<p>I am currently an upcoming sophomore. I am going to be taking ap chem, ap stats, ap euro, ap physics 1, ap calc ab, and English 2 honors. Can anyone give me any advice about how to survive these classes and possibly how to get a 5?</p>
<p>Not answering your question, but giving you something to think about:</p>
<p>According to one college web site I browsed, that college did not accept AP credits from freshman or sophomore year. If I remember correctly, it is Centre College. Double check that AP classes taken sophomore year will allow for credit at the university level. </p>
<p>You can’t survive. This advice I will give you is probably cliche, but it is really all you can do other than hire a tutor.
If you want to survive, you might want to get introduced to the classes during the summer, especially in the subjects that you have more difficulty with. Buy a cheap review book, and get familiar with the type of questions that the ap likes to ask. Your teacher’s exams will likely be similar. During the school year, study more extensively and in depth with the books.
When it is time to take the ap, it is vital to take the practice tests that are provided at the end of the books. Take one or two extra tests online if you feel that you need more practice. The MOST IMPORTANT part of this method is to not lie to yourself. Do not extend your time beyond the time limit, and grade yourself truthfully.</p>
<p>Good Luck </p>
<p>That’s a lot for a sophomore! Are you sure you actually want to take in all of that? I took 2 APs my sophomore year and 4 honors and it was really hard. You’re taking on a lot more that you think you are. And when are you going to have time for extracurriculars and a social life?!</p>
<p>If you want to do it though, you’re going to have to learn how to manage your time. A lot of your time is going to have to be spent on schoolwork. About halfway through my sophomore year, all I did was schoolwork and it was miserable. It’s one thing to take 5 APs and it’s one thing to succeed in 5 APs. It’s your sophomore year, so really think about if you should take 5 APs. You have plenty of time to take more in your junior and senior years. </p>
<p>I hope I’m not coming across as condescending or rude. I just don’t want you to feel overwhelmed like I did. </p>
<p>Well, how many are you taking at a time? (I’m an upcoming Junior taking Calc AB/BC, Physics C: Mech and E/M, and Envi Sci; though I’ll be taking 3 first semester [Calc AB, Mech, and EnviSci] and 2 the second [BC, E/M]) The fact that my courseload is somewhat split helps me out a lot. </p>
<p>If you have say, Chem, Stats and AB one semester, that’ll help you by putting your focus on just three classes; My point is that you might not have to do as much work per semester/at a time as you think. </p>
<p>But to actually address your question, It’s all a question of time management. Find a good study place with ambient noise, and commit to doing some amount of homework/studying each day. </p>
<p>Also, a get some review books from amazon, primarily from Princeton Review or Barron’s, review them whenever you need to, and especially before the AP exams. </p>
<p>Good luck! :D</p>
<p>Drop AP Physics 1, I think it’ll be really hard to handle all of that. You can self-study it as all it is is Honors Physics with an AP logo.</p>
<p>I took 5 APs junior year (along with 3 honors classes) and made high As in all of them. It’s doable. The hardest part is not getting burnt out toward the end. I missed a LOT of days because I was burnt out and simply did not want to go to class. I figured I could learn it on my own, I hated everyone in there anyway, so why go? Do not do that. It is incredibly difficult to start going to class every day when you’ve taken a long break. </p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that once you FINISH 5 APs, you have to STUDY for 5 AP exams. That was painful, especially since I was balancing AP exams on top of my exam schedule. </p>
<p>AP Calc, AP Stats, AP Physics 1, and AP Euro (if you’re good at memorizing) are a breeze. I would wait to take AP Chem until you’re an upperclassman. If you’re a good student, hardworking, and don’t mind never, and I mean NEVER, having time to spend with friends/family, you can do 5 APs. Like the first reply said, make sure that colleges will accept scores from sophomore year. </p>
<p>Taking those 5 APs was a blessing. It was extremely difficult, I had many mental breakdowns along the way, but it bumped my GPA up to a 4.8 and I am solidly Valedictorian. Be sure you’re up to the challenge before you get in too deep and end up burning out and failing. </p>
<p>@empressamelea Ap Euro at my school is really easy and doesn’t require too much work. Ap Physics 1 is also supposedly easy with not too much work. Ap Stats has a little bit of work, but is easy at my school. Ap calc ab and ap chem r two of the most challenging courses at my school. I really want to take Ap Calc ab, ap chem, and ap physics 1. If I had to drop one ap class, which one would you recommend?</p>
<p>DO NOT DO THAT!!! IT’S SUICIDE</p>
<p>I have taken all five of those classes and I promise you that waiting on AP Chem would be a good idea. Have you taken Honors Chem or an equivalent? At my school, it is a requirement that you take Honors Chem before AP Chem and Honors Bio before AP Bio. They almost treat it like AP Chem II or AP Bio II and that is not a bad thing at all. Having the honors class as a prerequisite gave us an advantage and we all made high Bs and As in the class (AP Bio, however, was a joke, and I don’t think they needed to make us take a prerequisite). Even if your school doesn’t require you to take another first, do it anyway, or at least ask if you can. </p>
