Do Colleges have A lot Of Parties?

Do colleges prefer students who take a lot of AP classes or...?

• Do colleges prefer students who take a lot of AP classes or students who take classes that relate mainly to what they want to major in? My sophmore year is almost coming to an end and a few months ago I told my counselor I wanted to take AP Calc AB, AP Chem, AP Eng, and AP US History. I've recently been doing some thinking and have been listening to my friends on what they think about these classes and they say AP U.S. is a lot of work. I understand that it's obviously an AP class and I should be expecting a lot of work, but if I spend too many hours on one subject I won't have as much time to focus on my other classes that are way more important to me and what I want to major in (biology, chemistry, or both; not sure yet). People keep telling me that it’s going to be very good for college acceptances but I’m thinking that this is just a history class and it has nothing to do with what I want to be. Well, history is interesting to me but I find that I should be focusing on math and science mainly and then English second and history last. Do you think taking a regular U.S. History class would be okay or would it make my acceptance into a college way lower? How much of an impact would a history class really make? By the way I would like to be a vet mainly but my parents prefer me being a pharmacist. [ That info was just some things about my background-ish just in case you needed it]

• Answer:

  Don't need to listen to the other answer. We all have crazy friends who can push themselves to do these things, but not everyone can or wants to do that. For example, my friend is valedictorian, plays football, president of Honors Society and Key club, took 12 AP tests in senior year alone, and got a full ride to Harvard. Is that great? Yes. But would I be able to do that? No. Go with what you feel like you can handle and what you want. It seems like you know what you are doing so don't worry too much about one AP class that's not related to your major. I did the same thing as you. Took AP science classes and skipped the AP history. For one thing, most colleges wouldn't even require you to have history credits for a science major. You are basically wasting the money for the AP test for things like since it'll just be counted as an elective class, and there are much funner/relevant elective classes to take. Secondly, AP history class was totally boring and dreadful at our school. Not saying yours will be like this, but all they did was outline chapters and did pointless crossword puzzles for extra credit. Stick with what you have now with the AP Cal, Chem, and Eng. It's a good load, and it gives your time to do/look at college applications, visit campuses, participate in volunteering/clubs/other activities, and fill out scholarships. Those are all much more important things for your junior year.