@crimes
AB or BC? AB is doable, but it’d be quite a bit of work to fit it into a semester along with your regular schedule and other ECs. Remember college students take a semester of AB (Calculus I), and they only have 4 classes a semester.
@Woandering I got most of my required classes out of the way in the summer leading up to freshman year/freshman year, so i can freely take whatever classes i want to without restriction. This year i’m taking 7 APs (out of 7 class slots) and next year i plan on doing the same, except Bio and Chem are both double blocked so technically i would by only taking 5. Taking both Stat and Calc as a junior helps as well as i don’t have any more math classes to take as a senior.
@Woandering I already finished the calc for IB SL, which is basically like AB. I’m just concerned if it’s worth trying to fit the advanced portion of BC into my schedule next semester, since my school doesn’t offer APs.
I’m planning on taking five AP classes (US Gov, Macro, Physics 1, Calc BC, Lit). I might take one more, but I was thinking of taking a dual enrollment technology class instead.
@anonemuss
I’m taking both AP Stat and AP Calc as a Junior, too, but I figured colleges would prefer 4 years of proper math. Intro Stat really isn’t math. We had no opportunity to get requirements out of the way early (or I didn’t think about it) because we had just moved to America in 8th grade. So many regrets…Although in retrospect, I doubt my school would have allowed it anyway.
@crimes
Are you a math-y person? What do you mean by fitting BC into your schedule? Will your school have a BC-similar class? It’s definitely worth it to take 4 years of actual math.
@Woandering Math up to AP Calc (Alg1,Geometry,Alg2,Precalc,Calc) is already 5 years of math, so stopping at Calculus should be enough for most colleges. The only other math class my school offers is Comp Sci, which i don’t intend on taking as it’s not even a math imo.
What country did you move from? We have the same restriction for required courses because they’re done by year (ugh).
The latter half of junior probably year is probably going to be scarily busy, and I’m starting a university-ish level physics course involving calculus. I don’t have any math classes next year, so I might do AB this year and a stats course as night school next year, or even an online calc BC course.
I can’t do math next year and will probably have to explain this on my app, but I have at least 5 math credits. I have no idea of colleges count courses or years when it comes to math.
@anonemuss
I won’t try to persuade you to take CompSci, but CompSci is way more math than Stat. All of Computer Science is really a branch of applied mathematics, and intro computer science courses teaches a lot more logical thinking than intro to stat.
Also, IMO Alg1 and Geo/Alg 2, whichever comes first for you, doesn’t seem to count as much in the higher tier unis. I feel like they expect you to continue learning math if you are able to.
@crimes
I’m going to keep that secret on here for privacy purposes. And, I just really hate the theology requirements. Some of the electives are fine, but there are required choices as well.
@Woandering Fair enough. My priorities right now are just to get as many college courses out of the way as possible through AP Credit that are in my degree plan. I plan on doing Business w/Premed so Comp sci wouldn’t be much help either way as it’s not a required course.
Another unrelated question… Do you guys try to game GPA in order to get a high ranking (ie picking all the easy AP classes, skipping regs prerequisites so they don’t bring gpa down, loading up on AP classes)? I feel as if that’s the only way to succeed at my school.
This is a question I think someone might be able to answer. I’m not familiar with the AP Calc teacher at my school. If I take it next year (I’m planning on it) then it’s a year long course, would that mean its AB one semester and BC the next?
@southernbelle16 No. Both AB and BC are year long courses by themselves, it’s just that BC encompasses more material in the same timeframe, so everything’s more squished together. AB is less material, so it’s longer and more spread out, making it more manageable imo.
Gotcha! Thanks so much @anonemuss
@anonemuss In response to whether or not I “game the system” – Nah, too much work to do that.
As for next year’s classes:
Honors Stats (AP Stats w/o the AP exam being required; typically for the kids who aren’t so good at Honors Precalc, like me)
AP English Lit
Print Media 1 & 2 (school newspaper)
Religion
Lunch
Elective
Elective
Elective
I’m not sure whether or not I’ll take honors physics (school doesn’t offer AP Physics 1, which is the only AP Physics I’d consider taking), AP US Gov (full year), or Graphic Communications (school yearbook).
I have to take at least 2, and my mom wants me to have a study hall (which eats an elective time-slot). Since a semester of government is required, I’d either have to take it over the summer or AP Gov, because if I’m going to take it during the school year I might as well try for college credit. Graphic Communications is closest to my current top choice of major (journalism) but not weighted so might not be good for my GPA; however, it’s a yearlong class. Honors physics is an option because I have only taken honors bio and chem plus AP Chem. Advice, anyone?
@anonemuss nOOOOOO to your question- I did all the hardest advanced courses- physics, chem, lit (it’s actually harder to get a good grade in lit than it is advanced math here) out of ~love and passion~ which I hope will pay off in the essay/interview portion of admissions. We can’t even skip required courses, but I did well in them so w/e.
Meanwhile all the life sci/business kids have amazing averages and my class rank drops.
@ThatPurpleKoala Only do physics if you’re good at it, because there’s not much of a difference in doing poorly in a weighted class and doing extremely well in an unweighted class. Unless you’re into science journalism, I don’t really see the use of physics.
@crimes That’s the thing, though – I’m not sure what sort of journalism I want to do (though science journalism’s pretty highly ranked among my favorite types). I’ll think it over some more; finalized course listings don’t even come out until February, which is right around the time course selection happens. Thanks for your input!
@glasshours 4 out of my 8 slots will be an AP if that helps. At my school we are required to take gym for 4 years (and there’s no online option or exemption so…) Here’s my schedule for next year:
Precalculus
AP European History
AP Government and Politics
Lunch
Physics
Gym
AP English
AP Italian
If you think you can handle 7 AP classes then go for it!
@anonemuss
Gaming the system is a huge waste of time.
@ThatPurpleKoala
Obviously you know your situation best, but AP Stat is honestly just memorizing some ways to conduct experiments, some formulas (you literally cannot “math” these formulas because that requires higher level calc), and remembering how to use the calculator for tests. Anyway, I just want to let you know that AP Stat is pretty much unrelated to pre-calc or any other math class you’ve taken before, except for learning about averages.
I’m not completely sure, but I think colleges (especially UCs) would prefer seeing one of each science offered, just to show well-roundedness. You can also self-study AP Physics 1 during honors physics, although that depends on your school’s curriculum. With AP Gov vs Graphic Communications, I’m having a similar dilemma with AP Chem vs Speech, an AP versus something I actually want to do.
@crimes
Curious as to why business students will get higher GPAs?
@Woandering
If my mom wasn’t paying my tuition and I was instate, UC’s would be on my list; however, being OOS and my mom basically forbidding me from California schools (for reasons unknown to me), UC’s are out. Still, since the advice would likely transfer to other schools, I’m pretty sure I’m going to take physics but not 100% sure; self-studying’s probably not going to happen, as I don’t know if my school even offers the AP Physics 1 exam during May. And the reason I put stats rather than calc is because calc requires a B- or better for the recommendation (and I think stats doesn’t have a minimum beyond passing at least Algebra 2), and I’m currently borderline B-/C+.
Thanks for the heads-up on stats, though!