Advice about AP courses and which to take? what courses should i take if i dont know what i want to be later?

Question

I dont really know what I want to be when i grow up and since ap courses should be taken based on a person's interest in a field, i wasnt sure which ap courses to take. i heard it was very competitive to get into colleges and colleges look for students taking challenging courses including AP courses. So i want to take AP courses but I just dont know which to take. I dont even know what I am interested in. I dont hate any subject and find them all interesting. Does that mean i should take all ap courses? how do i find what i really really love? I'm not very good at making decisions. i hesitate frequently. my parents would like it if i were to become a doctor, but i also heard that it was very competitive in that field. i am so confused on what courses to take! and i am only allowed to take 3 ap courses at most in my sophomore year that i am in now. my choices available are: AP US history, AP statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Psychology, AP English, and AP Java. I also heard that colleges would like it if the student chooses a major they would like it if the student takes the AP for that major in High School. So this gets be nervous because if I choose a course that won't major in later, it might make me less eligible to a college i want to go in later and it might be less beneficial to me since AP courses are suppose to prepare you for college and i wont be prepared if i dont take a course that i might be interested in later?? Can you explain what courses lead to which fields? And what i should choose? or how i should choose? i really cant decide. i dont even know what i want to be later. What do you need for different fields? please list them?
Sorry for the lenght, but i am just so confused and i need to make the decision soon.

Answer 1

Your problem is greater than which AP classes you should take. You need some direction as to what areas you like the best.



You should take a vocational interest test which will help you determine your future career./

Answer 2

take what you want to take, but DO NOT take all APs that is like suicide, at least at my school it was (we had one kid who did and had a mental breakdown). AP chem and AP bio should never be taken together, and it isnt necessarily the number of APs that you take it is how you do overrall and if you enjoy your courses, you should probably know what field you want to work in, it sounds like you are a junior or a sophomore this year. What I would do is I would take AP psych, AP chem, AP calculus (I know that isnt on your list but it really is the door to higher mathematics, everything else is basic algebra in the presence of calc, literally), and AP english OR APUSH not both, unless you want to do both and eliminate AP chem. Each individual course leads to its own field.

The sciences open up to two possible fields, the applied and the theoretical sciences. One being practical and everyday use (engineering) versus the theoretical (quantum mechanics and the liken). There are also social sciences which is where AP psych divides, it is both a theoretical (in a small sense) and a social science. AP Chem would be both applied and theoretical but mostly applied, AP biology would be a bit of both but leaning more towards the theoretical sciences at most points.

AP Java is also a science, a computer science, which is more like applied and practical sciences but it really deserves its own class of science.

AP english would obviously lead to a english major and ap history would obviously lead to a history major in a specific historical field.

AP stat is more of a business mathematics course or a mathematics course if you want to go into business as an accountant or work with money in some way.

No matter what you are not making any finalizing decisions now, these courses may affect your future in some small way but in the end they will not completely make or break your life-long career, and you can always go back to college if you decide half-way through your life that you hate what you are doing (I know that doesnt sound very comforting but its true and many people do that, particularly those in teaching and law)

So finishing up....

your only supposed to take three and you want to take all 3.

It mainly depends on the electives offered at your school but if you could I would take AP chem, which I enjoyed (but if you werent good at chem DO NOT DO IT!!!), AP calc (if available) and if not then AP stat, and AP Psych.

as you can see i am more of a science-math person so u shouldnt take these courses just because I suggest them. Talk to a guidance counselor and if they dont give you any good info and just say 'take what you want to' then talk to your parents, they usually help with that kind of stuff. If it really comes down to it you could flip a coin or something but I would do the others first.

Answer 3

The most important thing about AP courses is to take only those you are sure you can earn an A in. An A in a regular class looks better to colleges than a B in an AP class.

