It’s almost course selection season, and for rising juniors, that means handpicking the classes that will make up the most important year of your high school career. With so many options to choose from, it can be difficult to decide what will work best for you in the future. To help facilitate this process, I have written reviews on the courses I have taken or am currently taking. Hopefully, this guide grants some valuable insight into which courses are best for you.

AP United States History

APUSH is a pretty iconic junior year class. The notes are the main irk when it comes to this course. They are fairly time-consuming and can easily pile up if you do not follow the pacing guide. The class takes a multi-faceted approach to teaching history, which includes group projects, DBQs (Document-Based Questions), quizzes, and class discussions. This variety of engagement makes this class an enjoyable experience overall! The key to succeeding in APUSH is realizing that history is not just a bunch of dates and names: It’s a narrative, and to truly understand history, you need to understand the story. This is why memorization is not the priority on tests, as seen among some other AP classes.

AP Physics 1

Ah, the infamous AP Physics 1… This is no doubt a challenging class. Physics features a combination of traditionally conceptual science and math, which is why it can be so difficult. Also, unlike biology and chemistry, there is no precursor to AP Physics 1, unless you count the physics units covered in eighth grade. It all seems so new, which is why keeping track of the workload is imperative to doing well. Slight confusion in one chapter will haunt you for the rest of the year unless you ask questions right when they arise. The curriculum is largely cumulative, meaning one unit builds up from the next. For those who want to challenge themselves, this course is well worth it. With consistent effort and studying, success in AP Physics 1 is definitely possible!

AP Chemistry

If you enjoyed chemistry in 10th grade, AP Chemistry is definitely a good class to consider. Junior year is also arguably the best year to take this course because the information from chemistry is still fresh from sophomore year. This is personally my favorite class. The labs are highly engaging and offer valuable experience working with various scientific instruments. It is not as heavy on memorization as Honors Chemistry because the focus is placed on conceptual understanding. It is important to note that this class requires just as much effort as any other core class. Alongside physics, the mental strain can grow tiresome. However, the AP Chemistry teachers are considerate of the AP Physics 1 schedule, and there is rarely, if ever, any overlap between major tests.

AP Biology

This class is ideal for those who enjoyed biology in ninth grade. There is, however, a significant increase in difficulty between these two classes that most students notice almost immediately. The labs are extensive because most are done from scratch. The tests are also much heavier on conceptual understanding, unlike the memorization-based tests in freshman year. As someone who loves biology, I enjoyed this class. The labs may have exhausted me at the time, but overall, they helped me understand how a true lab report must be written, which is a skill we must all develop at some point.

AP Seminar

I would say that this class is the most unique one I have taken as of yet. It is rather untraditional since there are not any tests or quizzes like one would normally expect. Instead, we research, analyze, and present. Group work is a major component of this class. As someone who usually hates group projects, I actually enjoy this class environment more than I ever imagined. It is a class that you will generally look forward to attending. Amidst the chaos and information cramming that I face in my other classes, AP Seminar offers a period to simply collect my thoughts. Procrastination is, however, a pretty prevalent issue for those who take Seminar. The deadlines approach sooner than you’d think. Make good use of your class time so that you will not have to suffer on Sunday night (I definitely don’t speak from experience…). If you pass AP Seminar, you can take AP Research the following year (which is why this class is great for incoming juniors to consider).

This is my review of the classes that I have taken or am currently taking. Do you want to talk about AP classes you’ve taken that are not listed here? If so, you can write a similar article about your own experiences with the other APs since course selection time is fast approaching!