Scrolling through all of your schools’ AP classes can be rough, especially when your interests are broad.

Having a grip on your north star college major will help you in determining which classes will be beneficial to you. Roughly 2,000 college majors are out there for you to decide from, and narrowing them down can be as simple as choosing what interests you. Ultimately, taking a peek at the College Board’s interest survey would help in this step of the process. 

Nowadays, advertising and marketing-type jobs are in high demand. These are some crucial APs relating to Business or Marketing majors that will prepare you for your journey in this field:

• AP Economics (Micro and Macro): Depending on your intended path, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics can be vital for success in the industry. Microeconomics explores personal finance, including mortgages, loans, supply and demand and other individual consumer behavior. Contrastingly, Macroeconomics is the big-picture economics. Inflation, unemployment and analysis of aggregate demand, trends and performance. Both classes will significantly improve your understanding of money and how it is spent, providing a foundation for your career.
• AP Probability and Statistics: These classes focus on teaching students data analysis and drawing a statistical outcome from observations and experiments taken from real-life models. These skills are used in almost any path you take. As a high school student, it could be helpful to know this type of math before deciding which specific major you want to pursue.
• AP Calculus (AB or BC): This math-intensive course helps build strong analytical and problem-solving skills that are essential in business and marketing, especially when working with data, trends and projections. It trains you to think quantitatively, which is useful for understanding pricing strategies, market growth, optimization and making data-driven decisions.

Medical majors lead to studies that include life, physical and social sciences. They include roles that require an understanding of how the world essentially works from a deeper perspective. Physicians, dentists, psychologists and scientists can all obtain a foundation from these APs:

• AP Biology: This class provides a strong foundation in human systems, genetics, and cellular processes, all of which are essential for understanding disease, treatment and medical research. 

• AP Chemistry: This class builds the chemical reasoning needed to understand how medications work, how the body maintains balance and how lab tests and medical technologies function.

• AP Environmental Science: This class helps future medical professionals understand how environmental factors such as pollution, climate and resource access affect human and public health outcomes.

• AP Psychology: This class develops insight into human behavior, mental health and brain function, which is crucial for patient care, diagnosis and effective communication in medicine.

Engineering and computer science majors are also very popular, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, electrical, scientific or industrial engineering. There are multiple branches within these career paths, making it useful to take an array of different classes to prepare you for college and beyond.

• AP Calculus AB/BC: This class is foundational for engineering and computer science because it’s used to model change, optimize systems and solve real-world problems like motion, efficiency and algorithm performance.

• AP Physics: This class teaches how forces, energy, electricity and motion work, which directly applies to designing structures, circuits, machines and hardware-based computing systems.

• AP Chemistry: This class is especially useful for fields like biomedical and environmental engineering, where understanding matter, reactions and material properties is essential.

• AP Computer Science A: This class builds strong programming and logical thinking skills, giving students hands-on experience with coding, algorithms and problem decomposition used in nearly all CS and engineering fields.

• AP Computer Science Principles: This course introduces the big picture of computing, including data, networks, cybersecurity and the societal impact of technology, helping students develop computational thinking beyond just coding.

• AP Statistics: This course helps engineers and computer scientists analyze data, test systems, measure reliability and make evidence-based decisions using real-world data.

Humanities & Law majors are also great options for a career path. With a focus on history, art and English classes, this career path requires intense analytical thinking, writing and legal training. These APs will provide you with the tools necessary for success.

• AP English Literature/Language: This class sharpens critical reading, writing and argumentation skills, which are essential for analyzing texts, crafting persuasive legal arguments and communicating clearly in the humanities and law fields.

• AP U.S. History: This class builds a deep understanding of American political systems, constitutional principles and historical precedents that directly inform legal reasoning and civic analysis.
  
• AP U.S. Government and Politics: This class focused on introducing democratic principles in an American context to students, teaching a curriculum focusing on the governmental and political structure of the country.
  
• AP European History: This class helps students understand the roots of modern legal systems, political ideologies and philosophical movements that shape law, democracy and human rights today.

• AP World History:  This class develops global perspective and contextual thinking, which are crucial for understanding international law, global policy and cross-cultural legal issues.

• AP Art History: This class strengthens visual analysis and interpretation skills, teaching students to evaluate evidence, context and meaning, all of which transfer well to legal analysis and humanities research.

• AP Foreign Language: This class builds cultural competence and advanced communication skills, which are valuable in law, diplomacy and the humanities careers that involve international clients, global issues or diverse communities.

If you’re interested in English, language or literature, journalism or creative writing, these APs are for you. They require deep literary analysis and writing skills, so these courses will best assist you in your high school career.

• AP English Literature and AP Language and Composition: AP English is the core course for writing-focused majors, building advanced reading, writing and rhetorical analysis skills essential for storytelling, journalism and critical writing.
• AP U.S. History: AP U.S. History strengthens research, source analysis and argumentative writing skills while providing real-world context for political reporting, essays and long-form journalism.
• AP World History: AP World History develops global awareness and narrative thinking, helping writers understand diverse perspectives and craft informed, culturally aware stories.
• AP Psychology: AP Psychology gives writers insight into human behavior and motivation, which is invaluable for character development, interviews and compelling narrative nonfiction.
• AP Art History: AP Art History sharpens close-reading and visual analysis skills, teaching students to interpret meaning, context and symbolism—key tools for strong analytical and creative writing.
• AP Foreign Language: AP Foreign Language enhances sensitivity to language, tone and structure, and opens opportunities for international reporting, translation and cross-cultural storytelling.

If you are undecided, these are some APs that will help you in any field, satisfying the general education requirements for your college career, and will help you in deciding what interests you the most.

• AP Seminar/Research: These classes develop critical thinking skills, enforcing collaborative activity and argument. Useful in almost all careers, this class will help you improve and grow in terms of public speaking and textual analysis.

• AP Language and Composition: Good reading and writing are necessary for any major you will take, so this class is extremely important to take in your career, even if you are unsure of what your future holds.

• AP Calculus AB or BC: Highly valued in STEM, business and any social science paths; therefore keeps your options open.

• AP Statistics: Data analysis is something that many jobs require and is an extremely useful skill for any field you go into.

• AP Psychology: Having a deep understanding of the way people think and insight into human behavior is useful in most fields.

Alternative Options: APs are great if you’re looking for rigorous training and college credits, but it is important to be aware of the other opportunities available to you. It is also important to remember that APs don’t make you more or less likely to get into college, and more is not always better. Focus and consistency are key to success, even if it means taking less than you think is necessary.

• Dual Enrollment: Students who dually enroll take college-level courses in high school to earn college credits and accelerate their understanding of a subject they are interested in, potentially reducing future tuition costs.  Dual enrollment is a great way to earn college credit without worrying about the intense rigor and exam stress that might come with it. At BRHS, there are some requirements, so be sure to read the fine print and discuss the options with your parents and/or guidance counselor.

• Career Concentration: Say you step into school on the first day of freshman or sophomore year and know your career path like the back of your hand. Career concentrations are 100 percent for you. A handful of subjects offer career concentrations that tailor students’ education by providing multiple sequential courses over the years of high school. A few of the requirements are listed on the BRHS website, some including 17.5 credits of related courses, a capstone project, internships/shadowing and a certain amount of experience in a certain field. This is a great way to boost your college application if you are sure of what you want to do.

AP courses are a great way to show your passion for a subject and should be curated to fit your specific needs, yet other options remain available to students at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.