Can Anyone Offer Me Some High School Course Advice?

"JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!" (jqj213) 02/03/2015 at 09:50 • Filed to: school, english, help, advice

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Well I'm going to be a senior next year. I am struggling with picking an English course to take. I want to know from you, which you prefer: AP Lit, AP Lang, or ENC 1101/1102? I don't really want to take basic English 4. The only reason I didn't do DE this year was I hated the teacher. Opinions and advice greatly appreciated.

spanfucker retire bitch > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:54

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It's not English, but if you haven't already - and your school offers it - I suggest you take a typing class to properly teach you how to touch type.

Of course, if you already know how, never mind. The typing class I took when I was a senior was probably one of the best classes I took in all of high school.

georgia10 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:56

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Take an AP course so that you can hopefully get credit for college next year.

Nibby > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:57

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I took regular English instead of AP English... I had a 60-something year old woman as a teacher and she was super chill. We'd crack necrophilia jokes together.

qbeezy > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:57

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Pick the one the college you plan on attending will take as credit. Will save you money down the road and graduate college a little less in debt.

Sir Halffast > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:57

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If you can do AP, always do AP and take the exam. Because college credit. I started college with 23 credits (1 shy of a full sophomore), I still stayed four years, but at a much reduced load (max 16 hours instead of 18). If you push it, you can easily finish a year early and get on with life.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > georgia10 02/03/2015 at 09:57

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Well I'm already in DE History (1010/1020) and get the 6 credits for it (you take the college course on the high school campus). Im taking AP Gov and AP Econ as well next year... so its not like that would be my only college credits.

TheHondaBro > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:58

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It's really just whether or not you want the Advanced Placement credits. If you do, then take one of the AP courses. If not, take the regular one.

SVTyler > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:58

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Take whichever one gives you college credit, all you need is a 4 on the AP exam and you can skip freshman English which saves you money and time, both of which are in short supply during college.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > TheHondaBro 02/03/2015 at 09:59

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Im taking AP Gov and Econ next year as well. So I can handle the workload; I just dont like English too much in general honestly.. mainly because Ive never had a good English teacher

Rainbow > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 09:59

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I personally prefer Lang, but that's not something I feel comfortable recommending. Do you prefer reading (Lit) or writing (Lang)? You'll do a lot of both regardless, most likely, but the main focus is going to be one or the other.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Sir Halffast 02/03/2015 at 10:00

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Yeah thats my goal. Im taking US History (AMH) 1010/1020 this year and am getting 6 credits for it. I'm taking AP gov and AP Econ next year as well.

Im trying to get out of school as quickly and cheaply as possible

E. Julius > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:00

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Is ENC 1101/1102 a college level course? If so, definitely do that one. Almost every college requires basic composition classes. If you can get it out of the way and transfer the credits that will save you from taking what is usually a pretty terrible class in college. If not, then I would suggest whichever AP class allows you to do the same (I'm assuming AP Lang), although depending on how good the teacher is/how good of a student you are it's not guaranteed you'll be able to get college credit.

My AP english class in high school was actually pretty decent. Didn't do shit to prepare me for the exam (which I got a 4 on anyways), but we read some great books and did some useful writing exercises.

TheHondaBro > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:00

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The credits, should youtake and pass the AP exam, count towards college. Again, it's primarily up to you.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > E. Julius 02/03/2015 at 10:03

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Yeah.. I was going to take ENC 1101/1102 this year but the teacher really annoyed me.. he was horrible and lazy and like 1/4 of the class dropped out because of it.

AP will give me the college credits as long as I pass the final exam. The ENC is nice because I get the credits without taking the big test at the end.

Both lang and lit offer me credits but I've heard mixed reviews on both teachers offering it.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > qbeezy 02/03/2015 at 10:04

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Thats the most annoying part: the school Im planning on going to will take any of the three!

Sir Halffast > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:04

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It's worth it. Those tests are legit though, so don't forget to study for them. That said, my final semester of college was 8 hours (because I needed one 2 hour class for my Econ minor and a 2 hour PE credit). My other classes? A for-fun history class, golf, and ballroom dancing.

