Should I take AP Lang and AP Lit at the same time?Answered
Rising junior here :) I was just wondering if taking two AP English classes at the same time might get confusing or something...? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question, I've just never taken an AP class before (my school only offers like 3 APs) so I have no experience whatsoever haha. Thanks!
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3 answers
IMO the 5 hardest AP classes ever are AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Calc BC and AP Lang and AP Lit are the hardest to get an A in and 5 on the AP tests. That's just my opinion. I took AP Lang got an A and a 5 but let me tell you that it was about 15-20 hours of work plus class time for that 1 class. There is an enormous amount of reading and writing you have to do to get an A and a 5 (which is like 9% of test-takers). If you add AP Lit to it, you will be doing 30-40 hours for just 2 AP classes to keep and A and get 5s on the exam. Since you have never taken an AP class before, stacking these two on top of one another is a perfect way to ruin your HS year. I recommend taking AP Human Geography, AP Psychology, AP Micro, AP Macro, any AP Language over these 2. It will be far better to take classes that support your academic narrative. So if you are going to be writer, join the newspaper or the yearbook team or start a creative writing journal. If you are STEM-oriented, take Physics, etc. As crsgo stated, they are not meant to be taken concurrently.
Hi!
From my experience, I would take the two AP English classes in two different years. I'm a rising senior and I took AP Language and Composition last year and I'm taking AP Literature and Composition this upcoming school year. Lang&Comp is a very intense class; there is a lot of reading and writing involved in the class. I personally would not have been able to keep up with all of the work from both English classes while also maintaining my grades in my other classes. For comparison, my classes last year were band (elective),AP Lang&Comp, AP Calc, French 4, AP Physics, AP US History, Study Hall (semester 1)/ Health (semester 2), and Dynamics of Healthcare (elective). My academic strengths are not in English, but more towards math and science.
If you are someone who enjoys English, I would recommend taking only one AP English class and see if there are other English electives and then wait until senior year to take the second AP English. It might be less stressful for you if the rest of your course load is heavy.
Good luck on your junior year, I hope you enjoy and succeed!
Have a great day,
Quinn
No, and my reasoning is this: They’re different classes and are structured so that you take Lang as a Junior and Lit as a Senior (at least in my school). They’re not the same course and while Lit and Lang are similar they focus on different things (Lang more so english grammar and structure while Lit focuses on analysis of texts and poetry).
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Mmm, thank you so much! I heard that Lang was stressful but I didn't know just how many hours of work it demands. I guess the reason why I was even considering doing Lit at the same time was because the only challenging courses I have are Pre-calculus and AP Lang (the rest are easy As), and the only other honours/AP courses my school offers are Lit and Stats (literally only 1 honours & 3 APs lol).