Answer 4

Firstly I would like to say that AP calculus will make physics a breeze. I look back on it now, and calculus is so integrated into physics its not even funny. As for AP biology, I believe that If you have taken Algebra II and some chemistry classes, it will be very simple. The first semester will basically be biochemistry and genetics, with the second semester being classification (which actually requires studying). I thought the test was pretty easy, and I made a 5 on it. With that load, you may consider taking AP environmental science instead. I can promise you though, if you take bio, you won't regret it.

Answer 5

First off, colleges WAY PREFER a B or C in an AP course over an A in a regular. WAAAY prefer. If you can, take AP. AP is amazing. AP Statistics shouldn't be too difficult, so I recommend it. It's not really very mathy if you're bad at maths. AP US History is a courseload of work, but it's probably a good idea to take it if you think you can handle LOADS of reading. AP English is a great idea, I highly recommend it, unless you're not good with language at all. What is AP Java? Just take AP in what you're good at, really. Don't worry about your major or what colleges think about it. Take some core APs, and then some AP in what you like. For instance, I like social sciences and English, so I'm definitely taking every social science and English AP course available (AP World history, AP European History, AP US History, AP Human Geography, AP English III and AP English IV). I'm also taking AP Statistics next year so I can have a maths credit while not struggling through AP Calc, which I know I'd fail. See the pattern? I take what I'm good at and make it challenging through AP. That's all you have to do.



Don't worry - Whatever you're good at will probably reflect your major ;)

Answer 6

First, I want to say that you should never have a career that you are not interested in, or don't have a passion for, because you're not going to have a happy life, and most importantly, you should NEVER take a career just because someone else said so. If you have no clue what you want to do with your life, then get experience. Life is about experiencing, and you don't know what you will love, until you set foot in it. So try new things! Art, math, science, ect. Find something that you have passion in, and continue to do new things, until you find it. Learn more about yourself, and find what sparks your own interest. Do you have any dreams? What do you hope, and yearn for? If it's something that is complex, or competitive, who cares? If it's something you love, and have a passion for, you should do you very best to reach for it no matter what. Life is not easy.



Now don't worry about the major thing, cause colleges really don't care at all. Trust me, kids in college change their major ALL the time, so they are not going to care about high school. Now it's true that college is competitive, so do take some AP classes, and challege yourself, but take ones that you think you might be interested in, because AP classes are ALOT of hard work, and time. Ask students who have taken those AP classes before, and get their point of view. Since, you are confuse on which one to take, take ones that will benefit you in life. I would highly suggest AP Psych, and AP English. Psych will help you understand how to deal with people better, and understand them, and English will improve you abilities to write, and comprehend words, and stories better.



Whatever decision you decide to make, remember that life is about living, and being happy. School is important, but school is not life.

Answer 7

I recommend that if you haven't taken regular biology and chemistry yet, you should take it before considering taking AP Chemistry or Biology.

Generally AP Science and AP Math are aimed at science majors.

As for the other major, I haven't heard much for them.

People can change their major a lot so don't worry about choosing wrong AP class for it. From what I heard, English Composition are usually required in College so if you can take that class, you can take it as an alternative but it varies from different states.

Answer 8

Do not take an AP course unless you are sure you will get an A in it because at the end of the day a college wants to see that someone doesn't bite off more than they can chew. A student in a regular class getting an A is more favorable than someone with a B in an AP class.

Answer 9

i dont agree with the second person. the point of life is to take as many APs as possible. my school, like most schools, dont really let u take too many APs until junior year. sophomore year was a choice between ap euro or world history, a language (if u were at that level), or physics B (if u passed the placement test). because of that factor, take as many as possible like i did. at my school, its fun to stress urself out over AP classes because the norm was to probably take at least three junior year.

AP classes help ur weighted gpa a lot and look good to colleges.

sophomore year i took ap euro

junior year- ap bio, ap chinese, apush, ap psych

right now- ap lang and comp, physics B, calc ab, mircoecon, macroecon



best of luck to u