<p>So far, I feel as though my classes are too easy. I have talked to my dean about this, and I did switch some classes. However, the difficulty did not seem to change at all. Currently, I am taking one AP class, 5 AICE classes (although I will be taking 6 AICE exams in April/May), and one honors.
My school does not offer AP courses for freshmen besides the one that I am taking (AP Environmental), but I would like to take some on FLVS over the summer since I am planning on receiving AP Scholar Award.
Some of the courses that I am interested in taking over the summer are:
AP Computer Science
AP Calculus AB or AP Psychology (yes, I did take Psychology I already)
For those of you who have experience taking AP courses online, is taking two classes over the summer too rigorous? I am planning on starting once track season and AP/AICE exams end (mid May). I do not mind if I do not finish before school.
These are all courses that I have interest in, so I am planning on working quickly.
How much time will I have to devote to FLVS daily? How many days a week?
Would you say that these classes are too difficult for a freshman? </p>
<p>A bit about myself…
I am currently a freshman attending a high school in Florida. I have a weighted GPA of 5.78 (darn that spanish class…) and am ranked #1 in freshmen class. I take AICE Math which is similar to Pre-Calc, and due to my love (no, I’m not being sarcastic…) for mathematics, I am breezing by with a 99-100+ average. I am also interested in programming and coding although I have little knowledge on them and am hoping that the computer science course will give me more insight.</p>
<p>Why do you want to take classes rather than do something extracurricular? There’s nothing all that great about AP awards…you’d probably be better off doing math/programming competitions or something.</p>
<p>Don’t know much about programming competitions but I have been to math competitions. Personally, I like learning much more than competing. Not that I’ll stop going to competitions (since I ranked quite high in them), but I would like to formally learn about programming so that I will be able to utilize those skills more extensively and fill in the gaps with information that I am missing right now.</p>
<p>The way you said “since I plan on receiving the AP Scholar award” made it sound like you’re doing all this because you think that award is something really impressive to put on college applications, and I just mean that studying for AMC contests or something similar would be a better use of your time if all you want is an impressive award. </p>
<p>The greater point is that you should (assuming you’re trying to get into colleges that care about ECs) use your summers to do something in addition to or besides just taking classes. Volunteer, get a job, get an internship, go to a summer program (ideally a free selective one), etc. I understand that your options are more limited as a a freshman, though. </p>
<p>I tried online AP classes once and they didn’t really work out for me because I couldn’t motivate myself to do the work, even though I was interested in the subjects and I’ve done well in regular college classes/studied subjects on my own without assignments. I think most people are more motivated than me, but if you’re at all inclined to procrastinate in school, you might want to start with just one this summer and see if you can keep up with the work.</p>