Hi so I am considering taking 4 APs next year but I am concerned about the difficult and time consumption of the classes. I am current taking AP Psych and APUSH and they are the classes I have the highest grades in (AP Psych- 98%, APUSH-94%). I do get easily stressed and I deal with a lot of anxiety, normally I can handle it and still get what I need to do done, however, I don’t want to be completely miserable my entire senior year. Another concern I have is these courses affecting my ability to succeed in my other courses and model un or bringing down my GPA (my school also does not have weighted GPAs).
The classes in question are:
AP Macroeconomics (1/2 credit)
AP Government (1/2 credit)
AP Statistics (1 credit)
AP Biology (1 credit)
Since AP macro and gov are both social studies APs and I have always been good at those times of classes I am not very concerned about the difficulty of the courses, more so the time consumption. For AP statistics I will mostly likely have to take it as my math credit and AP Biology is a subject that interests me, however, sciences have never been m best subject. I also want to take AP Bio to show colleges I am well-rounded student in all subject areas because science is the only subject I haven’t taken a more challenge course in. From what I have heard at my school the class isn’t too difficult. Also, 2nd semester I would be left with only AP Stats and Bio.
The other courses I am considering taking are:
Modern War Causes and Impacts (1/2 credit)
Advanced Collge Writing (1/2 credit)
Media Literacy and Composition (1/2 credit)
Living On Your Own (1/2 credit)
Personal Finance (1/2 credit)
Practical Law You Can Use (1/2 credit)
And then two of the following (all 1/2 credit):
Drawing and Painting 3
3-D art
Black and White Photography
Airbrushing
Anatomy and Physiology
Ideas that Shape Our world
So to sum it up do you think I would be able to handle this schedule and still have a somewhat enjoyable senior year?
Personally, I believe so. Since you seem to be doing well in your current APs and are good at social studies, I think you should be able to manage those classes. Also, none of them are considered very rigorous classes. AP Biology requires some memorization skills, from what I’ve heard, so I would keep that in mind. It looks like a good schedule. Also, since the other classes you will be taking are more focused on art and less academic subjects, it would be good to balance those out with more academic classes like those four APs. Looks good to me!
From what you’ve said, I’d say for sure AP Bio, and then AP Macro & Gov. Personally, I’d only take AP statistics if you need a math credit, and save yourself some stress, time and enjoyment
Check with current students to see how time-consuming AP Bio is at your school - at many schools, it’s very time-consuming. Ask your current science teacher: If s/he AND you think you can handle it (and took honors bio+ honors chem, and did well), then go for it. If not, what about APES? It’s typically a bit less difficult than AP Bio.
AP Macroeconomics (1/2 credit)
AP Government (1/2 credit)
AP Statistics (1 credit)
AP Biology (1 credit)
I would add
Advanced College Writing (1/2 credit) in the Fall because it’ll likely help you with college essays
and
Living On Your Own (1/2 credit) in the Spring because it’ll be easy and will prepare you for … living on your own… OR
Media Literacy and Composition (1/2 credit) because it looks like a good complement to Adv. College Writing.
Ideas that Shape Our world and an art class (whichever semester)
Have you taken a foreign language up to level 3, 4, or AP?
Model UN, in my experience, is not time-consuming at all. Preparation, if done efficiently and well, can take about an hour (position paper, research, etc). Conferences last a few days at most, and there are few and far in between. If time is a concern, Model UN should not be weighed heavily.
