I’ll be a sophomore this fall, and my dream is to get into one of the prestigious institutions or other universities in similar degree. I have the option of choosing between 3 sophomore schedules and I wanted to know what you guys think I should do for an Ivy aspirant. By the way, I’m not being newly introduced to the AP curriculum. I’ve been already exposed to AP courses since last year (freshman year)
Schedule Option #1:
Business & Technology
10 Lit/Comp H
Chemistry H
Pre-Calculus
AP Statistics
AP World History
AP Psychology
French 3
Schedule Option #2:
Business & Technology
10 Lit/Comp H
Chemistry H
Pre-Calculus
AP Environmental Science (online)
AP World History
AP Psychology
French 3
Schedule Option #3:
Business & Technology
AP Language & Composition
Chemistry H
Pre-Calculus
AP Statistics
AP World History
AP Psychology
French 3
My questions are which schedule do you recommend me taking? Is it a wise chose taking AP Statistics with Pre-Calculus? Is it doable to take AP Lang & Comp as a sophomore? And rank the schedule preference from favorite to lease favorite. Thanks in advance!
I am also going into sophomore year, and I am only taking two AP courses. Personally, I don’t think you should take 4 or even 3 AP courses in just one year, it will load you with so much work and that is not even mentioning the other classes you are taking. Also, taking 9 full year courses seems like a LOT, I am only taking 5 and thats a lot to me.
Environmental Science is a common sense course. Many people self study the subject the weekend before the test. Unless you plan on studying this in college or you are genuinely interested in its information, this course is useless. You only need Algebra II for AP Stats, so you should be fine in that class. I don’t see why you should be taking AP Lang in 10th grade - it’s meant for 11th graders and it just adds extra homework for you. Save it for next year.
As far as I see, your long post can be reduced to English 10 or AP Lang and online AP Env Sci or AP stats.
What would be the purpose of taking AP Lang? Does your school allow this? Ours limits it to 11th graders. If you follow that up with AP lit, what would you take senior year to fulfill your 4 years of English? If you have a good option you want to pursue then maybe go for it. Otherwise, I see no point to skipping ahead.
As far as AP Env Sci vs. AP stats, they are both pretty lightweight APs. Unless you have a special interest in Env Sci I would suggest stats because I think it’s of more general use, even though it’s not calculus based. Also, an online class has much more chance of instructional issues. You don’t need to have completed precalc for AP stats–just algebra2.
I recommend Option #1.
I think you could EASILY take the AP Lang exam with no class- I got a 5 on the exam this year, with 2 days of prep. The class isn’t necessary, really.
@yonceonhismouth 4 years of English are required for most colleges and there shouldn’t be a reason to self-study a core AP class when you can take it at your school. The only reason you should self-study is if you’re interested in that subject or you need college credit.
@pinklinks OP would be taking 10 Lit/Comp honors in option 1. At my school, nearly every junior self-studies AP Lang and takes the exam, even though it is offered as an elective in senior year. If you can self-study it, I don’t see why OP shouldn’t- OP would still have an English class, and possibly get AP credit.
@yonceonhismouth I think your school is an outlier. Most schools have AP Lang as a core AP class for juniors and I’m sure OP’s school is no different (correct me if I’m wrong, please). Colleges don’t want students self-studying a class if they can take it at their school (and don’t really like self-studying period - they want to see students doing better things in their free time). There’s no reason to self-study a course when you can take it at your school. OP will be taking a English class junior year anyway, so why not have it as AP Lang? It will at rigor to their transcript. Also, using [url=<a href=“https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies%5Dthis%5B/url”>https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies]this[/url] search tool, only 3 or 4 of the Ivy League colleges even offer credit for AP Lang (OP said they were an ‘Ivy aspirant’) and they are nominal; 1-3 credits only. Having a self-studied class on your transcript makes zero difference than if you didn’t have it. It’s just extra work on OP’s side and it adds absolutely nothing to their transcript. It’s better to just take the class.
Schedule 2 is the best - statistics is a class best taken in college (because it’s a class employers like to see but they don’t care what you did in high school.)
Don’t study apes online. Take an art class (mandatory for California universities BTW) if you can, or a class that shows your intellectual curiosity.
AP language is a core AP and definitely needs to be taken as a class if your school offers it. (there are exceptions but this is the rule). It’s best taken in 11th grade.
Colleges and adcoms don’t care about what yourself study; AP scores aren’t even part of the criteria used for admissions.
Does your school offer French 3H (remember Ivies expect 4 years although AP foreign language is basically their default. The Yale flowchart is a good example of this.)
Responding to this kind of question is challenging because you are asking a group of anonymous people who know very little about you to choose your class schedule. Certainly, there are bits of information from people with insight or personal experience that you should find helpful. Also please think about your interests, your planned academic path in high school, your academic strengths and weaknesses, and your college preferences.
Do any of the classes give you the opportunity to take a class from a really terrific teacher? If you can find the gem teacher, I would and I did, work around that class. My vote always go to statistics because it is interesting and fun truly and provides insight into problem solving and thinking about problems.
Your schedule should reflect you in the long-term context of you. If you really want a particular class and it will be difficult to schedule after next year, then pick it. If you are stronger in one area such as very good in writing and weaker in math, choose a scheule that balances both your strengths and weaknesses. If you are groggy in the afternoon, but bright as a penny in the morning, I would put more difficult classes in my pennybank time slot. Overall, I suggest you develop a schedule that represents you, rather than opting for the most popular schedule according to a bunch of thoughtful people. FYI. I chose schedule 1 because of French, statistics and psychology. UGH! as far as business and technology that you have in all three places. Your choice for your reasons should be your guide.
I don’t think taking AP stats precludes taking a more rigorous calculus based stats class in college. After all, it’s commonplace for college students even to take courses which the college board claims are identical to the AP classes they already successfully completed. In the case of stats, a calc based course would be at a higher, more rigorous level. My daughter took AP stats in hs as a freshman and will take a calc-based stats class in college which has a reputation of being tough even among STEM majors so I am glad she has some prior exposure to the subject. I don’t see this as any different than students taking AP physics 1/2/B prior to taking calculus based physics in college. Yes, it would be better to start with the more rigorous calc based courses, but many high schools, including ours, don’t offer calc based stats or calc based physics.