<p>My senior year course load will look like this:</p>
<p>AP Environmental Science*
AP US Government
AP Statistics
AP Calculus BC
AP English Lit
AP German
String Orchestra</p>
<p>*will taking APES instead of chemistry or physics hurt me? I have already taken AP Bio.
Taken Already: AP Euro, AP Lang, AP Calc AB, AP US History, AP Biology</p>
<p>That schedule is overkill, so no, it won’t necessarily hurt you. There is also nothing remotely fun about that schedule, and it overshoots what’s necessary by about two APs. At the very least, get rid of AP Stats and take something that doesn’t make you look like a drone, like an art or shop class. Engage another part of your brain. If you want to tighten up even more, drop AP Lit, since you’ve already had AP Lang and presumably done well, pick up a non-AP writing class, and swap in AP Physics for AP ES.</p>
<p>Also, our California experts can chime in, but if you’re in-state and wanting to go to UCLA, this schedule may not be necessary and probably wouldn’t impress UCs any more than a slightly relaxed schedule would, but I will defer to their expertise.</p>
<p>Yes, I believe that you are correct that taking APES in place of Chem/Physics is not advisable unless you have a burning desire to learn about envir. sci. Have you already at least taken the regular version of chem/physics?</p>
<p>If you can handle it, keep the AP Lit, AP Calc, AP Gov, AP German, and swap out the AP Envir. Sci. for AP Chem or AP Physics. Colleges prefer to see you take AP classes in the core subjects (they don’t care as much about AP Art History/Studio, AP Envir. Sci., AP Psych, AP Stats, nor AP Human Geography). </p>
<p>Are you going into a math/sci field? Will you need to eventually take the equivalent of Calc BC in college if you don’t take it in high school? I can’t remember if humanities/social science majors need 3 quarters of calculus to graduate. Check with a few UCs regarding this and then make the decision regarding whether or not to keep the AP Calc BC in the schedule since you’ve already taken AP Calc AB (assuming you do well in the AB class and AP test).</p>
<p>Do NOT take this many AP classes unless you have a demonstrated track record of being able to get A’s while taking many AP core classes at the same time. Shoot for the highest level of rigor that you can get A’s in. Even so, I wouldn’t do 6 AP classes – a recipe for disaster for most students. </p>
<p>Also, realize that the whole process of applying to colleges is like an extra extracurricular activity during your senior year. You will need to budget time for essays – more so if you’re applying to lots of private schools with supplemental essays – less so if you’re just planning to apply to the UCs and CSUCs.</p>
<p>Not sure what MrMom62 is referring to, but UCLA is very competitive to get into – even for in-state students. </p>
<p>TL, DR: Unless you have a burning desire for the topics, you can safely drop AP Stats and AP Envir. Sci. – and possibly the AP Calc BC (depending on whether or not you’ll need 3 quarters of calc when you’re in college). But I’d advise you to try and take AP Chem or AP Physics if your school offers them and you’re looking for the “highest rigor” category (assuming that you’ve already taken the regular versions of these science classes).</p>
<p>What I was getting at was that I don’t think 6 APs is any more impressive for getting in UCLA than 4 APs that are carefully selected. I know UCLA is competitive, but are 6 APs senior year necessary, when even Ivies don’t require that?</p>
<p>I decided to take AP Chem instead of APES and possibly drop AP Stats.</p>
<p>AP German is remarkably easy at my school (barely any hw, easy teacher) , AP Stats and Gov are considered “easy” too so i’m still deciding on whether or not I should take AP stats.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree with MrMom62. Again, don’t overload on 5-6 APs unless you have a demonstrated track record of loading up on many APs in core classes at the same time and getting As on them. For example, I know a junior who only took one AP as a soph. He had been a straight A student. But then as a junior he decided to jump up to 5 APs and then got a C in one last semester. It’s understandable given his course load – but some of the UCs are very GPA-focused and I believe that even 1 or 2 C’s can really hurt at admissions time.</p>
<p>Another example, my son who currently has 4 AP classes had a perfect storm last week (or rather I should say “imperfect storm”) of 6 AP tests within a period of 2 days (a couple of his AP classes had an essay test on one day and then a multiple choice test the next day). So while he normally is a straight A student, I noticed that his grades on nearly every one of those tests slipped just a little (A- when he normally gets an A; B+ in classes where he normally gets an A to A-). He just had too many hard tests to study for all at once. </p>
<p>Also did you already take regular physics? Some of the more competitive schools like to see that you took all three core sciences (bio, chem, and physics). I think that I read that in Gatekeepers (about the Wellesley admissions process). Again, you can do the research and confirm. Not sure what level of colleges you’re targeting but since you’re asking about rigor, I thought that I’d throw that in there.</p>
<p>calbearsmom makes a great point about the application process itself being a significant time commitment. Unless you are going to finish all your apps between the time the Common App goes live (usually August 1) and the beginning of your school year, I’d drop an AP. </p>
<p>If AP German is that easy at your school, do kids score well on the AP exam? </p>
<p>@yaupon</p>
<p>what usually happens is the teacher encourages people to take the AP test, but most of the kids don’t take the test at all.
