken the classes.
You don’t stand out by piling up AP’s. You stand out by getting A’s in a handful of AP’s and spending your time outside of school doing something with yourself that benefits your community, your school, etc (can be through sports, music, art, volunteering, creating something…)
It’s kind of redundant to take 2 AP histories.
Junior year is probably the most important year. It’s better to do well with less and develop your leadership and other community based contributions to your school community.