It’s ok to prioritize other things like sports, clubs, jobs, or your mental health. In fact, it’s impressive if you are self-aware enough to know that it’s not the right time.

With that said, if you can commit the time, then you should take the class. Don’t be scared of it. APs are historically gate kept spaces advertised for “the smart kids”. F%*& that. Take the class. Prove them all wrong.

Follow the path the works for you.

How many AP classes should I plan to take?

The best advice here is DO NOT GO WILD. We know the pressure is high to be competitive for college applications, but you also need to protect yourself from burn out. It’s WAYY better to do really well in less classes than tank your GPA taking a bunch.

Go easy on yourself. Only take what you can feasibly handle.

There is absolutely no magic number that will guarantee you admission because there’s a lot more context about you that the college will consider. For example, maybe you spend time making an impact on your community or you get really involved in a specific club. Those are great for applications and paired with a few classes would be excellent.

Colleges want to see that you are challenging yourself where you can, so we’re going to go out on a limb here and suggest 4 as your goal number — an average of 1 AP class per year.

It’s a reasonable, achievable goal. It will show that you are actively looking for a challenge.

If you want to take more, go for it! Just do what’s right for you.

Suggested Schedule

We truly can’t say this enough — take what you want, when you want.

But to help guide you, we looked at the data below on when students usually take each class and created this handy schedule for you.

Grade	Most Popular Options	Other Common Options
9th	AP Human Geography
10th	AP World History: Modern	AP Computer Science Principles, AP European History, AP Seminar
11th	AP Chemistry, AP English Language, AP Physics 1, AP US History	AP Computer Science A, AP Environmental Science, AP Music Theory
12th	AP Calculus AB/BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Literature, AP US Government	AP Comparative Government, AP Psychology, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Statistics, World Language

AP Classes by Grade

There are no official prerequisites for any class. You can theoretically take any AP any year.

But, there’s a common progression that allows for content + skill building. It also aligns with how schools typically move you through courses, so you’re with other students in your grade.

This is the summary of 2023 AP students:

Middle school → 0.29%
Freshmen → 9.78%
Sophomores → 22.75%
Juniors → 35.22%
Seniors → 31.88%

Here’s the full breakdown of every AP subject by grade.

Subject	Most common year	Freshman	Sophomore	Junior	Senior
🚜 AP Human Geography	Freshman	71.34%	15.46%	6.19%	6.72%
🇪🇺 AP European History	Sophomore	1.67%	65.82%	14.04%	18.42%
🌍 AP World History: Modern	Sophomore	10.31%	80.09%	7.43%	2.13%
💬 AP Seminar	Sophomore	2.90%	47.14%	43.86%	6.08%
⌨️ AP Computer Science P	Sophomore, Junior, Senior	14.98%	29.29%	29.57%	25.93%
🇨🇳 AP Chinese	Sophomore, Junior, Senior	19.88%	26.76%	28.49%	23.80%
✍🏽 AP English Language	Junior	0.12%	5.12%	86.68%	8.02%
🎡 AP Physics 1	Junior	1.49%	11.62%	59.94%	26.84%
🇺🇸 AP US History	Junior	1.12%	15.88%	80.57%	2.40%
🖼️ AP Art History	Junior, Senior	2.98%	22.22%	33.50%	41.16%
🧬 AP Biology	Junior, Senior	2.84%	16.43%	40.90%	39.71%
🧪 AP Chemistry	Junior, Senior	0.42%	13.19%	55.85%	30.24%
💻 AP Computer Science A	Junior, Senior	2.67%	21.34%	38.91%	36.76%
♻️ AP Environmental Science	Junior, Senior	4.29%	8.06%	41.61%	45.91%
🎶 AP Music Theory	Junior, Senior	1.99%	15.27%	34.92%	47.66%
🧠 AP Psychology	Junior, Senior	1.27%	15.57%	38.66%	44.39%
🔍 AP Research	Junior, Senior	0.03%	2.18%	39.73%	58.01%
🇪🇸 AP Spanish Language	Junior, Senior	7.14%	19.23%	36.39%	33.38%
💃🏽 AP Spanish Literature	Junior, Senior	2.84%	13.71%	35.21%	48.15%
🎨 AP Art & Design: Drawing	Senior	0.40%	5.91%	28.69%	64.92%
🎨 AP Art & Design: 2D	Senior	0.88%	6.49%	27.92%	64.59%
🎨 AP Art & Design: 3D	Senior	0.56%	4.30%	22.37%	72.59%
♾️ AP Calculus AB	Senior	0.41%	4.30%	32.70%	62.28%
♾️ AP Calculus BC	Senior	0.63%	6.37%	33.81%	58.79%
🗳️ AP Comparative Government	Senior	1.02%	8.98%	24.83%	65.01%
📚 AP English Literature	Senior	0.05%	0.96%	14.58%	84.29%
🇫🇷 AP French	Senior	4.04%	9.67%	28.20%	57.37%
🇩🇪 AP German	Senior	3.77%	10.88%	22.83%	61.74%
🇮🇹 AP Italian	Senior	2.31%	4.97%	14.80%	77.29%
🇯🇵 AP Japanese	Senior	11.59%	22.43%	25.51%	39.98%
🏛️ AP Latin	Senior	0.35%	7.65%	35.76%	56.17%
💵 AP Macroeconomics	Senior	0.74%	5.67%	18.60%	74.76%
🤑 AP Microeconomics	Senior	1.43%	11.62%	27.35%	59.30%
💡 AP Physics C: E&M	Senior	0.14%	2.07%	19.88%	77.32%
⚙️ AP Physics C: Mechanics	Senior	0.19%	3.24%	26.89%	69.16%
🧲 AP Physics 2	Senior	0.26%	6.03%	30.35%	62.91%
📊 AP Statistics	Senior	0.29%	5.05%	21.06%	73.41%
🧑🏽‍⚖️ AP US Government	Senior	4.07%	12.28%	17.27%	66.28%

AP Courses that Pair Well Together

There is LOTS of crossover between classes. Some concepts come up over and over again. Here are some pairs that work well together, plus highlights of content that overlap:

AP Biology with AP Environmental Science
- Biological processes and ecosystems
- Interaction of living organisms with their environment
AP Biology with AP Psychology
- Biological bases of behavior
- Influence of genetics on behavior
AP Art History with AP World History: Modern
- Interplay between historical events and art evolution
- Cultural and societal developments reflected in art and history
AP US Government with AP Macroeconomics
- Impact of governmental policies on the economy
- Economic reasoning in political contexts
AP English Language with AP US History
- Analytical reading and writing skills
- Understanding of rhetorical strategies in historical texts
AP Human Geography with AP Environmental Science
- Human impact on the environment
- Spatial patterns and ecological processes
AP Physics 1 with AP Precalculus
- Algebraic problem-solving in physical contexts
- Application of mathematical concepts to physics
AP Physics 1 with AP Calculus AB
- Conceptual overlap in motion and rates of change
- Enhanced comprehension of physics through calculus principles
AP Research with AP Statistics
- Statistical analysis in research
- Design and interpretation of data in studies
AP Statistics with AP Precalculus
- Data analysis techniques
- Mathematical foundations for statistical reasoning
AP Computer Science Principles with AP Computer Science A
- Core computing concepts and application
- Programming and computational thinking
AP Computer Science Principles with AP Precalculus
- Algorithmic problem-solving
- Logical reasoning and mathematics in computing
AP Computer Science A with AP Calculus AB
- Problem-solving in programming and calculus
- Application of mathematical concepts in computer science

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