What are thoughts on computer science as a major? With the advancement in AI… Does it still make sense to pursue it?

High School AP Class - or - Dual Enrollment @ Community College??

Typing this as a California parent with a daughter (2028) who plans on applying to various UCs and a handful of out-of-state colleges.

I see varying pro and con answers to this question from college counselors online:

"... college admissions prefer to see AP classes taken at the high school over CC classes ..."

"... college admissions prefer to see CC classes over AP classes because it shows that the student is able to take and succeed at college courses ..."

"... BLAH, BLAH, BLAH..."

Now I would like to hear from parents and/or college students their experiences.

ughh i just got out of a virtual meeting with my college counselor and have been sort of spiraling i guess

so when i was in 8th grade selecting courses for my high school, i had no idea what i wanted to do (because what thirteen year old does??) anyways i applied for an honours art course as my required elective and got in

now i want to study neuroscience but since i took such a rigorous and advanced art course ive kind of just been taking more and more art courses that have little to do with my major

college counselor basically made fun of me for not choosing the CS path because art doesn't really have anything to do with the rest of my application its kind of just a "lets stress you tf out and gaslight you into thinking you're enjoying it" class i picked because i wanted to do something fun and rigorous

a key part of it is a 40 hour project you do every year OUTSIDE of school so it's impressive ig but also sooo hard for an elective that doesn't have as much to do with my major

convince me i didn't make a mistake by choosing art over CS

obviously art has an impact on your brain but from a logical standpoint... CS is more useful

Hey everyone, I’m a rising senior at a super competitive high school in Jersey, and I need some honest advice about my schedule. I want to major in business and am aiming for top 35 schools like USC, UMich, and UNC.
This year I’m taking a bunch of APs, including AP Stats. I’m trying to decide if I actually need to take AP Calc AB. A lot of people told me to skip it because taking AP Stats and AP Calc at the same time is just unnecessarily doubling up on math. But at my school, the pressure is crazy. A ton of kids take AP Calc BC junior year, so I feel like I'm falling behind if I don't take it. I’m getting totally mixed signals. Some people say skipping Calc won't hurt my chances at all since I have Stats and a hard schedule overall, but others say T30 business programs really want to see Calculus. Will skipping AP Calc AB actually hurt my applications, or am I overthinking this?

additionally i would also take physics so it would be 3 math courses 🙂

I have to opt to take Pre-Calc next semester and then take Calc 1 in the summer before uni. Is this fine or is taking a class after I've graduated bad? Things just happened at the wrong time (Family member passed away) and I didn't know how important taking calc was for college admissions so I missed deadline for schedule change. Maxed out every other subject (English, SS, Science). Should I explain this in additional info?

I plan to major in Econ. And I take dual enrollment classes

Parent of a middle schooler who has been offered the opportunity to take a high school level honors math course this coming fall. However, to add that coursework, student would have to forego taking a foreign language. Even if they decide to take a foreign language later in H.S., likely will not be with their classmates who will be one year ahead.

I did some quick googling and it looks like most top universities are looking for at least 2-3 years of foreign language.

So, with an eye towards college applications for a high achieving student, would you forego 8th grade foreign language in order to get ahead in math? My initial gut is yes, but interested in other thoughts.

TIA.

For context, my school offers 25 AP classes and I’m looking to apply to T20s. My school only allows freshman to take APHUG so I will graduate with 1 freshman year, 3 sophomore year, 4 junior year, and 5 senior year. I will graduate with 10 dual enrollment classes as well.

13 is definitely on the higher end, but I have friends that will take 17 or 18. Will my schedule still be considered max rigor?

Parent of an incoming Freshman here. Just received the course schedule today, and noticed the foreign language that my kid requested (and even second choice foreign language) is not on there. Got PE/Health instead.

Kid was considering taking three years of foreign language before Senior year so that they don't have to worry about it then, but that plan appears to be foiled now. My question is: should they even take 3 years, or is this mostly unnecessary? He's a good student, but we likely can't afford UC's anyway. What's the workload in the third, more advanced language year? Is the 3rd year really hard unless you're a native speaker or is it ok if you're fine with language in general?