E. Julius > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:05

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Or do what I did and come in hot with a bunch of credits and take 5 years. Ten light semesters of 12 credits + whatever random music or sport class I wanted to take including a year abroad. When you're 25 you might not wish you gave up that extra year. Or you might be wishing you saved the thousands of dollars if you do what I did. Goes both ways I guess. Just something to consider.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Sir Halffast 02/03/2015 at 10:05

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That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. I plan on going in for buisness and I want to tey and minor in marketing as well. Eventually the plan is to start my own business and go with that.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > E. Julius 02/03/2015 at 10:07

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Honestly a good point I never really thought of. My biggest complaint about school now is how useless what I learn is to me... so thats why I just want to get to college and start learning stuff I WILL USE. I plan on majoring in business and minoring in marketing and eventually will start my own business up.

E. Julius > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:08

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If you're smart enough you can handle the test regardless of the teacher. It was the teacher's first year teaching AP when I had her, and she didn't go over ~50% of what would be on the exam. Same with my AP bio class. Teacher pretty much covered like 50% of the exam and I just filled the rest in with what I read in the textbook.

Brian Silvestro > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:09

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I took AP English, but my teacher gave no fucks. Very easy class

Sir Halffast > E. Julius 02/03/2015 at 10:09

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That's the one thing I regret actually, was not pushing for the semester in Aberdeen, Scotland that I'd hoped to do. I was comfortable and a bit intimidated about going abroad (this was before everyone had cell phones in the early 2000s), and let that get the better of me. DEFINITELY plan to study abroad. And, based on subsequent experience, it's fun going places with friends, but it can be even better if you go alone and force yourself to meet new folk instead of carrying around your own little bubble.

Luke's Dad Sold His 2000TL To Get a Sienna > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:10

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Take AP Language. I didn't get any useful credit for my AP Literature 4 score, but AP Language should cover one of the required English courses early on in your college career.

Always take AP courses, math, science, are the most useful. I needed things called Block classes at Tulsa where they try and make you learn different things so I got AP credit for history classes too. Cut a year off my 5 year Petroleum Engineering degree. That's $36,000.

Scary__goongala! > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:11

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I took AP Lit my senior yr because the level one class was a joke. I'm not that great of a writer and hate being forced to read certain books, but i still got a B. If you think you can handle it, AP classes are always good to take in the long run.

AJ Feldman (alecmets2011) > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:14

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I didn't even take an Ap class in high school

I'm saving that stuff for college

Where do you plan on going?

E. Julius > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:14

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Be prepared for a lot of bullshit classes in business school too. Some stuff you learn (accounting, how to read financial statements, fancy excel stuff) you will use in a business setting, but a lot of it is theoretical stuff that is really difficult to apply in the real world. The good thing about college though is that you have the opportunity to take classes that, although not "useful", are very interesting. I've taken all sorts of classes that had nothing to do with my major (gender studies, linguistics, jazz guitar to name a few) and those have been some of my favorite courses. Courses like these can also be very helpful in that they teach you to think in different ways. Though once again, that requires time and money so it varies depending on each individual's situation.

MIATAAAA > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:15

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Take the APs. The more college credit, the better.

As an added bonus at my university, you get to sign up for classes based on your technical year (based on hours). So they considered you a sophomore if you had more than 12 or 15 hours (I cannot remember).

I came in with the right amount and got to take all the classes I wanted, which filled up by the time most of the other "freshman" got to sign up for them.

E. Julius > Sir Halffast 02/03/2015 at 10:15

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Haha I took a ballroom dancing class a year ago as well. I always try and take at least one class like that (racquetball, yoga, tennis, dance, guitar) a semester.

dogisbadob > Nibby 02/03/2015 at 10:17

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why am I not surprised? :p

dogisbadob > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:17

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AP Lang

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:17

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What's the course curriculum for AP Lit? Is it American lit or British lit? If it's American lit, it's really not a bad course. If it's British lit, take something else. Anything else. British lit sucks. And this is coming from someone who was an English major.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:20

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It seems like all 3 will give college credit, right?

Take the one you hate the most now, get it out of the way. I'm not sure what the third option covers, is it both Lit and Lang? Do that one then!

georgia10 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:21

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That's awesome, I had friends that went in to college starting out as a sophomores because they had so much credit built up. It can never hurt to have more. Plus that would allow you to graduate early or maybe take a couple of courses that might interest you but not necessarily build towards your major.

Nisman > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:22

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Take what you're most interested in. The college courses will be the easiest, but AP lit could be pretty cool.