Those who choose to do so usually need extra help.</p>
<p>I’m in AP Enviro right now. It’s not really hard. My Honors Chem class is harder. I regret taking AP Enviro because it’s too tedious, too much reading stuff that doesn’t directly interest me. I wish I had taking AP Bio, I find that stuff more broadly interesting.</p>
<p>Just make sure you have at least a year of chemistry, biology, physics. It’s seen as a “lite” ivy. Your schedule is hard enough, only opt out for the other class if you really feel the need to. The vast majority of kids probably won’t even take one AP. AP Physics or Chem is preferable to AP Enviro For one, getting a 4/5 on the AP Physics or Chem exam will probably give you more easily applicable credits for college than AP Enviro will. A school I am looking at will give 8 hours for getting 4 on Physics B. It offers nothing for AP Enviro, even with a 5. I’m sure this is subject to higher standards at more selective universities but colleges in general like those science classes more than AP enviro, stats, psychology, etc. By that I mean you can probably knock out hours easier with a good score on those tests than with Ap Enviro, since AP Enviro typically isn’t a part of gen-eds. An elective maybe, but of course you’d rather have the chem or physics knocked out, esp. if you are majoring in the sciences.</p>
<p>The UC’s don’t “count” more than 8 AP’s for the weighted GPA (TOTAL) but every grade counts, so talk to the teachers and make sure you have the potential to get A’s or no less than a B in each Ap you take.</p>
<p>AP Environmental Science* => take Honors Chem or Honors Physics unless you are genuinely interested in ES. I wouldn’t advise AP Chem if you haven’t taken Honors Chem before. If you have, then AP Chem is a good choice. If you insist on AP Chem without Honors Chem (or even regular Chem), make sure to take a refresher course over the summer.
AP US Government
AP Statistics => drop and take another one. Does your school offer AP Music Theory? Since you’re in the string orchestra, I would imagine you have some knowledge of music, right? And it’d differentiate you more than AP Stats for a candidate who is also taking Calc BC. However if you plan on majoring in STEM fields, keep it and drop AP Lit instead, replacing it with another AP.
AP Calculus BC
AP English Lit => keep if you plan on doing Arts, Humanities, or Social Sciences. Be aware it’s a HUGE workload. If you don’t love reading and don’t intend to major in Arts, Humanities, or Social Sciences, replace with a “fun” reading/writing class. See if there’s one that helps in writing college applications, it’d be useful.
AP German
String Orchestra</p>
<p>With 4 or 5 AP classes, you’ll already have plenty on your plate.</p>
<p>@ctesiphon: A student majoring in the sciences should NOT use the credits and move on unless they got a 5 on the AP exam. This is especially true for the Bio and Chem classes would-be premeds take frehsman year (most students enrolled in Chem1 and Bio1 for majors will have taken AP Chem and AP Bio at selective universities), less true for Calc BC (skip Calc1, no worry, but skipping Calc2 is riskier, always check with the calc2 prof. A math specialist here on CC, UCBAlumnus, advises to ask for the class’ final, take it, and see how well you’d do. If you get a B or more you’re fine but if you struggle with it, “retake” the class since it’s probably more in-depth and not a real retake.)</p>
<p>@Myos1634</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, UC GPA is for 10-11 A-G classes.</p>
<p>Although a majority of UC schools do use the UC GPA, Berkeley and UCLA use fully weighted because of the number of students who exceed the 8 weighted semester total. (Taking more than 8 weighted classes only hurts your UC GPA anyways)</p>
<p>As I have said above, I plan to take AP Chem next year (passed honors chem fairly easily, 96% both semesters)
and I appreciate all the insight you all have provided me. Thanks!</p>
<p>You’re correct, UC GPA is only for 10-11 A-G classes, but if the students get a D or an F, they’re rescinded and C’s aren’t good either (midyear report is sent, you can’t just get C’s senior year :p). Furthermore, you might want to apply to other universities than UCs. </p>