Stressing out over AP courses

[MustCrushCapitalism]

So insanely stressed right now. I wasn't in any sort of honors classes this year but my grades in history and English were nearing 100.

So now I have the option of taking AP Literature and AP American History next year. I'm thinking that if I want any chance of getting into a good uni and hence getting out of having to continue living in a trailer park for the rest of my life, I'll need to take these... so much damn pressure.

Reading 25 books in the school year in AP lit (as opposed to like <10 in the normal class) and at least one essay every week. It's not much better with AP American, where it's just shitloads and shitloads of essays and essays and essays. I don't know if I'd be able to keep up and do alright, especially with my fucked up sleep schedule.

And just the summer assignments for these classes is:
-AP lit - read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (apparently some ultranationalist but that's a topic for another time) and the Secret History by Donna Tartt. I'm assuming there's a few essays to write on these too.
-AP American history - read through some textbook and answer 50 long response (paragraph) questions

At that I think I'd be busy like... all summer. Taking both of these classes would probably fuck up my grades in both, and taking one might not be a good idea... I don't know...

anyway thanks for reading I needed that rant now back to panicking.

[Drosophila]

You can get into a good college without taking a ton of AP courses.

[Susurrus]

I took both these ap courses, they're not that bad. There's very little difference in workload, the only difference is in the regular course you'll be assigned utterly stupid and pointless assignments, and in the AP one you be assigned things that assume you have at least a modicum of intelligence. Of course, it also depends on a lot of other factors that are specific to your situation ie teachers and what not, but that was my experience. I took regular english junior year instead of AP Lang, and have regretted every single aspect of that decision.

[Agent Ducky]

Haven't taken AP Lit, taking it next year... But I did take AP US History and... that was a good decision, at least for me. The summer assignment will NOT dominate your whole summer, you just have to be smart about doing it with regards to time.
The thing I like best about AP courses is being surrounded by smarter people. In the normal classes I take it's just.. frustrating, really.

[Comrade Jandar]

AP courses are bourgeois.

[escapingNihilism]

You can get into a good college without taking a ton of AP courses.

sure, but once you get to college it is nice to have double-digit credits already in your back pocket. I went in with 21 and was able to take 3-course semesters my final two years.