AP Chem & AP Spanish [want 9-10 periods of classes in 8 periods]

Applying to College
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I am currently writing my 4 year plan for high school, and am aiming to get into an Ivy League school. It’s one of my biggest dreams and of course there are other amazing schools but that’s the goal.

I am doing bio adv freshman year, chem adv software year, AP anatomy junior year, and AP bio in senior year. I am thinking about going onto the med side later in college so of course AP biology and AP chemistry will be important classes for me. I should have taken AP Chemistry but I am not because I want to do AP anatomy. It interests me and it is a prerequisite for a lot of classes I am planning to take. I am not doing AP chem because I don’t have enough room for it. Will that hurt me especially with tier one colleges or would they not really care?

Also, I am doing the CBE for Spanish 1, 2, and 3. The CBE is a test you can do outside of school to get the credit for a class, instead of making it an actual course in school. Nowadays the Ivies and many colleges in general want to see 3-4 years of Spanish. Spanish/foreign language is obviously very important to them, and I am doing the CBE for all 3 years which shows less dedication than doing the course in school. I could CBE 3 years and then do AP Spanish 4 in school to show some in school work, but AP Spanish 4 is supposedly a very difficult class and I don’t want my GPA to lower. My other option would be to just do the CBE all four years. It would protect my GPA but do you think that would hurt me in my application? Which option should I do?

So sorry for my lengthy questions. Please help my 4 year plan is due soon! I am really worried about this and any advise would help a lot!

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Why are you not taking an actual foreign language class? I don’t think the AP Chem will be an issue, but I think the lack of a foreign language class may be.

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My schedule is honestly soo packed but I could probably squeeze in 1 year…?

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Thank you so much for replying so quickly.

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A few comments:

–What grade are you currently in? Are you working with a guidance counselor?

–Please do not center your life around getting into an Ivy or equivalent college. Tons of students with rigorous course-loads, perfect GPAs, and perfect standardized test scores are disappointed by their admissions results at these colleges every year. It does not mean those applicants are not worthy – it simply means that there are many more well qualified applicants than spots available. Acceptance rates for the elite colleges are typically under 10% with many under 5%,

–In terms of the coursework you mentioned I would recommend that you complete a sequence of biology, chemistry, and physics before taking other science classes. I would also take 3 (preferably 4) years of foreign language in your HS – cramming for an exam is not viewed as the equivalent to succeeding in the classroom. I suggest you look at the common data set for a few colleges of interest (google "common data set XYZ University) where you can see the list of recommended/required courses – it is safe to assume that virtually all successful candidates to elite universities have completed the HS coursework the school has set forth.

–You will hopefully come to realize that the Ivy Leagues colleges are quite different. (While the colleges are all excellent the Ivy League is a sports league.) You should discern what type of environment you feel you will thrive in and focus on those schools. For example, a student who loves the urban location of Penn may not enjoy the more rural locale of Dartmouth. Similarly, a student who wants an open curriculum would prefer Brown to Columbia which has an extensive core curriculum.

–What you should focus on throughout HS is: 1) taking a balanced course load (college is the time to specialize, not HS) at the highest level of rigor you can manage comfortably; 2) getting involved in ECs that you care about and where you can make a meaningful contribution; and 3) enjoying time with family and friends.

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Hmmmm. Forget Ivy - unless you take a foreign language many schools will not consider you. Three years. Unless you take a language the school only offers two - like Chinese.

You are trying to go to college. Not pass out if high school.

And I’d suggest physics as your third science.

This for any mid level to top schools.

Slow down and don’t skip steps.

Ps u don’t need a fixed four year plan in 9th grade. It will adjust and flex.

Good luck.

