Can’t you take PE online? Many Texas students do it that way to free up one period.
In our district, the top 1% students take multiple AP classes each year. The lineup looks like:
Bio + Human Geo or APCSP
Chem + WHAP or APCSA
Physics 1 + APUSH + APES + English 3 + CalBC
Physics C + Stats + English 4 + Gov + Econ
Some may throw in AP Spanish in senior year as well. With great executive skills, this workload is manageable without burnout. My observation is that the top 0.5% students can take this workload quite well and earn 5s and 4s on the exams (more 5s than 4s).
I have never heard about any online PE options. The only option that I have heard of was that I could take it during the summer.
FWIW: I am in Redlands Unified School District.
She recommends that I take a year-long chemistry class instead. I was thinking of doing AP bio with honors chem during sophomore year and then just take AP chem junior or senior year.
Do you think if I postpone the ap computer science classes for junior and senior year and take ap bio concurrently with honors chemistry would be a good idea?
PE strikes me as a reasonable thing to take over the summer.
1 Like
If you have a 6-period schedule, you may not have much room to take extra science courses if you want to get a full four years of the usual academic cores (English, math, science, history and social studies, foreign language) plus a year of art, while also fitting in stuff like PE and health.
But if you are willing to take something in the 0th or 7th period (so 7 courses instead of 6 courses), then you will have more schedule space for the extra science courses, without needing to take summer courses. Does the 0th or 7th period offer courses that you want to take each year?
If you can go directly from IM1-2-3 to calculus, then it means that the IM1-2-3 sequence (or at least the honors version) is accelerated enough to include the precalculus material. A regular precalculus course (labeled AP or otherwise) is presumed to come after a non-accelerated IM1-2-3 sequence, or a traditional algebra 1 - geometry - algebra 2 sequence.
If it is the case that you are in an accelerated IM1-2-3 sequence that prepares you for calculus, it is best to stay on that sequence.
The summer chem may be a do-over for students who did not do well during the year.
2 Likes
Yes, that could work if you really want to get these APs in.
Find a balance. And make sure to build a strong foundation in math as well.
Highly selective colleges will look at the sequence possible based on 9th grade and will not hold it against you. Colleges really do not need to see 12 + AP classes. They want to know you can do college level work and that you are an engaged learner. 3 to 5 APs with solid grades and score demonstrate you can do college level work. Plenty of people are accepted to top colleges with a reasonably rigorous course load.
2 Likes
This is an important point.
(The rest is aimed at OP): For anyone who is seriously interested in a career that might include biology or chemistry, a first high school course in chemistry is something that you should want to learn well. In science and math you do not want to skip over the early courses to get to the later courses quickly. Instead you want to get a solid grounding in the early courses, so that you are in good shape to do well when you get to upper level classes.
I will admit that I am more familiar with math (I was a math major in university). We occasionally get posts here on CC from students who have jumped way ahead in math and are struggling. One issue that I wonder about: What should they do next? Do they go back and retake the classes that they skipped over? Do they retake the course that they are currently taking? Do they continue way ahead of a normal schedule but with a shaky foundation which could lead to continued struggles?
The point that I am making might be just to be cautious. Make sure that you can handle each course that you are signing up for.
Exactly. We each need to figure out what balance is right for us. In this effort to find the right balance, do not worry about what some other student is doing. Do what is right for you.
7 Likes
Yes - you could take Honors Chem and AP Bio concurrently. And by taking the 2 AP CS classes jr and sr year you clearly indicate that subject as a personal interest. What will matter most though is doing very well in math and getting to Calculus senior year.
PE is reasonable over the summer.
Each student is evaluated in relation to their school. Since you started in Integrated Math 1 honors and Integrated Math 3 Honors prepares you for calculus, the assumption will be that Math3H includes precalculus and is the right course for you. (Check with your math teacher for the Math 3H-> Calc students’ success in calc if you’re worried). However because you started in Math1, colleges will know getting to calculus senior year was already accelerated.
3 Likes
Not sure about this blanket statement for students targeting Top 20 schools. Most AP courses are roughly equivalent to first year first semester college courses. If Science and Engineering students can manage to take 2-3 sciences + Calculus in their first semester of college (which they routinely do where I’m located at least), then it should be similarly doable for high school students who are sufficiently accelerated to do the same. I know when my son was in high school, this was common for students in his AP program to do in senior year as the program accelerated the core high school curriculum. IB students also frequently take 2-3 HL Sciences which are roughly equivalent to AP courses, together along with HL math. I will note however that they do so after having completed the honours equivalent level high school course and they are not taking AP/IB HL courses in sophomore year. These programs also screen for the most academically capable students like the kind who would be applying to T20’s. This isn’t being done by your average high school student.
Whether it’s a good idea for the OP specifically is a different question. Either way if they wanted to do so, I would not recommend doing so prior to completing the Honours level courses first.
1 Like
Top colleges look for applicants to take the most rigorous courseload offered by the HS – they do not expect students to take summer courses or double up.
