Recommendation for sophomore year classes and TAMS

Pre-College Topics High School Life
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Hello Everyone! I hope you all are having a great start to the new year! I am interested in STEM/Medicine and am planning to take AP-Precalulus along with Chemistry-Advanced over the summer to accelerate my learning and have rigorous classes to take my sophomore year. I am currently a high school freshman taking the classes listed below.

Honors Biology
Honors Algebra 2
Medical Terminology (Only On-Level Offered)
AP Human Geography
English 2 Honors
AP Computer Science Principles
Geometry Honors
Spanish 2 (Only On-Level Offered)

I am confused about whether I should take AP Calculus AB or BC next year. I am leaning toward taking AB just so I can spend more time on my activities outside school like volunteering etc. I would be keen to get everyone’s insights regarding this topic because BC would also be beneficial like perhaps early release or even taking college-level math courses earlier.

Additionally, I was wondering whether should I take AP Chemistry or should take AP Biology. Both of the teachers at our school are amazing and the subjects themselves are intriguing and would love to learn about them in greater detail through these classes. Like I said before, I am leaning towards AP Chemistry but would love everyone’s insights and stories on what would be the best to take.

Sorry, but this is not about the sophomore classes I have a question about a university program called TAMS that I have been researching and have been fascinated by its rigorous classes and preparing you for college along with offering research opportunities with peers at the college. I have shared the link to their official website down below.

https://tams.unt.edu/

TLDR: If anyone has any knowledge or has previously applied to TAMS please PM me so I can gain insight and learn along the way so that I can understand the process.

Sorry if I did anything wrong, this is my first ever post and I do not know how this is supposed to work or ways to be formatted. Thanks for you and have a good night! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hey there! Freshman here, and my schedule is similar to yours, I was contemplating AP Pre Cal over the summer too but all in all the better choice is to take the class at the regular pace it is offered as I have a pretty good idea of what state and district you are in (I am in the same one) and a lot of my upperclassmen and counselors have informed me that colleges look down on a student accelerating too much at times, hence why I decided not to go through with it.

I’m in Chemistry Advanced right now, and I just wanted to say, do not take chemistry over the summer! Especially for pre-med as taking the time to learn some of the topics is crucial for building a base in future science (science teachers words not mine, but I’d think about it).

For TAMS, that’s a personal decision that you and your family have to make, I have quite a few friends that have gotten in and the application is not hard per se but it does require financial investment. My friends’ families have paid up to 10k per semester. It has decent research opportunities and huge potential for acceleration (you can literally finish your bachelors in 2 years if you choose to go to college in-state after graduating from TAMS) but its not for everyone and being a residential program a lot of my friends have been in hard places emotionally when they started schooling there.

I will also PM you b/c I’d like to know if you are at my high school lol

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Also I’d like to add that summer classes in our district DO count towards GPA, which affects rank

Cramming 1 year worth of college level pre calculus and advanced chemistry into 2 months will not yield a good outcome.