AP ClassesAnswered
Context: I am a senior. I took 3 AP classes (BIO, US History, and CSA) in Junior year, and I am taking 4 (U.S. GOV, STATS, CHEM, and Physics) in senior year. My school offers AP classes to Junior and Seniors only (except easy APs like art history).
Question: Since I will only have 7 AP classes, I was wondering if it is worth it to add AP Environment Science to my senior year schedule. Considering that I am already taking 4, I think a 5th AP will be kind of hard for my senior year, but I wanted to know if adding it will make a big difference in terms of applications.
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5 answers
I think that adding another AP class may not make a huge difference, since you will have taken 7 AP classes by the time you graduate. However, if you think you can handle taking 5 AP classes, and it won’t be too much, I say go for it if you really want to. I’m not sure how helpful this is, but 7 AP classes is a lot, so one more may not make the largest impact. Good luck!
My concern would be that it would be harder to focus and do well in your other AP classes if you are adding to your load. If you think it’ll be easy, go for it! But, if you think taking the extra AP course may compromise your ability to do well in the other classes I would avoid taking it
I took AP Environmental Science ("APES") last year as junior. For what its worth, the APES exam is amongst the harshest if not the harshest scoring. It won't matter for you if you take as far as your applications, but if you are planning to use AP credits I would keep it in mind.
Out of my class there were a handful of 5s and 4s and lots of 2s and 3s - and my school is highly amongst most competitive in my large city.
4 APs is a handful, so if you think you're going to have a very busy schedule with activities like a job, sports, clubs in general, or anything else, then maybe you shouldn't take that 5th AP class. Also, a suggestion I have for you is if you thought that 3 APs last year were very hard to handle, maybe it'll be safer to stick to 4 APs instead of 5.
I don't think taking APES will severely impact your college admissions profile unless you plan to apply as an environmental science major, in which case it might be a great class to take! Otherwise, I think your initiative will be clear given the other APs you are taking.
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