I was wondering if it is okay to take only two AP Classes (out of four offered) if I am doing Public Speaking and Geology at the Community College.
My school offers these four AP Classes for Senior Year:
AP Chemistry
AP Physics C
AP English Literature and Composition
AP Biology
I am taking AP Chemistry and AP Physics C. Is this an okay schedule if I am aiming for a top 20 school.
What English are you taking Sr year? If you are using ‘public speaking’ for your english class, that will let you down. Otherwise, as 3/4 are sciences, and nobody expects you to take more than 1 science AP I don’t see a problem.
A Literature course about the connections between literature and social justice. SOunded more interesting than AP Literature.
T20s are going to expect high course rigor. CC public speaking and geology are not going to help you. What does the rest of your schedule look like?
High School Schedule for Junior Year (this year):
Orchestra
Band
AP Calc BC
AP Physics 1
AP Lang
Spanish 3
APES
Senior Year:
Orchestra
Band
AP Physics C
AP Chemistry
Literature and Social Justice
Required Adulting Course
Chem TA
I have done CC classes in numerous other subjects as part of my dual enrollment program (and taking advantage of of my student status to take interest courses like statistics)
Also want to note that the only T20s I’m seriously looking at are Cal (if its still a T20) and UCLA.
Where are your history courses?
Maybe @Gumbymom can speak to the requirements in CA.
Dual Enrollment…it’s very common here as we have a community college (SJDC) right down the street… I’ve already done PolSci and Econ 1A as well as US History thru this. With new space in schedule… I was able to take APES etc.
By the way… I do meet course requirements for the UC system… I’ve toured Cal and talked to admission reps at Berkely, LA, Davis, and Santa Barbara and they all assure me that I am perfectly able to meet requirements for the UC/CSU system.
Going from 4 AP’s to 2 AP’s even with 2 DE courses would be a slight decrease in rigor since Geology is not considered a Core Science such as Biology/Chemistry/Physics and Public Speaking is considered a College prep elective. If you are aiming for UCB and UCLA, HS course rigor is considered VERY IMPORTANT in their application review. It is great you are exploring different interests, but the UC’s like to see you take the core subjects. I would seriously consider taking AP Literature vs. Literature and Social Justice course which depending upon which HS you attend could be either a English or Social Science/History course.
Thank you for the help. Will consider it strongly.
Would MultiVar Calculus be a good college course to take instead of Geology? Since it is likely of much greater rigor.
Yes, a college multivariable calculus course would be considered high rigor for a high school student who has already completed calculus BC. The only concern would be if it displaces other courses to make your overall schedule look unbalanced. However, it looks like you have AP in both chemistry and physics (you did take some sort of biology before, right?), so it looks like you have science covered. A college geology course’s rigor could depend on whether it is for geology majors or is a “rocks for jocks” type of course.
“Sounded more interesting than AP Literature.”
I would probably drop one of the AP sciences and replace with the next level of foreign language, drop the justice Lit course and replace it with AP Lit. You have a serious drop in rigor, and the t-20s are going to think you did not challenge yourself senior year because colleges wouldn’t look too closely. Take m/v calc and drop geo as well, you need a fourth year of math. I’m assuming you’re applying for STEM, so the fourth year of a f/l may not be needed, but you don’t want colleges to think you replaced Spanish with geology or public speaking. I would be concerned about too m any APs if the next class was AP Spanish, if it’s honors, you should be ok.
why drop an ap scienc? My ap chem got cancelled this year due to low enrollment and physics c is essential for my major. So I should take both imo. I’ll go for AP Lit and MultiVar.
In relation to Bio, I’ve done honors bio and registered for BIOL 1 this summer.
Also, what history and social studies courses will you complete (both high school and college courses)?
In terms of Spanish, some of the most selective colleges may prefer to see level 4 (or AP level) over level 3.
High School:
Global Studies
AP Human Geo
AP World (took class but not exam)
College:
Humanities Intro
US History
Political Science
Intro to MacroEcon
Also Spanish 4 is full at my high school.
Looks like you have enough social studies.
If you want to continue Spanish, check what Spanish course at the college you would be able to place into after completing year 3 of high school Spanish.
“why drop an ap science?”
Depending on the school, AP Chem can be the toughest science class, so taking both could be very demanding. If you really like the subjects and the workload is reasonable, it’s fine. Check with your GC if you need both to showthe most rigorous designation.