Help Choosing Classes

Natty Bumppo

i am a senior in high school (>_<) and as almost any senior, i am stressing greratly on college. the following is my current (not permanent yet) schedule:

1st - Chemistry/Chemistry Lab
2nd - Pre-Calculus
3rd - Jr.Sr English
4th - Government/Economics
5th - Bible Class
7th- AP Calculus
8th - PE
9th - Yearbook

the questions i had were the following: i travel 40 miles to school everyday, and i dont get back till 6 pm. i have to go to sleep at 8 or 9 in order to get up at 4:15 AM to ge the train to school. is this schedule too much? what classes should i get rid of? what classes should i keep? i just want to make sure i get into a UC college. calculus sounds hard, but if it gets me into a UC college, i want to make sure i take it.

any opinons are welcome and as always, greatly appreciated.

captain usopp

Wow, Bible class. cudos to you. Glad everyone here isn't a religion hating banchee.

Unfortunatly, if your overtired, bible class is one of the classes I'd drop. Along with yearbook and PE. With all that comuting, your going to wear yourself out. You can learn about the bible by going to church, and you can get exsersice without PE, so those, I'd drop first.

Trust me, your health and sanity is way more important. I took an extra semester after I graduated. Maybe you can do that too.

Local-chan

I'd definitaly drop P.E, most places don't even recognise it as a proper subject (well in the UK) same with Bible Studies. Maybe even drop one of the Calculus ones too? I dunno what Year Book is so I cant really say to drop it or not.

Natty Bumppo

i hate PE just as much as the next guy, unfortunately i have to take both PE and Bible in order to graduate. i only have taken 1 year of PE and i have to take 2 years of it. and i am required to take 4 years of Bible. so i cant really drop those.

it was my fault for not posting it in the first post. i am sorry for the trouble.

Aoi Neko

@Natty:

i hate PE just as much as the next guy, unfortunately i have to take both PE and Bible in order to graduate. i only have taken 1 year of PE and i have to take 2 years of it. and i am required to take 4 years of Bible. so i cant really drop those.

Now do you mean PE as in Physical Education? I love Phys. Ed. ^_^ It's one of the only classes you take that doesn't involve a lot of school work. But archery scares me. Shudders

Natty Bumppo

yeah,physical education. i dont like it because the PE teacher plays basketball ALL year, and rarely ever does anything else. i mean, i like it cause its not mandatory to play and you can just pass by dressing out; but not doing anything for about 45 minuets every day can get a bit annoying.

i guess it has its pros and cons.

Cr4zy

@Nicole:

Now do you mean PE as in Physical Education?

Well really, what else can P.E. stand for in school-related terms? Well, maybe we can giveyou some help in Pre-Calculus and Chem(taking it myself this year). Also, did you do any volunteer work? and don't you need to take SATII tests? BTW, where do you live?
(Sorry for asking you all this)

Natty Bumppo

i did very little volunteer work, and that was my fault. i shouldve done better in that aspect. I do need to take the SAT II, but i am not sure in which subject to take it in. I have no "forte" in any subject. And i live in California, about 40 miles away from San Francisco.

hope that helps.

Cr4zy

Four words:
Work your ass off!

oceanizer

I probably would drop the bible class, too, unless you're planning to go seminary or something… If you feel urge to take bible class, you can always join your local church's bible study group on the weekends >.> Next one to drop would be P.E... Probably yearbook class (?) would be good on your record, right?

Whoa, 40 miles... Where do you live?

Cap'n Carter

Why are you taking both Pre-Cal and AP Cal?

Le Lawliet

Yeah. That'd be my question too. Is there really a necessity at taking two calculus classes?

Cr4zy

I took 2 math classes for a year. It was a pain in the ass. If it's both AP Calc and Pre-Cal, I really don't recommend it. Helps you with college, but seems very hard.

Carly

@Cap'n:

Why are you taking both Pre-Cal and AP Cal?

This is my question. O_o; There's a reason it's called pre-calculus, y'know.

Natty Bumppo

to answer a few questions:

oceanizer: i live in San Jose, which is 40 miles away from San Francisco. and i cant drop Bible or PE, because i have to take them both to graduate. >_<

to yokaiforte,Mr. prince, and Carly:

the Pre-Cal teacher, who also teaches AP Calculus will make the classes so that way we can take them both simutaneously.

hope that answers some questions.

