Class Schedules and History Fair

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

I´m trying to decide what classes I should take in sophomore year in order to strengthen my transcript. As of right now, as an IB freshman, I´m taking AP World History, Algebra 2 Honors, AP Human Geography, Pre-IB Biology, French 1, Spanish 2, Pre-IB English Honors

Next year, I´m planning on taking AP Physics 1, Pre-cal BC, Spanish 3, APUSH, AP English Lang and Comp, and Chemistry. But I don´t know if I want to take AP Psychology or APES. Which one would look better on a transcript? I don´t know what my major or college is going to be yet, but I just want to be prepared.

Also, I´ve done history fair for several years now and only managed to get to state once, and I´ve noticed that the judges seem slightly biased towards local topics in Pensacola, which is relatively small. I´m not being biased when I say that local topics in a small town usually don´t make it past State History Fair. For example, the first place county winner did her topic on Pensacola Lunch Counter Sit-ins, which, according to many other people I´ve talked to, is interesting but won´t win.

The problem is that I want to keep doing History Fair, but I don´t want to compete if there´s no way that I´ll succeed. I know that no matter what I try to do, I will always be slightly biased in my decisions, so what do you think? Should I do it again or should I just drop it?

2

As a sophomore, I would not take AP Psych or APES as a sophomore when you are taking 3 APs already.

I would suggest doing History Fair if you are interested in history. You get to meet people, learn about history, and get practice speaking in front of others. These are all great skills.

3

Continue with History Fair. The trick is to explore a local topic but in the conclusion tie it to something broader. So, the Pensacola Lunch Counter sit-ins, your conclusion should provide a broader context. Also, go to the State Fair and look at what others did, in particular study what the winners did.
That schedule is super ambitious for a sophomore, so I would strongly discourage you from adding either APES or AP Psych. If you’re interested in these subjects, take them as electives next year - and if you are full IB, you can take them as part of the IBD instead of AP.
www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/sciences/environmental-systems-and-societies/
http://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/individuals-and-societies/psychology/