<p>AP Calculus AB is not difficult. Take it. It also sets you up to take Calc BC next year which is perfectly reasonable for a Junior. Physics 1 wasn’t hard at all, it’s more like an honors physics class, and that, again, gives you time to take P2, PA, and PB as an upperclassman. </p>
<p>I absolutely 100% recommend that if you can bring yourself to do it (I know pride definitely got in my way–I didn’t want to listen to anyone when they said I would burn out with 5 APs) you should not DROP Chem, but WAIT on it. You have three years of high school left, that is plenty of time. Plus, 4 APs as a sophomore is very impressive. Taking them all at once, however, means that your senior schedule might look a little light–colleges might think that you took all those courses sophomore/junior year so you could slack off senior year, and that is not the impression you want to give. </p>
<p>I hope this helps, at least a little. I’ve been in your shoes. Take all the advice with a grain of salt, especially from people who haven’t had that experience. You know yourself better than anyone else on here. If you think you can do it, buckle down, study hard, and do it. </p>
<p>Most colleges will accept AP credit regardless of which year it is taken.I agree with the above poster that it might be a good idea to spread out your workload. 5 APs or even 4 APS in one year is very rigorous already and most people don’t take that much until their last two years of high school. (I didn’t until my junior and senior years, didn’t take any sophomore year). It’s all about time management, and I definitely recommend dropping at least one if you haven’t taken that many APs before. For me, jumping from all honors to 4 APs was a large one. I concurr with the advice about taking more difficult courses as your HS career progresses (progressively more rigorous is better than the other way around) so there’s no need to stack that many this early on.</p>
<p>If you’re looking to drop one, taking an honors level course (especially for the sciences) will better prepare you for the respective AP course later on if you decide to take it. This will be true of your Chemistry and Physics courses. Alternatively, if you take Honors Calculus, you will still have room for mathematics (AB and BC) your junior and senior years. It’s all up to you. Good luck.</p>
<p>@empressamelea I have taken honors/pre-AP chem freshman year and have gotten a 95 all year. I was thinking about dropping Ap Euro or Ap Stats</p>
<p>Wow. Okay, in that case, scratch everything I said. Drop AP Stats. AP Euro is straight memorization (I took that as a sophomore and got a 97–no one had ever gotten an A with that teacher). As long as you can memorize the dates and names you’ll be fine. Plus, Physics 1 is essentially a math class and you have Calc AB on top of it. Having (basically) 3 AP maths won’t be fun. Does your school do a block schedule (4 classes first semester, 4 second) or a regular schedule with 6-8 yearlong classes? That’s really important in all this.</p>
<p>Actually, now that you’ve told me you’ve taken Pre-Chem last year, definitely take AP Chem this year while it’s still fresh. That changes a lot.</p>
<p>@empressamelea My school does yearlong classes. I was thinking about dropping ap stats cause it sorta seems like a waste of time. </p>
<p>Wow. I took one AP class (Human Geography) and I struggled. I would drop AP Stats because you said it was one of the harder classes, and I think that 4 math-based AP classes is too much. My second choice would probably be AP Chemistry because a lot of upperclassmen fail it and the percentage of 5’s this year was brutal </p>
<p>@RoSoccer202 unless you are really smart and really dedicated don’t even try</p>
<p>I would drop AP Statistics. 5 AP classes is a lot to handle and some colleges may not even accept the credit because you’re a sophomore. </p>
<p>Contrary to what many people on here are saying, I say you should take AP Chemistry. You have taken Honors Chem and it seems the information is still fresh. I’m not saying it’s going to be a walk in the park but certainly your prior knowledge in the subject will help. AP Euro and AP Calc shouldn’t give you too much trouble. </p>
<p>Maybe I’m just looking at a different set of colleges, but I’ve yet to see one college say they do not give credit for AP tests taken as a sophomore.</p>
<p>To the OP, you know your capabilities best, but I think 5 AP’s as a soph may be too much. I would not necessarily drop stat, but push it to a later year, especially if you run out of math options later on.</p>
<p>That would be a good thing to do. Take it another year, if you want to. It would be different if you had two semesters to divide the classes up, but taking 5 APs yearlong is going to be taxing. Honestly, I don’t think you’re going to need stats in college unless you’re doing a math degree or something similar, or if you test out of an advanced math with it, but you could do that with Calc and calc is easier anyway. Take it later if you want it on your transcript/want the GPA weight, but otherwise, just stick with calc AB and BC. </p>