Hi guys. I’m new to CC but have read the boards for quite a while.
I’m a junior right now and am taking 2 APs - Psych and Lit. I enjoy them and love the challenge, though they can be pretty difficult at times. The only required class for my school senior year is English, so I basically have 6.5 credits that I can do whatever I want with.
English, reading, and writing are probably my biggest strengths.
I’'m thinking of taking AP Lang and APUSH for sure. My counselor said I really should take a math class, and I hate math and am not the best at it. I haven’t started Adv. Algebra yet, I do next trimester, but I hear it’s very fast-paced, and my main math trouble is that it’s just difficult to catch up and understand in time.
So that being said, I’m probably going to take AP Stats because it’s a different kind of math and I can’t stand the thought of Pre-Calc. I also am considering HuGeo because freshmen are allowed to take it at my school and I hear it’s very interesting and not the hardest class.
I’m sorry for rambling but…tl;dr, how difficult would it be to take APUSH, Stats, Lang, and HuGeo for my senior year with a schedule that is otherwise mostly electives?
Lang-Depends on the teacher but I found it to be really easy
APUSH-A lot of work but pretty easy
Stats-Harder than I thought it would be (mostly because people here say it’s a joke). I personally find Calc BC infinitely easier.
HuGeo-Easy
APUSH-the material is easy, but a lot of it depends on the teacher and the grading style. Like I got 2’s on all the essays all year, so I was convinced I was headed for a 2 on the test. Got a 5 without studying (premature senioritis though!!).
Stats-Not really math in my opinion. It’s a LOT of writing and calculator work, but mostly easy. I took Precalc last year though, and found it SO much easier than Stats, and I enjoy Calc BC so much more than Stats.
No idea about Lang and HuGeo, but I don’t think it would be bad.
HUman Geog is a great choice, one of the few classes where you’ll talk about the world as it is now.
All three others are good choices too. It should be quite manageable.
Make sure, wrt college admissions, that you also have one science and a foreign language, unless you already reached AP in foreign language and doubled up in science before.
I know you all will caution me against this, but I don’t plan on taking a foreign language in high school. College, yes, but my school only offers Spanish. Despite its functionality, I am not at all interested in the language. All of my top colleges do not require a foreign language for admission and only one of the University system schools in my state does - UW Madison - which I never wanted to get in to anyway.
As for science, I have taken Physical science, Biology, and am in Chemistry, and will likely take the half-credit Anatomy & Physiology class offered next year, to total out to 3.5 credits of science - and, again, my top colleges recommend at least 3.
Whether or not you’re interested makes no difference. You’ll need 3 to 4 years of a foreign language if you intend to go to a selective college - it’s considered a “core class”, like English, Math, History, and Science. And even if you only intend on going to UW Oshkosh or UW Eau Claire, you’ll need 2 years. Generally speaking, starting a language in college without any foreign language learning in HS is a recipe for disaster. You’ll cover the equivalent of 2 years in 4 months. It’s really hard even if you’ve studied a foreign language before.
If the problem is that you don’t want to learn Spanish, for whatever reason, ask your guidance counselor whether you can take another language through a virtual/online school. I think Florida VIrtual School offers French, Latin, Chinese, and Japanese.
You’re good for science with 3.5 units of science including bio, chem, and physics/physical science for all UW publics.
I appreciate your insight but it’s already too late to take 2 years as I’m a junior. I did speak to my guidance counselor and she told me very clearly not to take a foreign language I’m not going to care about and to use those credits and that time to take classes that I will enjoy and learn from. I don’t know what you mean by “selective” but by senior year I will meet all the admission requirements for my top colleges.
I’m interested in UW Whitewater and their beginning language courses are supposed to be introductory. I’m sure it will be difficult but I’m not scared about it.
I’m interested in German - perhaps I will take the class online this or next summer.
yes, introductory foreign language in college covers roughly the first two years of high school in 4 months. The second semester will roughly cover one year. It’s brutal if you’ve never learned a foreign language. The pace is NOT the same, and you’re together with students who’ve taken one or two years of it already.
