Help me with my four-year plan?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

Hello! I’m an eighth grader and I wanted to make a four-year plan to be more organized. I wanted to see you guys outputs and opinions. A few things before I put down my plan, though. I didn’t put electives because they are so much harder to plan, lol. I know P.E is a mandatory elective, so it wasn’t hard to put in ninth grade…which is the year most people have to take it. We only have to do it once. Another thing is that my school runs on a block schedule, and I don’t know which semester my classes will be…unless they’re in a sequence. So I’ll do my best to put them where I think they’ll go. The stuff on my four-year plan isn’t definitive, as my interest or ideas may change. I just wanted to point that out! Also, some of the classes that I put may not be offered at my school, like AP Human Geography. Here we go…

Eighth grade:
Semester One:
-Earth/Environmental Science: Done! Final grade: 99
-Math I

Semester Two
-World History
-Math I

Ninth grade:
Semester One:
-Honors Communication Skills: This is basically a mandatory pre-english course.
-Honors Math II
-Honors Biology
-P.E

Semester Two:
-Honors English I
-Honors Math III
-Honors American History I
-Honors Personal Finance (The elective I signed up for…not definitive.)

Weighted GPA: 4.4375 (If I make all A’s)

Tenth grade:
Semester One:
-Honors English II
-Honors American History II
-AP Biology (Honors weight)
-Elective??? Possibly Spanish I

Semester Two:
-Honors Precalculus
-AP Biology: End (AP weight)
-AP Human Geography
-Elective???

Weighted GPA for this year: 4.5

Okay. So that’s where it gets kind of weird. I don’t know if that’s possible at my school, but I think I can talk to them about it. I know you probably hate seeing long posts like this, but thanks for making it 3/5 of the way haha.

Eleventh grade:
Semester One:
-Honors English III (I may do AP English Lang, but I AM NOT an English person. I’m pretty mediocre at it.)
-AP Calculus Prep: Honors weight
-Honors Physics
-Elective: Probably Spanish III honors

Semester Two:
-AP Calculus AB
-Honors Chemistry
-AP Psychology
-Elective: Spanish IV honors, most likely

Weighted GPA: 4.625

I feel really ugh. I need to talk to my counselor lol. I wanted to take certain classes already but it’s okay.

Twelfth grade:
Semester One:
-Honors English IV
-Theatre, maybe.
-AP Government
-AP Chemistry: Honors weight

Semester Two:
-AP Chemistry: AP weight
-AP Statistics
-Honors Civics and Economics
-Either a elective or Honors Anatomy & Physiology or AP Environmental Science

Weighted GPA w/ two electives: 4.5625
Weighted GPA w/ one elective & honors Anatomy: 4.625
Weighted GPA w/ one elective & AP Environmental: 4.6875

Cumulative GPA: 4.5625

Okay, that is it. I’m pretty sure I cannot take all of those classes, as I’ll probably be forced to take electives instead of academic classes. Tbh, I think academic classes are more fun than electives and I’d rather take a bunch of them. Will colleges not accept me because I’m like a ‘robot?’ I like the block schedule, but I hate how some AP classes take up two slots a year. Ugh. Anyways, is this a good four-year plan? Any problems, tweaks or anything? In total, I’ll have taken 7 AP classes, which I think is good. I’ll need to run this by my counselor and see if it’ll work. I know that scheduling and all that crap will probably conflict with each other, but I think this is something solid to work off of. Any suggestions, yo?

2

Make that 8 AP classes…at the most, anyways.

3

The one thing I recommend for you to do is to try and fit in a “fun” elective or extracurricular. It can be anything. I mean it’s not terrible if you have only academic courses all four years, but they don’t distinguish you from the other applicants of any college you might want to attend. I personally take Orchestra, Choir, and participate in the Robotics team among other things. You don’t have to do as much as that, but having at least one extracurricular is key. I’m not trying to be a stalker but I also noticed you are very interested in math. I’m the same way! If I were you I would take Calculus BC instead because it goes more in depth than AB. If you are able to, try to get required electives out of the way through summer school and online classes. This allows you to take classes you are interested in without sacrificing the rigor of your schedule. One last thing, relax. Sure, grades in your freshman year help set a strong base, but it is still important to remember that college is four years away and that you only go to high school once. Take time to explore and do what you love.
Good Luck! :wink:

4

Your four year plan is somewhat confusing for me, since our school has year-long courses, but if I understand correctly…

Is there a reason you’re not taking AP Physics after taking honors physics?
Does your school not have AP English/History? It’s usually better to have some non-math/science AP’s too.
I would also recommend AP Calculus BC if possible.

You should also plan out extracurriculars, since those are important too! But since you have not started, I guess you don’t know what clubs/etc. you can join yet.

Also, your plan could be completely wrong depending on what you are interested in. Are you planning to major in STEM type things? What are your EC’s/interests?

5

STEM. I don’t know any of the EC’s and I’ll try to put in theatre or something :slight_smile: I’m mediocre at English, so I didn’t wanna do any AP English classes. Also, my school doesn’t offer AP Physics. Lastly, my high school does a block schedule, meaning we switch classes every semester, but some AP classes are a whole year.

6

First, I think it can be crazy to make a 4 year plan because, as a current junior who did a similar thing, I know that things change (especially grades…do not assume that you will get all As in high school because you did in middle school, although you might :slight_smile: ). I would keep spaces open because you never know…you could end up wanting to take an additional English or Math class that seems interesting. I think doing Spanish as an elective would boost your application because most colleges look for some sort of language.

Other than that, I think you fulfill all of the basic requirements for any college, and your schedule is fine.

7

I know I’m late but…
I wouldn’t “predict” your GPA and grades… It’s tough to base high school grades off of middle school. However, aside from that your schedule looks pretty rigorous, but I would throw in some electives around in there.
Also, be open to schedule change. My four year schedule changed so much since from freshmen year… And I’m only a sophomore!