Mr. FiSTer of Team FiST Fetish > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:23

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Drop out and join the circus, our nation's public schools are just the systematic supression of the individual.

Anon > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:25

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Do AP lit! (I say this as someone that's a junior engilsh student in college.)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:30

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ENC. Should be easy to get through, and you're guaranteed college credit.

Sir Halffast > E. Julius 02/03/2015 at 10:32

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"they teach you to think in different ways."

I 3000% support this statement.

macanamera > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 10:33

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I took AP Lang, took the AP tests for both Lang and Lit, got 5s on both. Boom.

911e46z06 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 12:19

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AP all the way. Take nothing but AP classes. Trust me, you'll want the free time in college.

yamahog > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/03/2015 at 12:46

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Then frontload all the credits you can handle in high school. I came in with 28 and one of my girlfriends who did the same graduated with a ChemE degree in 3.5 years.

She's inhuman though, I took 4 years for my aero degree.

If you really want to cut costs, do your first 1-2 years at a decent CC, get perfect grades, transfer. This backfired really badly for a high school friend who didn't get into the business schools she wanted after CC even though she got into very good ones after high school since the local college was shitty.

Captain_Overboost > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/04/2015 at 11:58

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I can't offer you any advice about what class(es) to take, other than to reiterate what some of the others have already said. If you have an opportunity to take class(es) that will give you additional college credits, and you can handle the course load, take the dual credit courses. My son did and it's paying of big time now in him ripping through college. Now, that being said, I did want to address one thing you posted that stuck out to me.

"My biggest complaint about school now is how useless what I learn is to me..."

I hear this so often, and it's (to a great degree at least) so totally incorrect. Now, of course, there will always be some random class that may, literally, never be of use to you but that being said, trust me, I'm guessing you're 17 or 18? You've got a long way to go before you can say what's going to be "useless" to you later on in life. Before someone tells me to get off my high horse, believe me, I said the same things at your age so I'm not trying to be condescending so please don't take my advice that way. I thought the same things, everyone does I suppose, but, 30 years of life between then and now have shown me how wrong I was.

"I plan on majoring in business and minoring in marketing and eventually will start my own business up."

I own and operate my own business so, just as an example, those sociology or psych classes you may have to take and find utterly worthless now (examples from my own personal history), will one day give you an insight, or the foundation to understand someone's behavior well enough to trigger that epiphany when you're dealing with an upset customer or a totally unreasonable employee. And, you'll suddenly see that the info you had tucked away in the (almost) forgotten recesses of your brain, wasn't that "useless" after all. You just didn't realize then how you'd use it because, frankly, you were 18 and didn't have the life experience to know where and when you'd need it.

I guess what I'm saying breaks down fairly simple. I don't know anyone who has ever said they regretted knowing TOO much. But, I'm pretty confident in saying there are plenty of people who wish they had just known that one. more. thing. Learn everything you can while you have the chance, your brain bucket will wire all that info together and use it whether your realize it at the time or not. The real world is a bitch and a cruel mistress. So give yourself every advantage to come out on top.

Hope that helps.

Tl;dr? There's not much that's not worth knowing. Want to know more than that? Learn to read. lol Took me less than a minute to read those few paragraphs.

Slant6 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/04/2015 at 19:23

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At my school AP english is a joke. It's a mixed class with honors english. Honors kids get an extra letter grade to compensate for the AP parts. It's the easiest AP class and if you know how to read/ think a little about what your're reading then you will do fine. AP language was more American literature and AP lit was British literature. I liked the american literature better.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Slant6 02/04/2015 at 19:26

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Oh wow so its very different than our program. Lang here is no literature... pure nonfiction speeches and essays. Lit is only American literature, which I cant stand

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > 911e46z06 02/04/2015 at 19:30

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I'm already taking AP gov and AP econ.. I may end up taking AP Psych as well but not sure on that yet.

I think lang would be better for me

Slant6 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/04/2015 at 19:35

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For what it's worth I got a 3 on the AP Language exam without studying. American literature was entertaining for me. I had a good class where we had legit conversations about the books we were reading.

911e46z06 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 02/04/2015 at 20:08

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Take as many as you can. I loaded up on 'em and took a light schedule all through college, still had to pick up a minor so I wouldn't graduate early. Many good times were had.