I’m not sure why your guidance counselor told you not to take a foreign language - can you even graduate high school without it? Please check, it sounds like really bad advice.
UW-Whitewater doesn’t require foreign language per se, but does require 4 credits in arts, music, computer science, foreign language or business in addition to their other requirements, and they do specify that competitive applicants have more than that.
You’re good with everything else and you’re pretty competitive for your top choice, so it’ll be the only problem. See if you can take German 1 online this year and then German 2 online next year?
Yes, I can graduate from my high school without it.
I will have taken 4 years of choir - 2 years advanced choir - by the time I graduate. I have also taken Accounting. I did do very very well in Spanish in 8th grade, so it’s not like I’ve never ever been in that kind of class.
I’ll see if I can do summer courses, because I don’t think I could do it this school year. She advised taking a language in college but not high school if I wasn’t going to take the same language in college (taking Spanish in HS and taking German in college).
It was horrible advice.
First, because it’s fortunate you want to attend UW-Whitewater and not UW-Madison or a selective private college somewhere or UMN Twin Cities, with which Wisconsin has reciprocity agreements - because you’ve got all these doors closed, and how likely was it that, as a freshman in HS, you knew exactly where you’d be going? What if you were a high-need student who’d have benefited from a full ride somewhere but couldn’t because you were missing that core class?
Second, starting a language a college is much harder than in HS, because the pace is brutal and many students will have at least a little familiarity with the new language.
Third, because if you’ve not had a foreign language in high school, you’ll find it even harder than the students enrolled in the class, because learning languages teaches your brain some agility and develops connections. It does a lot of good stuff neurologically which is too complicated to get into.
Fourth, because if you were good at it, it means you’re not only missing 4 years of a core class, you’re also missing 4 A’s.
Fifth, because at most colleges you’d have spent 2 or 3 or even 4 semesters completing your requirement (that’s 20% of your first three or four semesters). Fortunately, UW Whitewater allows you to choose if you want to take 3 classes in German, or 2 in German and something else, or 1 in German and 2 in 2 other subjects. But had you wanted/needed to attend another college, you’d have had to take - and pay for - classes you could have been exempted from had you taken them in high school.
If you can take German via FLVS or another online school, and get it recognized by your school, it’ll give you a leg up when you start German at Whitewater.
That being said, it’s a very interesting language and you’ll learn a lot about Germany, Germans, German life, when you take these classes. Foreign language classes tend to be smaller, which is always nice when you’re in a huge lecture hall for most of your time. (BTW, if you qualify for Honors College, do apply, as you’ll have smaller classes but also more advantages. http://www.uww.edu/honors. BTW, U Wisconsin Eau Claire 's Honors Program is among the top 5 in the country for Regional Universities, and well-worth a look.)
I’ve liked Whitewater since sophomore year because of its distance from my home, its size, and its programs.
Due to not taking Spanish I got to take many electives that helped shape what I want to do now. I know you’ll disagree, but it was worth it.
Yes I was good at Spanish but I hated it. There’s no telling if that would be 4 A’s - especially with my intense depression and anxiety, maintaining a good grade in a class I despised would not have resulted in an A. It may have even been close to B- which would not have looked good.
One interesting thing about my school is that Spanish is not at all treated like a core class. It seems much more important in other schools I’ve read about here.
I’m sorry your only choice was foreign language or interesting electives. Ideally you’d be able to take all 5 core classes (English, Math, History/Social Science, Science, Foreign Language) every year, plus one elective or two every year.
I suppose your school is lower-performing/rural, which is why foreign language isn’t required for graduation or for college. Most students probably aren’t interested in/in the running for UW Madison, UMN Twin Cities, private colleges, or colleges out of state that meet 100% need (ie., that are cheaper or a better value than instate publics for lower income students). Even though it worked out for you, it’s a policy that severely restricts the choices for most students.