“Some do not take AP Stats in HS leaving it for college to bump up college GPA with an easy A.” You may find this hard to believe but not every student plans their high school program around optimizing their college GPA. Also, my daughter did take AP stats in high school but she’s a little worried about the college stats class she plans to take because she hears it’s very hard. Certainly not an “easy A”. There is a huge difference between AP stats and a rigorous college stats class which requires several more years of math than AP stats.
OP, I would take what you are interested in. If you want to do the AP Spanish and you have native speakers in the home, start speaking Spanish with them now to brush up your skills. Also try watching movies with the Spanish soundtrack. My daughter (non-native speaking) managed to get a 5 on the exam, despite far-from-fluent speaking or listening skills. She did watch some movies to prepare for the class. No access to native speakers which would have been even better. She was not one of the top students in her AP Spanish class. Those were all native speakers.
““Some do not take AP Stats in HS leaving it for college to bump up college GPA with an easy A.” You may find this hard to believe but not every student plans their high school program around optimizing their college GPA.”
- For some tracks, they better do it! If you are planning for pre-med, take care of your hardest classes while in HS, leave easier for college. College still will be extremely challenging, but do not risk to ruin your college GPA with something trivial as History (and believe me, some kids have great difficulty with this one, especially the ones who love Bio the most). Your college GPA is the most important when applying to Med. Schools. I bet there are other tracks where college GPA is of great importance, so taking “risks” at HS make perfect sense.
"There is a huge difference between AP stats and a rigorous college stats class " - I am not familiar with HS AP stats. However, depending what college stats one decided to take, college stats may be a very easy class. Your major may require a more challenging upper division of college Stats. But if it is not, then taking whatever Stats to satisfy requirement or get familiar for your future career (certainly a good class to have for pre-med as stats are widely used in Medical Research, just one example), may not be challenging at all at college.
Totally agree with AP statistics and other AP courses being totally different than those at rigorous colleges, including flagship U’s. Medical education includes statistics of course as it is needed to be able to evaluate literature (physicians in every specialty are always learning and evaluating new ideas as they are presented- just because something is published does not mean it is truly valid).
Totally disagree with planning for medical school by taking the easier AP versions of courses in HS. Take the most rigorous courses in HS to not be bored and to learn the most. Also- college, for any major/profession, is a time of getting an education, not just grades. I am willing to bet that, just as for college admissions, there are plenty of medical students who did not have perfect grades, and that there are those with 4.0’s who do not get into medical school. btw- no history courses are needed for medical school- social science breadth requirements can be met with many other options.
There is so much more to life than just preparing to become a physician while in HS and college. College is NOT “extremely” challenging for those who wish to pursue post graduate education, including professional schools. There is NO “premedical track”- it is an intention, not a major. There are many different ways of approaching an undergraduate education before medical school. Students need to be successful in required courses for medical school but can major in anything they choose. I am surprised any parent can be an expert unless they, too, have traveled that path. Parents only have an experience of knowing one medical student and are not privy to insider knowledge, no matter how much they hear from their child. Also, knowing about the lives of a small circle of one’s child’s friends is not a statistically valid sample.
Back to the OP’s question. Taking several AP classes at your HS in any given grade should not be a problem if you want them. Those three classes represent a variety of subjects so you won’t be overloaded with any one subject. You are likely to do better if you are not bored. Consider how well you have done so far with your HS classes and if you would be satisfied with regular versions of these classes or substituting other subjects for them. I’d assume you also will not need any study halls and plan a full load plus extracurricular activities. That usually means 7 classes, some that will be less academically challenging (such as physical education, music and the like). You likely are prepared for your HS’s versions of these AP courses with previous classes. Your HS AP course may be very different than the same one offered elsewhere but your pre-AP version also will be different. Students often take AP exams without the formal course if an advanced instead of AP course is all their HS offers.
Short answer- go for it. You are capable of taking all of these courses regardless of your grade because your HS has prepared you for the ones they allow you to take. Enjoy them.
As others have said, it depends on the student, the teacher, and other factors. One of my sons took AP and/or GT everything, except PE and another class or two, and he did fine. My other son chose to limit himself to maybe 4 AP classes his senior year, and I can’t remember how many before that, but not a full load of AP. The first kid really didn’t care about grades, he just wanted to learn all he could while in HS. The second one’s overall GPA may have wound up slightly higher at the end of HS. My opinion is 3 should be fine.