Should I drop out of AP US History?

Question

I'm a sophomore and this year I'm taking all honors and ap. I'm taking:
Honors Alg. 2
Honors Eng.
AP US Hist.
Spanish 3
Culinary Arts
Honors Bio.

Honors English and AP US History are co-hort classes. Meaning, if I drop out of one, I have to drop out of the other one.

I understand colleges are looking for students who are taking advance classes in High School, but for some reason, I'm not doing very well in history. I don't seem to have time to take notes on chapters of the American Pageant so I use the internet. I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I am having a hard time managing my time with other homework and after school activities. We get to use our notes for quizzes which are always pop-quizzes and I do poorly on them, C or lower. The reason being is that I don't have very good vocabulary skills so I have a hard time understanding the questions. Also, I'm a poor writer, I was never good at writing and I understand that writing is a big part of ap. Should I drop out?

I don't have time on my hand, after school I go to dance class four days a week, 2 hours each day and plus other homework from other classes that I have to do. I try to read the chapter and take my own notes, but when the deadline for each chapter is approaching, I print out the notes off the internet and take notes off of that.

My mom believes I should drop out, but then I'm afraid my schedule will be move around drastically. I really don't want that to happen.

I do try my best, but History was never a good subject for me. I think its just time management that is the problem. And when I don't get enough sleep, I tend to be very frustrated and can careless about schoolwork.

My other classes are fine, I either have a B+ or up to an A+. It's just History I'm very worried about, but then again, I did just came back from summer.

Honor classes add 5 points on transcripts and AP classes add 10.

I do have a study hall, which I forgot to mention, and I do do most of my homework there, but I get loaded with History homework and I can't cut back some dance classes, dancing has always been a part of my life. I need to go to dance class, but I do miss dance class if I do have tons of homework that day.

Answer 1

Don't do it. AP U.S. history and honors English will do so much more to prepare you for college. The earlier you learn how to handle coursework like that the better.

Take it from someone who knows. I could have done so much better, but now I'm stuck looking at low-level state schools and seating people at TGI Friday's.

Answer 2

Most colleges have a sliding scale considering your class rank and standardized test scores. Most high schools weight AP and Honors classes differently to reward students for taking them (by making them worth 4.5 or 5 points on a 4 points scale). If your school is like this, then a B in the honors class is worth an A for your GPA. Some schools even report the grade as an A to colleges you apply to!

So... if you care about what college you get into, consider this. If you drop out of honors English and History, will your class rank and GPA be higher or lower?

Also, and this might be hard, you might consider abandoning some of your extracurriculars.

Also, why not drop culinary arts for a study hall? Then you could use that hour to keep up with your history, plus, dropping the non-honors class could improve your class rank!

Answer 3

Don't drop it. I'm also taking APUSH. It's a great preparation for college and the class is harder than the AP test because your teacher is over preparing you. If you drop the class, it may be less work but your year will be wasted because you won't be prepared for anything. Just tough it out and get the college credit so you won't waste time and money in college. Best of luck in AP History!

Answer 4

Depends on what your major will be in college. If you are going into the sciences, then it won't be weighed as much. If you are planning on an English degree (unlikely from what you have said) then drop the advanced bio and focus on the history and english courses.

Don't bring down your whole average because of classes that aren't that important to you and your future.

Answer 5

dont do it. Im in IB which is way harder then most Honors/Ap. Just stop fooling around. I know if you really try you can make time to study Im taking 4 sciences and history, English, spanish 3 IB and IB calc. Sometimes I only get 4 hours of sleep but at least colleges will let me in. If you drop out you will completly ruin any chance you have of getting into anything besides a community college...

Answer 6

You need to talk to a counselor at school about this, not strangers on the internet. By this time, most schools will show you've dropped the courses from your schedule, so that will be something that will have to be explained.

Talk with your teachers. Good luck!

Answer 7

Don't do it. Stop using the internet(unreliable sources) in place of your book and class. Step back and become more focused. You will need the advanced classes for your college placement. It is worth it in the end. Hang in there. You still have time to improve your grades.

Answer 8

Don't do it man. I had that EXACT same schedule, and I dropped AP US History. Guess what type of food I am now flipping for minimum wage.

Answer 9

if its too hard then drop out, its not that important because you already have Honors Bio and Alg. 2, just focus on doing well in Hon. Bio and Alg. 2 and take regular his. and eng.

Answer 10

You should drop it. If u cant write good then your grades will suffer, when u should ace the academic classes.