How to manage 4 APs in 10th grade Answered
I am currently a freshmen taking 1 AP (human geo) all my other classes are honors except Spanish 2. For sophomore year I have signed up for 4 APs, world history, European history, seminar (as part of the capstone program), and AP 2d art. Out of the three academic APs two are history which is my best subject. Any majors tips on how to manage this while still balancing after school activities and volunteering?
Earn karma by helping others:
4 answers
Hey! I'm a junior right now and managing all APs with a 5.0. Here's what I know about the classes, what works for me, and what I'd suggest based on their courseloads.
- World History: Hated this class. It was so so so difficult and time-consuming. However, it is super interesting stuff!! If history is your best subject, this will be an easy A for you. I found it really interesting despite history being my least favorite. Seriously, just pay attention to the content and it'll be a breeze. Also, check out Heimler's History! He does youtube videos on APWorld, APUSH, and APEuro that are more helpful than even my teacher was.
- AP Euro: I know nothing about this, sorry! However, it covers far less material than AP World, so like I said above, since you like history, should be fine. Once again, check out Heimler's History!
- AP Research: Have you taken AP Seminar? Seminar is a prerequisite to Research and, in my opinion consulting my friends who are in the program, an absolute necessity. Seminar is a surprisingly difficult class in terms of the AP exam, though the classwork isn't too intense as long as you enjoy research. I am pretty sure Research is similar but even more difficult, and even if you get a chance to take Research without Seminar I really do not recommend it. Not only will it be time-consuming, but it will also be confusing and you will have no prior knowledge of what specific things they are looking for. I saw you were wondering how Research was spaced out, and, honestly, it's not really. You should be doing bits of research basically at all times or it's going to be rushed and not high quality. Research is a big commitment. If you are prepared and decide to go forward with this course, the best way to manage it is by choosing something you are deeply passionate about and aligned with what you want to major in. That way, you both will feel more motivated to do it and can put as research on college applications, which will remove some of the need for a bunch of focused, intense ECs.
- AP 2D: This class is unfortunately much more difficult and time-consuming than most people think. It's also a class that you should only take if you have some prior art knowledge (which I assume you do) and are able to think abstractly, creatively, and deeply. The issue here, in my opinion, is not letting it ruin your passion for art. If you treat it as something fun, like a hobby, you'll have no problem doing the work and not feeling too burnt out. But unfortunately, classes tend to knock the fun out of stuff. I considered taking AP 2D as well but ultimately decided against it because I want my hobbies to stay fun. If you decide to go forward with this course, your main objective should be keeping it as something you enjoy and are passionate about because that will reduce how much time it takes as well as mental distress.
Studying efficiently will make this class load much more bearable. My favorite studying methods are teaching/tutoring, mind mapping, and active recall. I genuinely love teaching, and when you teach someone something or even pretend to you absorb it and understand it a lot better. You can google mind mapping for an in-depth explanation, but since it requires you to basically draw out every connection, you process how full systems work rather than just memorizing individual parts. Active recall has got to be one of the most miserable studying techniques ever, but it is very helpful. You write out everything you can possibly remember about a topic, then look at your notes, see what you missed, and do it again until you have 100% of the content memorized. It takes forever and it is super mind-numbing but it is hands down the most effective study method I use. These are just what works best for me, so try them out and see!
It's also important to remember that while volunteering and having lots of ECs is really good, focusing on a few that are tailored specifically toward what you want to do as a career will make a huge difference. Rather than worry about getting 100+ volunteer hours, worry about getting, say, 20 really good ones. The same thing goes for after-school activities - by all means, do everything you're passionate about, but don't do things only because you think they look impressive. Focusing more on your passions will ultimately look better. An easy way to make less impressive ECs more impressive is by assuming a leadership position, so consider that!
P.S. Don't take what I said about Research as insisting you drop the class - I'm just giving you my genuine advice as someone more familiar with the course. At the end of the day, you know what you can handle, and I'm just trying to give you all the information!
Personally, I wouldn't recommend anyone doing this because having a ton of APs isn't going to give you much of a boost to getting into your top college. I would stick to 2 to 3 max. for 10th, ending up with a total of 9-12 max.
The math problem is the following. You, me, and the other 3.85 million students applying to colleges have only 168 hours a week. You might think that is a lot of time but it isn't.
These days getting into T25 school or better is a very complicated admissions rubric and every top school has its own take on what meets both an academic, co-curricular/ECs, IV/IC, essays, recommendations, interview, personal character threshold and as a 9th grader, you don't know very much about how having short runway is going to crash your College Admissions Jet. It will fail to land somewhere good.
These days with rampant grade inflation, a high UWGPA/UGPA doesn't matter very much because everyone applying is either an A- or A student. The same goes for APs. Everyone applying to top schools has 5, 10, 15 APs. And the same goes for standardized tests. If the average SAT/ACT scores at T25 schools is above the 95% percentile, everyone has those as well. If you had time to read the Harvard Lawsuit documents you will learn that their admissions do not differentiate with someone who gets a 1500 or 1600, or a 33 or a 35. Academics are a threshold. You need them to move on in the evaluation.
