Achieving a 4.0 was once the highest accomplishment a student could earn. Now, with an increasing number of Advanced Placement and Honors courses, a 4.0 is no longer enough for students.

With 18 honors and AP courses offered, it is tempting for a student to take a weighted class for a GPA boost. However, taking on extra work makes it more difficult to balance.

Counselor Amanda Carlson said at least 50% of students take one or more Honors or AP class.

“You’re adding a couple of hours a week for each AP class onto your workload,” Carlson said. “We always tell students you really need to look at what else is going on in life in terms of sports, outside activities and family commitments.”

Honors Statistics and Statistics teacher Doyle O’Regan said the main difference between the two is that Statistics covers eight or nine out of the 12 chapters that Honors Statistics does. Honors Statistics also has about three hours of homework and an additional 45 minutes of reading per week, whereas in Statistics, homework is very minimal.

“The Honors Stats kids definitely have to be more independent,” O’Regan said. “I say ‘Here’s the reading. Go, figure it out.’”

O’Regan said a student should assess the workload of the class to figure out if it would be a good fit.

“If you’re doing AP Calculus or AP this or AP that, [ask yourself,] do you even have enough time to do all that stuff?” O’Regan said.

Senior Eric Hung is currently taking AP Calculus AB, AP Music Theory and AP French. Hung said he took each class for a different reason.

“For AP Music Theory, I genuinely love music, and I’m going to do it in college and it’s nice to test into the Music Theory class in college so I don’t have to do basic stuff,” said Hung. “For Calculus I just like having four years of math, it feels complete. For French, I started in 7th grade and the goal was always AP French for me.”

Hung said the weighted grade was an incentive too.

“This is my last year of high school, “ Hung said. “It’s like the cummulation of everything I’ve worked for. AP classes for me is following passions and completing things. “

However, taking three APs comes with a lot of extra work and more difficult subject matters, depending on the teacher, Hung said.

Hung said AP Music Theory requires him to attend outside events, such as gigs, and takes a lot of extra practicing. He also participates in an orchestra, making most of his extracurriculars based around music.

“Sometimes when school work gets in the way of that I’m practicing at 10 at night, pissing off my neighbors,” Hung said.

However Hung said there are always ways he could manage his time better.

“For French, since the workload is difficult because my French isn’t so great, I am trying to expose myself by watching TV shows with French subtitles because I really want to do well in that class,” Hung said.

Schools in the Bay Area like Lowell High School in San Francisco have contemplated putting a cap on the amount of AP and Honors courses a student should be allowed to take.

“I see kids in tears, I feel like there would be a sigh of relief,” said Lowell peer resource adviser Adee Horn in a San Francisco Chronicle article about capping the number of weighted courses.

Hung said he thinks students’ mentality about a class not being worth it if they get a “B” is horrible.

“You are not a grade,” Hung said. “The AP class isn’t just about the material, but about the people around you that are also passionate. Having that kind of environment is very stimulating.”

Carlson said before deciding on taking an AP or Honors course, students should talk to other students who have taken the course and the teacher to see what the class is like.

“Don’t take that course just for the point bump,” Carlson said. “Make sure it’s a class where you will be committed to, and that you want to take it.”