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. This includes newer options like AP African American Studies and AP Precalculus too, though what’s actually available still depends on your school.

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

AP Classes by Grade

Most AP courses do not have College Board-enforced enrollment prerequisites, and schools set their own placement policies. However, some AP courses have recommended prior coursework or skills, and AP Research is typically taken after AP Seminar as part of the AP Capstone sequence. In practice, what you can take also depends on your school's offerings and requirements.

The percentages below are based on 2023 AP exam participant data and show when students most commonly took each exam; they are descriptive trends, not requirements.

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 African American Studies	Sophomore, Junior	—	—	—	—
🇪🇺 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 Principles	Sophomore, Junior, Senior	14.98%	29.29%	29.57%	25.93%
🇨🇳 AP Chinese Language and Culture	Sophomore, Junior, Senior	19.88%	26.76%	28.49%	23.80%
✍🏽 AP English Language and Composition	Junior	0.12%	5.12%	86.68%	8.02%
🎡 AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based	Junior	1.49%	11.62%	59.94%	26.84%
🇺🇸 AP United States 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 and Culture	Junior, Senior	7.14%	19.23%	36.39%	33.38%
💃🏽 AP Spanish Literature and Culture	Junior, Senior	2.84%	13.71%	35.21%	48.15%
🎨 AP Art and Design: Drawing	Senior	0.40%	5.91%	28.69%	64.92%
🎨 AP Art and Design: 2-D Art and Design	Senior	0.88%	6.49%	27.92%	64.59%
🎨 AP Art and Design: 3-D Art and Design	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 Precalculus	Junior, Senior	—	—	—	—
🗳️ AP Comparative Government and Politics	Senior	1.02%	8.98%	24.83%	65.01%
📚 AP English Literature and Composition	Senior	0.05%	0.96%	14.58%	84.29%
🇫🇷 AP French Language and Culture	Senior	4.04%	9.67%	28.20%	57.37%
🇩🇪 AP German Language and Culture	Senior	3.77%	10.88%	22.83%	61.74%
🇮🇹 AP Italian Language and Culture	Senior	2.31%	4.97%	14.80%	77.29%
🇯🇵 AP Japanese Language and Culture	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: Electricity and Magnetism	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: Algebra-Based	Senior	0.26%	6.03%	30.35%	62.91%
📊 AP Statistics	Senior	0.29%	5.05%	21.06%	73.41%
🧑🏽‍⚖️ AP United States Government and Politics	Senior	4.07%	12.28%	17.27%	66.28%

Note: AP African American Studies and AP Precalculus are current AP courses, but the grade-by-grade percentages above were not included in the original 2023 breakdown used for this guide.

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 United States Government and Politics with AP Macroeconomics
- Impact of governmental policies on the economy
- Economic reasoning in political contexts
AP English Language and Composition with AP United States 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: Algebra-Based with AP Precalculus
- Algebraic problem-solving in physical contexts
- Application of mathematical concepts to physics
AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based 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
AP African American Studies with AP United States History
- Historical developments across American society
- Connections between culture, politics, and social change