It depends on your schools rules and how many APs they offer. At my school you can only take an AP your Junior and Senior years, and it only offers 7 AP classes. Take easier AP classes in your junior year in order to get used to them,(if there is such a thing as an easy AP). For example: My junior year i took AP Bio, Stats., and U.S History. Senior year im taking AP Chem, English, and Calc.

Hope that helps

I’m taking 6 APs this year, but I think (or hope) I can handle it…

it depends on which APs you’re taking – mine (ex: stat, spanish) are easier than others (bio, chem)

If you can take APs your sophomore year, maybe even freshman year, than you definitely should, so you don’t overload yourself senior year. However, a lot of schools limit AP classes to juniors and seniors. Take as many APs as you can before senior year so then you’re not pressured by it. Generally, some people that take AP classes senior year slack off after they get into college…

And it’s probably best to take AP classes senior year if you want to be in the 1-25 class rank.

What grade are you in?

Where I live, while schools do look at what you took during your senior year, when determining valedictorian and rank, it’s typically done during the 11th grade. My friend had a 4.9 GPA in his senior year but because it was determined when they were juniors he ended up ranked in the top 10 instead of 1st or 2nd.

Freshman year doesn’t have a lot of possibilities when it comes to taking APs. 10th grade should consist of at least 1, and junior year is what really counts as it’s the last full year colleges will have to look at before you apply. I’m taking 6 APs currently and I’m a junior. However, I would not repeat taking this many. The schedule my school is on accelerates the learning and condenses a full year into one semester. Let’s just say, I’m exhausted. You don’t have to kill yourself with APs. Colleges look at way more than that. Like, SAT scores and how well-rounded you are. Take as many as you think you can handle, and keep in mind most classes have at least 2 hours of homework.

I’m also going into junior year. I took AP chem and music last year. I would consider myself a science person, but I really didn’t like the chemistry class. It may have been the way that it was taught (my teacher was kind of a perv), but the subject just didn’t really resonate with me. I’m looking forward to bio this year, and I would definitely recommend it over chem (especially from what I’ve heard of friends’ experiences). As far as that senior year schedule goes, it looks a little like death. I’m all about the AP’s too, but at some point you need to give yourself a break. It really does depend on how they’re taught, how much homework you get, etc…but I would at least consider replacing BC calc with Statistics. BC is really just building on AB anyway, and stat is an AP too, just much much easier. Other than that, it doesn’t look that suicidal. If you’ve been taking Chinese up until this point, there really shouldn’t be a problem. I took it my freshman year, and it’s really a language that builds on itself. Once you get the hang of it, I’m sure you know, it goes pretty smoothly.

I graduated from high school in 2001. My school didn’t really have enough AP class offerings, in my opinion. I only got the chance to take 4…one in my junior year, and 3 in my senior year. (My school only let juniors and seniors enroll in AP courses.)

I wouldn’t advise taking 6 in one year. It would be so hard to do your absolute best in every single one, throughout the whole year. AP classes are so in depth, and take the maximum amount of time and effort in order to develop a true mastery of the material. After a while, you may get burnt out and reduce the effort you put into each class. And what’s the point of taking the AP’s then, if you spread yourself too thin, can’t do the required amount of work, and only get 2’s on the AP exams?

How many years of high school do you have left? If you have a few, then I suggest to pace yourself, and take a max of 3 to 4 per year. Your mind can focus more clearly and you’ll do a better job in the long run…as opposed to taking 6 courses at once and then bombing under pressure.

Pacing yourself=the opportunity to get more out of the courses you take. If you don’t overstress yourself with a huge course burden, AP classes are very rewarding for students that want an academic challenge.

A school’s AP policy will vary. I know at my high school the most you could take was 4 full year APs (you could take 5 APs if taking micro and macroeconomics) and only 1 science AP in a given year. I took 3 APs my senior year (stats, spanish lang and macro) and only 1 my junior year (US Hist).

My opinion, don’t take APs for the sake of taking them. Take an AP course if you have a strong interest in the subject. 6 APs is quite painful. good luck with that.

I’m taking AP’s in my senior year. I the way I see it, it’s best take as many as you can, even as a senior. I wouldn’t cram them all into one year though. Take a few sophomore year, a few junior year, and a few senior year.