Is it bad to not take APUSH?

The U.S History course I took in 8th grade was at the high school level, so my HS counts it and it shows up on my transcript.

I chose to take 2 electives (1 I was required to take for a graduation requirement) that I was more interested in and related to my intended major.

I chose to take 2 electives (1 that I was required to take for a graduation requirement) that I was more interested in and related to my intended major. My guidance counselor said I would be fine since I already have a USH class on my transcript and thus don’t need the AP which is why I chose the electives, but I am having second thoughts now.

I am taking no social studies this year, but I took a high school-level USH class in 8th grade that, in my district, counts for graduation credit and shows up on my transcript. I do satisfy all the other classes you mentioned.

I am taking no social studies course this year since I took a high school-level USH course in 8th grade and was able to opt out. The USH course counts towards graduation requirements and shows up on my transcript. I satisfy all the other requirements.

Are the 2 electives in social science/history?

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back to your question - you shouldn’t put CS above a social science - APUSH or otherwise.

If 8th grade is on the transcript, many will accept that as a 4th year but not necessarily everyone.

AP CS is unneeded even for a CS intended major.

We don’t know where you are looking to apply - which will have the biggest impact in answering your questions.

Applying to SUNY Albany is different than applying to Johns Hopkins.

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So I think there are two separate questions here.

Is it OK to take HS-level US History in 8th grade as a way of showing colleges you have the expected knowledge of US History for a US college student? Probably, although a refresher as a senior might not hurt.

Is it OK to use History/Social Sciences courses taken in 8th grade to substitute for taking a History/Social Studies course each year in HS?

I think that second question is a little tougher than the first. I think in fact it depends on what the college says it recommends. If it only recommends, say, three years of History/Social Sciences in HS to begin with, this is likely a non-issue.

But some colleges in some way recommend four years of History/Social Sciences in HS, at which point I would be skeptical an 8th grade course would really be what they want to see even if it was fulfilling a graduation requirement. I don’t think they would necessarily demand AP US History, but they might at least prefer to see some other advanced History/Social Sciences course each of junior and senior year.

But then if you did none junior year but two senior year, that’s probably fine again.

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I was wondering about this too. For example, we know that students who normally do HS courses in middle school do them in math and LOTE, which are almost always followed up bu further courses in high school. This is pretty unusual to do with a social science though. I guess for common app self reported this can go under “other” for those schools that use this. Honestly,if this was my student I’d be worried about how colleges would perceive the US history requirement that most of them have, but that said if this is not uncommon at the OP’s school the counselor would probably have the best insight on this.

I’m guessing OP is from the east coast so this may not be directly applicable, but just as an example, the CSU app only takes into account middle school courses in math and LOTE. They would perceive the applicant as not fulfilling the requirement to take US history in high school.

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Yeah, I think in many high schools, there is a fairly standard college-prep sequence that does something like two years of world history/social studies/geograhy, then US history, then government/civics.

What is sometimes known as the core Math sequence extends beyond the standard HS core sequence into college, so it is not at all hard to accelerate it by at least 2 years, maybe 3. As you note, same with non-native languages.

But “accelerating” History/Social Sciences would usually just mean getting to the end of that sort of sequence sooner. Then what?

Of course depending on the HS, there may be options. Other advanced history options. Econ. Psych. My S24’s fancy private HS had Philosophy classes offered by the History faculty (although I protest calling those Social Sciences).

So I think this can be a solvable problem in some high schools, but it won’t have an obvious solution like would happen in Math or languages.

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What are the two electives?

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It’s more the colleges’ requirement to see US History that I’m concerned about rather than other social sciences options.

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Right, but in this case this is a HS-level US History class taken in 8th grade that appears on the HS transcript and satisfies the state US History requirement.

I agree it would be best for the OP to get confirmation from an experienced school counselor, but I would not be surprised if that specifically was a non-issue for most colleges.

Of course they would have to be satisfied this was in fact a HS-level US History course.

We are now in the same boat. D28 is planning for junior year. Currently taking AP Modern Euro. Has 4 APs in the other core subjects (including AP language) scheduled for next year. Optics aren’t good to downgrade to Honors US History, but five APs could be crushing. Will bump back to AP Gov senior year since she will be done with foreign language.

Plans to major in natural sciences so we are taking the calculated risk that colleges will see a rigorous but reasonable course load that allows for strong grades but also mental health and extracurriculars. Is also taking AP Pre Calc as a 10th grader, so she will end up with 10 APs total.

It will be absolutely fine. There is no expectation to be taking all classes at AP level. Your child WILL be taking US history and then will be taking AP Gov, that means all subjects are covered and there’s rigor in all of them. Knowing how to balance a schedule is actually an appreciated skill, to boot. :grinning_face:

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No issue here. No calculated risk.

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