<p>how hard is it to maintain all As in 5 AP courses? Will it make a difference if I take 5 AP courses or 4 AP courses (the extra one being AP music theory) for ivies?</p>
<p>I don’t know which ones you are taking, but for me, it’s been fine 
Good luck on AP Test week though… I’m taking two test in one day (6 hours!!!)</p>
<p>It depends on your school. Some schools have extremely difficult APs, and some have extremely easy.</p>
<p>IMO, at 4 or 5 APs, top colleges don’t care if it’s just one more. Honestly.</p>
<p>These are the APs that I’m gonna take</p>
<p>AP Spanish
AP Chemistry
AP Euro History
AP Stats
AP music theory(maybe)</p>
<p>My guidance counselor told me that is a really tough courseload (5 APs) and considers dropping AP Music theory.</p>
<p>If you aren’t familiar with classical music and can’t read music well then skip Music theory.</p>
<p>My senior year '06 (class - teacher info - exam - grade):
AP Physics - laid back teacher, but his tests were 10-12 problems, so if you missed one you got a B+ automatically…also, you had to do a ridiculous amount of homework which he randomly graded, and had “problem sets” which were like homeworks but worth 100 points…generally, i’d say a tough class - 3 - B+</p>
<p>AP AB Calc - hard teacher that moved very quickly, but she was supportive and wanted you to learn, and i definently had a solid foundation - 5 - A</p>
<p>AP Comperative Gov’t - very skilled teacher, but a ton of work and tests were pretty difficult, but i learned a ton in/out of the classroom - 4/4 - A</p>
<p>AP English Lit - fun teacher, lots of books/projects/papers, 5 practice AP tests throughout the year worth 200pts each, lots of homework and small stuff graded, but again, enjoyable class - 5 - A</p>
<p>so, i essentially took 5 (with gov’t counting as 2) and i did fine…my other two classes were CompSci, Weight Training, and Computer Graphics 2, so I had a nice balance of classes that kept me happy that contributed to a 4.2 senior year overall.</p>
<p>My APs this year are… </p>
<p>Chem
Spanish
English Lang
US History</p>
<p>and I have little difficulty managing all the work. Granted, I read very quickly and I’m good at history and English. I don’t have any trouble with AP Chem and Spanish at the same time, but I think this is definitely an instance where ymmv. Talk to the teachers of all the subjects how many hours of homework they assign per night, and what type. Then decide for yourself if you’d be able to do it all. </p>
<p>This year, I’m still going strong in 3rd quarter… my interim was all As. Next year I’m taking five (BC Calc, Bio, Physics, Lit, and Gov), and I’ll just have to see how that goes.</p>
<p>I don’t think that your schedule sounds too tough. I mean, like others have said, it is highly personal, but it hasn’t been any trouble for me. My schedule this year is: </p>
<p>AP German–Depends on how strong of a langauge student you are. It’s definitely tougher than my previous years of German, where my average was (honestly) 99% (not weighted, not a common grade at my school at all). This year, my grade was a very low A (92%), and the work was tougher, but I was never in danger of not getting an A in the class. Usually people who make it to an AP Langauge class are decent with languages, but if you are a borderline A/A-/B+ student in Spanish right now, it might be tough for you to maintain an A in AP. </p>
<p>AP Physics C–Bizarre course at my school, b/c of the teacher. I’m not a strong science student, particularly, but I am a strong math student and so I kind of fake my way through this class with my math knowledge. Tests are in the AP mold–really hard and long, but curved well, too. I didn’t learn anything in Honors Chem (I had one of those teachers), so I definitely avoided AP Chem, but generally, if you are a really strong science student, AP Science will be fine for you. If you are like me, and not that gifted in science, than you will struggle for an A like you probably already have in science. I did get (an extreeeemely low) A-, though, and I was more than happy to have it, so it can be done. I can’t claim that I worked really hard, though, so my A- wasn’t really that hard-fought. </p>
<p>AP Microeconomics–Easy class at my school. Teacher is…not the sharpest (and I honestly don’t flame teachers that much), and is extremely dry–lecture, lecture, study guide, test, rinse and repeat. Needless to say, I got an A. </p>