The most important criterion after you have excellent grades, course rigor and standardized tests that pass the threshold are these 3 following things:
-Intellectual Vitality or Intellectual Curiosity. What is IV/IC? These are things you pursue outside of the classroom because they show evidence of your innate love of learning where learning is intrinsically connected to your narrative as a student. Everyone can walk up, attend class, join clubs, do homework, and repeat the process. But it is the scholar that finds opportunities to pursue like taking actual College Courses in a subject(s) they are interested in, Job shadowing or doing internships with people they wish to emulate, conducting supervised research with professors, writing academic papers and getting them published, and get sponsored to attend the most rigorous summer programs. High IV/IC trumps the number of APs or IBs you take in high school.
-Present a Spike Narrative in your choice of extracurriculars that is both compelling and sets you apart as a unique individual that would add to the quality of life for both the college campus and the students that attend the school. A Spike is best supported by how you curate your ECs and co-curricular activities. Colleges do not want a well-rounded student, they strive for a well-rounded campus of interesting, quirky, uniquely talented cohorts. In my opinion, most colleges are like zoos. They segment the animals, reptiles, fish, and insects. But the T25 doesn't want to be a zoo. They want to be a thriving Circus like Cirque du Soleil.
-Revealing how special you are in your quality of writing. Amazing essays are paramount to your acceptance at any T25 school. Writing is not like Math. You can't cram 5 texts books and become a brilliant writer. Writing well is the culmination of years and years of trial and error. It's the epitome of one's understanding of using quality language, words, grammar, syntax, and other technical skills to share your voice and make some pay attention and react to your ideas, thoughts, and arguments. To do that well requires reading hundreds of books and practicing your writing. Writing is as diverse as cooking. You can write poems, prose, short stories, expository pieces, critical analysis, and full novels. 90% of really smart kids do not get admitted to T25 schools because their writing is problematic. Someone like an admissions officer who has read 5000 essays can spot a great essay from BS hacked ones in 30 seconds
The bottom line is that you need to start thinking about these more important things immediately because they take 3 years to cultivate. If you wait until 11th/12th grade to start these, you will be like the 95% of applicants who do everything last minute and end up going to their target or safety school in their home state. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but if you think you want and deserve a seat at a T25 school, the strategic work begins now.
If you end up with 10 APs total and get As in them and 4s and 5s on the APs exams, not 1 T25 college is going to reject you for lack of course rigor. But if you aim for 15, you are not going to get bonus points for collecting the most APs in your class. I had only 9 APs and got 5s and 4s in them. But what I think got me into Columbia University is that I had 2 college courses at UPitt (6 credits), and 6 DE college courses (24 credits in French). Plus a Spike narrative and 10/10 essays and supplemental essays. I took 11 English classes before I enrolled at Columbia so my writing is my greatest strength.
Good luck.
Hi, I've experienced the same situation (like almost EXACTLY the same) this past week I dropped 2 ap classes and one honors class.
I started this trimester at my school so this was the first week taking these classes and I kid you not I didn't sleep over 12 hours the ENTIRE week the work load alone was a complete and utter catastrophe, and the grades I earned were about the same. There was no time to focus on any one class good enough to not fail another one (coming from someone who hasn't seen a B since 5th grade)
I was taking AP Psychology, AP World History, AP European, AP Lang, Advanced Algebra 2. Worst mistake of my life, the first week alone destroyed my mental health, gave me EXTREME impostor syndrome and obliterated my social life.
I'd suggest STRONGLY reconsider taking that may AP's because in the end you'll most likely regret it.
But if you have a method to do it PLEASE let me know.
I personally do not know what AP Research or 2D Art is like, but I am going to assume they might take up a lot of time due to their nature. Research isn't something that can be rushed and the art class also will likely take a lot of time. However, the history workload truly depends on your teacher. If you have not taken an AP history course before, learning how to write SAQs and DBQs will be something new, but likely something you can pick up on and do well with if you put the effort in. I would say try to get your history homework done in class (if possible) so that more of your limited after-school time can be spent on lengthier projects, like research or an art assignment. Doing your work during lunch can also work, but do not put lots of pressure on yourself to get your work done then. This also depends on your after-school activities and volunteering. If your activities suck up multiple hours after school every day, I would say think about which activities you'd want to continue with or any way to lessen the load. However, if push comes to shove, don't worry about taking a break from those ECs- as long as you let your advisor know. I have never known any advisor who was upset with me for putting my grades first. I would maybe also say to make sure you're not abandoning your mental health- the shift from honors to AP is not a huge jump curriculum-wise, but the consistency required to do well can take a toll if you do not take care of yourself. Let me know what other questions you have!! <3
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!
Thank you so much!! And interesting enough my school allows you to do research and seminar in either order!