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I do not think your plan is the best plan for someone interested in medicine and also interested in top schools. You do not need to focus on ivies or other top schools: you definitely can go to med school from many colleges and many posters will cover those valid points. But if you remain determined to chase these ivy-types, you should find a way to take the AP Chem, and you also need to do Foreign language in your school . Remove the fluff from your schedule and focus on cores.
Anatomy is not needed in HS and is an elective . It is also not a premed requirement in college, and most premeds do not take it until med school: it is not on the mcat and there are enough other courses to fit in for undergrad . To have the best preparation for premed requirements in college(Bio, Chem, Physics, calc, stats, Biochem) it is best to have Chem Bio and Physics in HS plus AP Chem or AP Bio or both. Ap Chem is a very difficult course that is a great way to show you can handle rigor.
Ivy-plus schools want you to take the most challenging courses offered at your HS, and they want foreign language as well as the other core courses, all 4 yrs if possible, and for unhooked kids this is what the admitted ones have (and many many who are not admitted also have). Stem-area applicants are among the most over-represented in the applicant pool and colleges all want some variety in interests and possible majors: premeds (and CS, and engineering) are extremely popular interests among applicants : there will be a lot of competition at many top schools , and that extends well below the top10-15/ivy-likes.

What year are you now? Talk to your counselor about what previous students have taken to be competitive at top schools.

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What is it packed with? This should be considered a core course. You should have:
A math class
A science class
A social studies/history class
A foreign language class
An English class

Then you can add P.E, art elective, band, whatever else you like. But those are the five core classes you should have all four years to be competitive for top schools.

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This is key. Only after that, you add on focusing on science as permitted, but you may have art or PE as requirements, for example.

It’s important to stretch yourself across all subjects, not just STEM. I second the need for Physics before a second AP science.

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Yes

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I largely agree with the other answers in multiple ways.

First of all, you should not be thinking about “The Ivy League”. The Ivy League is a sports league. It consists of eight very good and relatively old schools that happen to compete in various sports. There are hundreds of other very good universities that will prepare you very well for medical school or for a good career in multiple other areas. Admissions to one of the Ivy League schools is a reach for nearly every applicant, and is not necessary. It is also way too soon to know whether one of the eight Ivy League schools will be a good fit for you. Also, the eight Ivy League schools are not all the same. It is very unlikely that all eight of them would be a good fit for any one student.

If you look at the students at very good medical schools, you will find that they got their bachelor’s degrees at a very wide range of universities.

Putting that aside, we can also think about what courses you will want to take in high school to help you get accepted to good universities and then to do well in university. You will need at least three and preferably four years of a language other than English. You will want to take actual language classes at your school, not just study on your own. For a foreign language, not only do you want to be hearing and speaking it in class, you would be best off if you can also find opportunities to use it outside of school. You will want at least one class each in biology, chemistry, and physics. You want a regular progression in mathematics, preferably at a mimimum leading up to at least taking precalculus and algebra and trigonometry in high school (calculus in high school might be desirable and possibly needed for top schools, but being very ready to take calculus when you get to university might be thought of as a minimal level of preparation). You should at a minimum be ready to take calculus in university. Doing very well in all of the prerequisites is going to help a great deal when you finally get to calculus.

If your schedule is too packed to find time to study Spanish or some other language in high school, then your schedule needs to be changed. You need to postpone some of your classes until university, and find time to take a foreign language and math classes (and history and English) while you are in high school.

Someone I know well works in health care. She tells me that knowing Spanish well enough to treat Spanish speaking patients has been a huge help in every job she has ever had. She is also generally looking to hire employees who speak a variety of languages, because they have patients who do not speak English, and need to provide care in any one of a wide variety of languages.

Both of my daughters had majors in university that overlapped a great deal with premed classes. Both have friends who were premed. One friend recent graduated medical school (and is right now a resident in a hospital), another is in medical school, and one daughter (assuming all continues to go well) will be “Dr TwoGirls” in about 16 months but her patients will be large and furry and walk on four legs (she is getting a DVM). In most cases (I have heard of one exception) the students who postponed some of the tougher premed classes to at least sophomore year of university and in many cases junior or senior year of university were better off. Human anatomy is a tough class. Organic chemistry is another. There are many more.