Cap'n Carter

That makes no damn sense. There's no way Pre-Cal and AP Calculus are comparable, and if you haven't even taken Pre-Cal there's no way you're ready for AP Cal.

Natty Bumppo

i dunno.

all i know is that i am currently taking those two classes simutaneously.

I never said you had to believe me. I can show you my Calculus book if you want.

Cap'n Carter

It's not that i don't believe you, it just makes no sense.

Malintex_Terek

@Natty:

i am a senior in high school (>_<) and as almost any senior, i am stressing greratly on college. the following is my current (not permanent yet) schedule:

1st - Chemistry/Chemistry Lab
2nd - Pre-Calculus
3rd - Jr.Sr English
4th - Government/Economics
5th - Bible Class
7th- AP Calculus
8th - PE
9th - Yearbook

@Natty:

calculus sounds hard, but if it gets me into a UC college, i want to make sure i take it.

You're looking for entry into the University of California? If so, it's important to take a challenging Senior Year but nothing outrageous; Junior Year is really the time to take the hardest load.

I would say drop P.E. unless it's mandatory for your graduation. I'm also looking at this and wondering if you've taken Physics (typiclly a Senior year class) or any other A.P. classes prior to your Senior year. Additionally, I have no idea what "Jr. Sr. English" is, since that class is typically two classes known as "Junior Literature and Composition" and "Senior Literature and Composition".

@Cap'n:

That makes no damn sense.

I agree, it's very strange to do A.P. Calculus and Pre-Calculus simultaneously.

captain usopp

it is wierd, but I can see it being done if it's with the same teacher. The lessons in the class will just have to corospond with each other. It would have to be like "multiplication part 1 in the Pre class, and multiplication part 2 in the advanced class." I hope your good at math. I couldn't handle 2 math classes at once. (me=sucky at math)

Le Lawliet

Yeah, but the difference between a Pre and AP class isn't exactly the lessons, but as to how fast the topics go by.

Natty Bumppo

To Malintex Terek:

PE and Bible i have to take in order to graduate so i cant drop those. And i took Physics last year and passed with a B i believe, i am pretty sure it was an AP course. and Junior-Senior English is an english class combined with the Juniors and Seniors. we are all in the same class.

and i know its weird that i am taking Pre-Cal and AP Calc simutaneously, but the teacher said it was possible so that is what i am doing. although i might drop that class; everything goes over my head when he talks about limits, and infinity, and things like that. no wonder only 4 people are taking that class (including me).

hope that helps.

lorenzo

You have Pre-Calculus and AP Calculus?! Wow!! That requires a lot of time. Not that I've taken up calculus before (even the basic)., But my frined told me it's prettty time consuming.,

Natty Bumppo

It is; I have to be in bed by 8, but I am stuck doing more AP Calc homework for another hour or so.

It's barely the 2nd week of school and I am already getting nervous. :|

lorenzo

Good luck to you bro. And you should be proud of yourself for being able to witshtand those things in the early years of college. It will prepare you a lot better on third year (when hell starts). Meh I'm in third year med.tech ryt now and all I have are major subjects, and our cut-off is 75%. brrr…scary for me also.

Bounty1Berry

I'd have a closer look at the requisites for your preferred university.

I know where I went (my state's cheapest state-funded school), they wanted 4 years of maths, but that meant anything from first year algebra onwards, if not lower– so you could do Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Pre-Calc. No calc required.

I took the AP Calc class in 12th grade, but I had taken pre-calc in 11th. It was still a bear, but it did get me out of the first two terms of calculus at university.

Another issue: Transfer value. AP Calc for me was worth two classes I needed for my degree (Computer Science), but AP English got me mandatory English 101 and some weird English class which only filled, at best, some obscure general-studies requirement, or maybe even only the 'total hours' requirement.

If you want a foot ahead and don't want to take AP classes, you might also be able to take a CLEP exam once you enter college, for about the same price. I was able to pick up two years of Spanish despite only having taken to Spanish III in HS (Spanish 4 was tuned for the AP test IIRC)

Cr4zy

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