IMO doubling up on lab sciences is a difficult task unless one is an absolute science whiz kid. Remember that meaningful ECs (which are important) take time as do friends and family.
FWIW I think spending multiple summers taking extra coursework isn’t an ideal path. AOs are not looking for academic drones. I suggest you pursue things that interest you, get a job, or do something else to expand your horizons outside of a classroom.
6 Likes
i fully agree. I think colleges are very UNimpressed by summer courses. there are better ways to spend your summer- even if it’s just working at camp and playing outside.
2 Likes
I think big differences with college freshmen is that college students only handle 4 or 5 courses and rarely have to take calc+chem+physics + 3 or 4 other classes.
Presumably college students are also a bit better at time management than HS juniors (and especially sophomores).
Even for college students with only 4 ot 5 courses, premeds are cautioned against taking GenChem, Gen Bio, and Calc all together (with freshman comp as a 4th course) 1st semester and ease themselves into it by taking one lab science 1st semester, adding the 2nd one 2nd semester. Engineers may not have that choice but the persistence is only 30-40% in that major (many colleges are trying to work on it by having Engineering principles first, weaving math&physics concepts so that the 1st year isn’tas overwhelming).
Another issue, as mentioned above, is that HS schedules may not have space to accommodate 2 lab sciences a year. At OPs HS it seems APs are typically taken senior year only so it’s quite possible even taking one AP science each of sophomore, junior, and senior year could cause scheduling issues.
Thar being said, if OP loves science, is very good at it and his HS permits this scheduling, combinations such as AP Bio+ AP Environmental in 10th, honors physics+AP chem in 11th or 12th, can be tried wirh caution.
OP may find himself in a mess if they take classes they’re not adequately prepared for or where the sequence has not been followed - all of it needlessly because they’ll be judged within the academic context of their HS.
Developing ECs for fun and balance (having 1-2 of special focus,) is more important than trying to contort schedules into pretzels.
Caution though that ECs shouldn’t come at the cost of grades, ie., A and B ok but if you start getting Cs and Ds because ECs take too much time time ro refocus 
(there’s such a poster in another thread).
2 Likes
I’d do Honors Chem and AP Bio Sophomore year but understand that’s still a lot of work and am only suggesting this because you seem set taking AP Chem or AP Bio next year.
As others have said AP Chem is considered one of if not the hardest AP classes. My son did AP Chem in 10th grade and it was easy for him - but math and science come really naturally to him and he’s especially exceptional at Chem. We noticed the kids who did well in AP Chem as Sophomores were generally really strong at math.
My daughter is taking AP Chem now and struggling. There’s a lot of chem concepts that you learn from Honors Chem that gets glossed over quickly in AP. There’s also a fair amount of math. If we had to do it all over again, I would’ve had my daughter do the Hon. Chem/AP Bio combo and then taken AP Chem in 11th grade. Keep in mind you do mature and get better as you age - even if just one year. Good luck.
1 Like
^Keep in mind that OP is completing Integrated Math Honors 1 right now - sth like Algebra1+part of Geometry.
In 10th grade they’d be starting Integrated Math2H ie., Part of Algebra2+part of Geometry+some applied quantitative skills.
I’m not sure Algebra1 concepts (even Honors) are sufficient for AP chem.
1 Like
Thank you guys for replying!
I love science and math so I will be doing some ECs similar to this: Science Olympiad, BioMed Club, and Environmental Club (I am considering black student union). Are these sufficient enough?
I think this is what I will do:
Freshman
Biology Honors
Int Math 1 Honors
English Honors
PE
Spanish 1
AVID (I’m dropping this mostly because I find it a useless class and I would not want to take it as a 0 period)
Summer: They don’t offer PE so I have to take this later)
Sophomore
AP Bio
Chemistry Honors
English Honors
AP Euro
Int Math 2 Honors
Spanish 2
Summer: US History (The reason for this is that I needed to free up one space in my schedule. They don’t offer honors US History, only AP)
Junior
AP Physics 1
AP Environmental Science
AP English Language
AP Computer Science Principles
Integrated Math 3 Honors
Spanish 3 (If they offered honors I would but they don’t offer honors for any Spanish classes)
Summer: PE
Senior
AP Chemistry
AP English Literature
AP Computer Science A
AP Calculus BC
AP Spanish
Art CP (I haven’t really decided which art I wanted)
Am I missing this - but you have a Summer (one semester) of social science and a year of AP Euro?
You wlll be deficient in your social sciences.
You don’t need AP or any Computer Science (even to study CS and you have two) or whatever the art is.
You do need a minimum of two years but at more competitive schools - a minimum of three and even four years of social science.
So you are really limiting your potential college list with this schedule - unless I’m misreading something.
Oops, I made a mistake while writing this, sorry. I meant to put regular American Government and Economics in my senior year. The art that I put will be an after-school dual enrollment. The summer US history class will be counted as a year of social science.