Wondering if I should inquire with the school if it's even still possible to change from PE to foreign language for 9th grade, and have four years of Lacrosse for one PE credit, and PE/Health be an easy A and another credit in senior year. Would it be worth the hassle? What are the odds they'll actually change it? Would appreciate your input on this.

I’m a rising senior who wants to major in environmental engineering, and my current schedule is:
1. AP Bio
2. AP Stat
3. AP Lit
4. Orchestra
5. APES
6. AP Micro/Macro

I took Calc AB during junior year and was wondering if I should replace either AP Stat or Micro/Macro with BC, since it offers Calc II credits in some schools. I know micro macro might seem random but it’s a class that I’ve been wanting to take for a bit, but I’m conflicted on its value. I also heard that statistics isn’t exactly a core class but knowing how to analyze data will be very important.

In addition, does anyone have recommendations for undergrad schools on the east coast that are great for environmental engineering besides the research triangle or any of the ivies?

I'm about to go to college and I'm picking my subjects, but I'm hearing so many people call all of them mickey mouse subjects and that I'm not gonna go anywhere with them and it's made me feel quite disheartened. I'm doing law, politics, and english language.

My 3 reach schools are Emory, NYU, and UMich, and I’m trying to decide whether I should take Spanish for all 4 years of high school or stop after 3. My high school only requires 3 years of a foreign language, but my college counselor is strongly encouraging me to take a 4th year because it would show more rigor. However, my senior schedule is already pretty full. I’m taking 2 science courses (one advanced and one college prep), 2 history/social science courses, psychology, another course my school offers, math, English, and band. I’m also planning to apply for nursing/pre-nursing, so I’m wondering how much a 4th year of Spanish actually matters for my intended major.

Would taking only 3 years of Spanish hurt me significantly at Emory, NYU, or UMich, especially since I’m taking additional science/social science courses instead? Or would 4 years be noticeably better from an admissions/rigor standpoint? For context, my school only requires 3 years, so I wouldn’t be going below my school’s graduation requirement. I’m mainly wondering whether the extra Spanish year is worth giving up the space in my schedule.

both sophomore and junior year Im taking 6 APs, but my sophomore year schedule is more rigorous. My hardest classes sophomore year are probably BC or physics, but junior year it will probably be stats or apes or maybe lang but im applying CS. My school does offer calc 3 and physics C but im not taking those because calc 3 has cooked many peoples GPAs and the physics teachers at my school are pretty terrible. Is this fine, or will it hurt my chances?

Edit: taking 20 APs through high school, and calc 3 senior year so course rigor is not an issue.

For a long time, I’ve had a strong interest in math, physics, CS, and chemistry, so I originally thought I would pursue an engineering degree, most likely MechE or ChemE. However, with the rapid development of AI and the changes happening in the engineering job market, I’ve started considering the medical route as well. I’ve also been somewhat curious about biology, so I don’t think taking the pre-med prerequisites alongside an engineering degree would be a major issue for me in terms of difficulty of doing biochem classes

I know that both paths are in a lot about getting relevant experience through internships, research, labs, etc. At the same time, I feel that havng needed academics for both is already a significant part of keeping both options open. Even if I graduate without having enough experience to immediately enter either field, I could potentially spend some time after undergrad building the experience and skills needed for whichever direction I ultimately choose. That would also give me more time to figure out which career actually suits me better.

+ I also believe that an engineering-heavy background could be an interesting profile if I eventually apply to medical school, as it seems to me that most people with interest for engineering on pre-med track are choosing bioengineering, which I personally don't find as exciting to pursue as mechanical or chemical engineering degree

Overall, I’m considering engineering + pre-med as a way of keeping both options open rather than deciding rn. Does it seem to be a worthy plan or nah?

