Hello
I am a rising Senior, and this is my schedule
Portland State University Statistics (College)
Spanish 9-10
Goverment (AP government not offered at my school)
Physics
Study Hall
Words of Warfare - Eng -College (AP english not offered for seniors)
The Global City -PSU
Wind Ensemble
I have a large dilemma because many of the classes that I was interested in taking more advanced courses in- English, government, history, are not offered in aps at our school. There are many advanced math and science courses- Physics being one. I am nervous about taking physics because I am an average B student in math and first year physics is supposedly harder at my school. I would also rather take Precalculus ( its more rigorous than PSU stats?) - but I do not want to get a B in precalc and so I don’t want to take it. I am very aware that colleges want more rigorous classes but I would like to keeo my gpa at a 3.91 and I am afraid that if I take physics and precalc I could potentially get one or two more B’s. Thoughts?
I am also not planning on majoring in a a STEM field, though I did do okay on my act- a 31- and I don’t dislike science. I am just wary about taking too difficult of classes in fields that I am weaker in- science and math.
I think that it’s almost a requirement that you take at the very least pre-calc in high school…I would strongly push you to take that rather than avoid it for the sake to preserve your 3.9 GPA. Getting a B in pre-calc will be much better than not taking pre-calc in the first place.
Prioritize precalc over stats, getting one or two more B’s is not the end of the world, you should be challenging yourself, not fearing classes that you might not do as well in.
Take precalculus or college algebra. It’s expected by colleges.
Dual enrollment classes are as valuable as AP classes so taking classes at PSU in humanities and social sciences is a very good move.
My advice would be
At the High school, year round
Precalculus
Physics
Wind ensemble
At PSU
Fall
4th or 5th semester Spanish
Words of warfare
Global city
Spring
5th or 6th semester Spanish or Comparative Literature
Government
Philosophy or Anthropology or Sociology or History or Human Geography