<p>AP English–You’re not taking this class, so I’ll be short. I’m a naturally gifted English student, the class grade is mostly essays, and I always get A’s on my essays. I actually enjoy reading the books, and have read all of them, so if you consider that a lot of work and don’t like to analyze, then this class will probably be tough for you. Honestly, by this point most people know if they can get an A in English or not. No surprises here. </p>
<p>Calculus III/Multivariable Calc–Mathematica based course, so there is very little homework. 20 out of 22 people got A’s (including me), but as you would imagine this is not really a representative group of kids. </p>
<p>So, I have 4 AP’s plus a college course, plus I am also in our school’s Wind Ensemble, which is very demanding timewise, and I got straight A’s. Obviously, I’m a good student, but I’m also not a straight A machine (unweighted GPA is 3.82). </p>
<p>I already talked about AP Spanish and AP Chem for you, but as for the others:
AP Stats: Not considered a tough course for pretty strong math students. I don’t think that it would be overwhelming
AP Euro: This is the only one that I think that you will have a lot of work for. History classes are just rigorous this way–there is a lot of reading, studying, and essay writing involved, usually. Now, this said, if you have a knack for history, as I do…this was a class that I coasted on, got a very low A-, but got a 5 on the AP exam pretty easily.
AP Music Theory: As long as you know a decent amount about music, I don’t think this class would be too tough (decent amount = Ability to read sheet music well, knowledge of scales, and probably also <em>some</em> previous theory (chord progressions, that type of thing)). However, this should be the one to go if you are really worried about keeping up your schedule. </p>
<p>Sorry this is so long…I hope you find it helpful!</p>
<p>I took 6 APs and let me tell you, IT WAS HELL!!! And I don’t think it helped with my admissions that much since I only had 3 A and 3 B in my aps</p>
<p>^^On the other hand, I took 5 + a demanding music group, and I got straight A’s, didn’t do as much work as last year when I only had 3, and consider my Mid-Year Report an important addition to my application. Unlike many CCers, I don’t have straight A’s throughout HS, and so I feel that it was important for me to post excellent grades first semester. </p>
<p>I think this just proves that, as much as we all may wish we had a crystal ball and predict how you will do next year, it is tough to say. The past couple of months the boards have been filled with kids who ended up not doing well as they expected 1st semester, but there are as many kids who kept up with their grades.</p>
<p>AP Music Theory can be incredibly hard, even for experienced and talented musicians. Of course, it depends on the class at your specific school. Personally though, I would recommend taking AP Art History instead.</p>
<p>^^This is true about theory…I mean, I’m a pretty strong clarinet player, and I certainly can read any clarinet sheet music that you put in front of me, and I know all of my scales and whatnot, but I would never take theory. For one, I can only read treble clef, and as a non-jazzer, non-pianist, I don’t know any chord progression type stuff. At my school, they actually have a placement test to get into theory.</p>
<p>Five really isn’t too bad. I mean my senior year I did five, plus worked 2/3 days a week and was in ten clubs so having 5 AP courses isn’t too hectic, just make sure to balance everything and schedule well and you should be more than fine. Good luck testing weeks :)</p>
<p>I took AP Music theory last year and ended up with a 4 on the test (5 written, 3 aural). It wasn’t much of an AP class for me and I didn’t find it too terribly challenging.</p>
<p>If you’re already a musician, you won’t have any problems. If you’re a pianist, it’ll definitely be easy. The people that struggled in my class mainly struggled with reading treble and bass staff simultaneously.</p>
<p>I wish our school offered AP Music Theory. I’ve been a pianist for twelve years; that class would be a breath of fresh air in comparison to my other 5 APs, which have backdoored me throughout the entire year.</p>