Basically the title. I heard that colleges won’t consider my AP chinese as much because I’m a native speaker and they want to see students continuing language. I’ve taken spanish all four years of middle school, so I’m wondering whether it’s worth it to continue spanish in high school even after taking the AP chinese test or if AP chinese is already enough. Also editing this now, but I am chinese american, so would I still count as a native chinese speaker?

hi everyone, im a senior and i currently have a 70 in ap calc ab. i really want to drop ap calc ab and it’ll show up as a W on my transcript, which stands for withdrawal. Will that affect my chances of getting into a good university?

once i drop it, it’s either i go into normal calc or just not take the class at all. i’m planning to major in business.

Hi, I’m Tasnim from Bangladesh, and I’m currently in 11th grade in the Commerce group. I want to study Computer Science in the USA or Canada. Since my Commerce curriculum doesn’t include many STEM subjects, I’m planning to take AP courses to strengthen my background.

Which AP courses should I take for Computer Science, and how many AP courses would be recommended?

Will I be cooked if I didn't take math in senior year? I've completed up to AP Precalc. I'm applying for Chapel hill and I've taken almost all of the science and biology courses at my school.

Due to these two classes overlapping, which course should I take? I am a senior interested in majoring in Mechanical Engineering and I know AP Calc BC is the big engineering AP. I also took AB last year and I could just self study BC. Would not taking BC really look bad.

I take Biology, Chemistry, Economics and I’m predicted A*A*A.
Midway through year 12 I realised my interested changed from medicine to finance/economics and I’m looking to apply mainly for Economics & finance (where offered) at Top 20 schools, mainly Columbia Dartmouth Brown Georgetown, etc.
How does not taking Math A level impact me? Does it remove all top 20 schools from my list or will they look at things like the SAT instead (haven’t taken the SAT yet but scoring 720+ on practises in Math)

edit: applying domestic as US citizen

-Ap world History
-Ap literature
-Ap psychology (one semester curriculum)
-Ap precalc
-Ap statistics
-Dual enrollment chemistry (tried to take ap chem but my counselor told me I had to take an honors or dual enrollment course first 😔)
-photography (needed the art credit/one semester)
-microbiology and genetics (one semester)

online:
-personal finance (needed the credit/one semester)
-sociology (one semester)

I know I’m kinda taking a lot of “unnecessary” courses but I really want to add as many courses to my gpa before senior year

I want to major in history, taking AP African-American Studies, AP World, APUSH, AP Lit, and AP Lang. Also honors French, because the school doesn’t have AP for that. Would this course selection be good enough for applying at a t20 or is the rigor too low?

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to finalize my junior year schedule and I'm stuck between taking AP Environmental Science (APES) or Spanish 3.

Here's my current schedule:

• AP Calculus BC
• AP Computer Science Principles
• AP Physics 1
• Principles of Engineering
• English 3
• Dual Enrollment Python (Saddleback College)

If I take APES, I'll have five AP/college-level classes this year, but I'll stop Spanish after Spanish 2.

If I take Spanish 3, I'll have one fewer AP class, but I'd complete three years of the same language.

For context:

• I'm aiming for UCs and other selective colleges as a STEM/engineering or computer science applicant.
• I earned A's in Spanish 1 and Spanish 2.
• I know many colleges recommend three years of the same language, but I'm also trying to maximize academic rigor.
• My school counselor said either option is acceptable, but I'm still unsure which would be stronger overall.

If you were in my position, which would you choose? Would stopping after Spanish 2 significantly hurt my application, or is taking another AP course the better choice?

I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from people familiar with UC admissions or who had to make a similar decision. Thanks!

I’m applying as an EE major but i was wondering if i should take a ap chem or take my fourth year of chinese; it would be ap chinese.

I’m currently a freshman, and I want to major in history. Should I take a math or science AP course or stick to the humanities ones? Classes I will definitely be taking are AP World, APUSH, AP African-American Studies, and AP Lit. I may take AP Bio or AP Psych too. Should I take any advanced math/science or stick to history and English? I’ll also be taking honors French (they don’t offer AP French).

I’m not sure whether to drop physics and focus on these classes or take them all for my senior year. I’m most definitely taking biology, calc, and chemistry, and I love physics so much, but a lot of people keep telling me that it’ll be way too hard and that I shouldn’t push myself for my senior year. I love these subjects though, and some people say this is an average college freshman schedule, so I’m not entirely sure what I should do.