For now, take things at their own pace. There will be plenty of time to get to human anatomy, even if you do not get to it while you are still in high school.

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I don’t understand pre med kids who take Latin “for the roots.” Spanish is and will continue to be necessary for our medical professionals. Not to mention you learn those Latin roots in Spanish anyway.

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you need physics.

And for top top schools you generally need (always exceptions) all 5 core subjects all 4 years (Language, Math, Science, English, History/Social Studies) and ideally highest offered at your school… Also almost always need chem/bio/physics and Calculus (assuming all that is offered at your school)

Also I can’t imagine you really need to pick all 4 years in 8th grade!?

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The team making admissions decisions probably doesn’t heavily favor one AP course too highly over another. Also, and it isn’t the most important thing, but not all schools will give college credit for high AP scores. But if you do take college credit, you will likely have to “skip” a first level course and you will get no GPA for your credit. Most prestigious college professors will say that the college courses are different/harder (varying feedback on if this is true) and AP BIO or Chem credits shouldn’t be taken (I agree, for other reasons). For your area of study, you want those “easier” first year A’s (med schools more heavily weigh science GPA vs. overall, and professors see you excelling, which helps you in finding research opportunities). For required classes outside of your area of study taking an AP credit is fine because if can fill a requirement without pushing you into a higher level course, and it gives you more scheduling flexibility. If you are thinking pre-med, I would suggest taking AP Chem and AP Bio as they will give you the best head start for your first year or two of undergrad. AP courses beyond that I would focus on courses you will either excel in (for admissions purposes) and/or that can give you credits for requirements outside your focus area.

Another word of advice I wish we had known as HS freshman: My S didn’t really get to know his HS teachers. Just showed up and got his grades without much personal interaction. His extra-curricular time was mostly taken up by soccer. Most prestigious schools he applied to required 2 or 3 letters of recommendations from HS faculty. He didn’t really know his teachers and his guidance counselor was useless, so this was a little of a struggle point. In addition to all the advice you may be seeing on the value of “extra curricular activities”, make sure you get to really know some teachers well enough that they will be good references when needed. Everybody applying to top schools has similar grades/tests. These areas are probably where differences are made.

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For some colleges, a year of visual or performing art may be required or recommended as the sixth class in one of the years. High school graduation requirements like PE or health can consume sixth class space in some years. This can obviously make for limited elective space for students at schools with only six classes per term allowed.

Some students do stop math and foreign language early after completing the highest available level.

Students aiming for the most selective colleges will choose the more rigorous options (honors, AP, whatever) and earn A grades in them. But less selective colleges may be satisfied with regular courses, B grades, or taking fewer than four years (or to the highest level) in some subjects.

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IME this is not true. At our school AP choice definitely affects the rigor scale.

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Agree, some courses are widely considered to be more rigorous than others (BC calc is more rigorous than AP Stat; AP USHistory is more rigorous than AP Psych as two examples).

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I’m sure you guys are right, and thanks for correcting me.

I was thinking along the lines of a typical Ivy-like applicant straight A student whose has taken several of the more rigorous ones like AP Chem. At that point, is the relative difficulty of their 4th, 5th or 6th AP course a big needle mover? Or at that point do you focus on considerations other than difficulty?

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I’d recommend you start a new thread if you want to pursue this discussion as it is not the OPs question.

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I need to have 8 classes each year. I’m doing varsity tennis all four years and this is something that is important to me because our team has won first place in state for many years in a row and I don’t think I would give it up. Tennis takes up two classes. I also need a medical class each year to participate in science/medical comps in my school and a lot of those classes are double blocked too.
So that’s 4 periods taken for tennis and medical, which leaves me with 4 core classes.
The years where I don’t have a medical class double block I need to meet my mandatory credits such as a speech or tech credit. I even have to take a few summer courses because I don’t have time to meet the mandatory credits, much less Spanish.
It’s packed I know!! But medical classes/comps and tennis are very important to me and could help build my resume because they can bring me awards. I feel like they weigh out Spanish? But I don’t know.