Would taking harder classes help?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello everyone I am currently a junior in high school and I am stressing out about classes. I'm in this program that only my school offers that claims to be known by "every UC." Well, when I went to study to UC Irvine for a month and asked the people in charge of undergraduate admissions if they knew the program, they said they had never heard of it. So now, I have decided to drop out of it. </p>

<p>Right now my schedule is
Journalism
AP Calculus BC
Piano
HP American Lit
HP US History
AP Spanish
AP Physics</p>

<p>If I was to get out of the program I would end up replacing the lit and history class. I would still be taking HP Lit but with "easier" teachers (the person in charge of the program thinks their classes are sooo special). I would be taking normal US History since AP isn't offered (I've heard it's brutal anyway).
I've never been excellent at lit which is one reason I want to leave, and I want to major in biology so an advanced lit class isn't exactly what I'm looking for.
Okay, so my question is will dropping out of that one class change anything? I doubt it, but the problem is that many people from that program I'm in will be applying to the same colleges I want to attend. If they compare us side by side, (only judging on classes taken), would they be more likely to take them?
My dream DREAM school is Oxford, and then my dream schools are Columbia and John Hopkins. I know England looks at grades for the most part, and I believe the other two look for well-rounded students. Now for a more broader question--what would be the chances of me getting accepted to those schools based on grades alone?</p>

<p>9th
Algebra 2/Trig-
P.E.
World History
Lit
Molecular Biology
Spanish 3
Student Government
--> All As both semesters</p>

<p>10th
African/Latin American History
Critical thinking ( 1 semester)
Writing Skills (1 semester)
World Lit
AP Calculus AB
AP Bio
Yoga
Spanish 4
---> All As both semesters</p>

<p>SAT: 2320
AP Tests:
Bio- 4
Calc AB- 4
Spanish- 5</p>

<p>SAT Subject
Biology:780
Math 2: 800</p>

<p>Sorry this is sort of two large questions in one long post. Thank you in advance to anyone who comments and gives feedback. </p>

2

<p>The UK looks at standardized test scores in subjects that are related to the subject you are applying to study. So, i you want to study Biological Sciences at Oxford you will need a 2100+ SAT, plus a 5 in AP Bio or AP Calc, plus 2 other 5’s (or high 700s on SAT subject tests), one of which should be bio or calc ( you <em>have</em> to have one of them; having both makes for a stronger application) and the third in some sort of quant based course. Your AP tests won’t cut it, but if you submit just your SAT subject tests and manage a 5 on AP Calc BC you could be in business.</p>

<p>Ox will never ask to see your HS transcript, so what classes you take won’t bother them, but obviously that’s not true for Johns Hopkins or Columbia. </p>