<p>Would I be better off taking a few AP Classes and getting a 4.0 or taking multiple and getting a 3.8? </p>
<p>It is hard to draw a line between GPA and course rigorous. Nevertheless, I don’t think you need 10APs for UMich although you may want to have more than a couple. I would be more practical and look at the credits you may get from AP at UMich. I would aim at getting GPA >3.9 with a handful or more AP. Of course, there is nothing to stop you if you can maintain the GPA while taking more AP classes. Note the admission average GPA is 3.85 (3.9 for CoE).</p>
<p>And, of course, the admissions value of taking a set number of APs depends on what your school offers. If your school offers 5 AP classes and you take 4 or so, adcoms will look at your application a bit differently than they would if you had taken 4 APs when your school offered 10. </p>
<p>What constitutes “a few” APs to you, in the context of your school’s curriculum? </p>
<p>Also note that Michigan recalculates your GPA by dropping plus and minuses (A-=A=A+=4 and B-=B=B+=3). So B+ will hurt you more than A-. Getting all A-'s they will notice but a few is okay, that is if they keep the current recalculation method.</p>
<p>^ This is no longer true. Michigan used to do that, but a few years ago they dropped the practice and now look at the GPA on your transcript. </p>
<p>@Pat1120: Really? I know some schools do some pretty strange grade inflation (for example, my school works on a 5.3 scale…).</p>
<p>@Pat1120 and @enigmaticescape
There was a discussion here not long ago regarding this. In 2009, UMich announced they stopped recalculating GPA. But someone here pointed out they have resumed doing that although there is no official announcement. The adcom is telling people the old way of GPA recalculation at admission information session.</p>
<p>Yes. We were told the recalculation policy at an admission workshop in September 13. </p>
<p>I honestly don’t see any point in stacking AP classes into your schedule just for the sake of increasing the number of APs on your transcript. Some APs are jokes (Psychology, Environmental Science, Calculus AB, Stats, Lit/Lang), and colleges know that. </p>
<p>Those are good stuffers too get National AP scholar. On the other hand, you can tell how each college values the AP classes by the number of credit for each one. After all, this should be the main purpose of taking AP.</p>
<p>As I wrote in a related discussion, my boy enrolled in the COE with enough AP credits in the “joke” courses such that he only needed to take one Intellectual Breadth course to fulfill his non-scientific course requirements. A little more hard work in high school has made his life in COE at UMICH much easier as well as freeing up time to take more elective courses in his major (Computer Engineering). </p>
<p>“There was an opportunity cost to your son’s AP schedule in high school. His high school social life suffered, he’s missing out on experiencing more enriching college lectures, making college friends in those courses he now doesn’t have to take, etc”</p>
<p>You can tell this was written by a high school student. Missing out on “enriching college lectures?” Are you serious? You will learn that most college lectures are BORING! There are plenty of lectures at U-M where a large portion of the class DOES NOT show up for lecture. For most classes, you need to learn the majority of the material OUTSIDE of lecture. Furthermore, there are a lot of classes in college that are a waste of time! You learn useless material that you will forget and not care about once the semester is over. I’m not saying that every class is useless, but plenty of them are. </p>
<p>PeterW’s son did not miss out on anything. He is a computer engineer. His computer engineering courses are going to be significantly more important for his career than any humanities class. Additionally, I’m sure he would rather learn about something he is interested in (computers) than something he is not. </p>
<p>Like PeterW’s son, I only need to take 1 course in the intellectual breadth area. I came in to U-M with a lot of credit and, as a result, I am going to graduate a semester early. Am I missing out? Should I stay an extra semester, and spend thousands of dollars, just so I can hear “enriching college lectures?”</p>
<p>777Blue you expressed my response to bluebound much better than I could have written. Another consequence of missing out on the “enriching college lectures”, he was able to devote a significant amount of time to the Hybrid Car (electric-gasoline powered) Michign Engineering team where he obtained invaluable “hands-on” design, fabrication, and testing experience.</p>
<p>That’s terrible, PeterW. </p>
<p>I hope your son can somehow manage to overcome such a huge disappointment in his life and settling to work with the hybrid and having that kind of priceless experience. </p>
<p>Sigh. Poor kiddo.</p>
<p>Knowing what he wanted and working hard to get there as quickly as possible. I mean, really, what a shame. 
</p>
<p>My boy is coming home tomorrow for spring break and will be hooking up with a couple of his buddies that he ran around with during his “dismal” high school days.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned a reason for taking easy AP’s was to get National AP Scholar. My son took 1 AP in sophomore year and 2 junior year and received 5’s. He took two more this year (his senior year) but he was already designated an AP scholar last fall. I don’t think you need a ton of AP’s to get National AP Scholar.</p>
<p>There are multiple AP awards. An AP Scholar needs a 3 or higher on at least 3 exams. National AP Scholar is, I believe, the highest award. It requires an average score of at least 4, and a score of at least 4 on at least 8 exams. There are other levels of award in between. </p>
<p>Your right, there are multiple awards. From the College Board site: </p>
<pre><code>AP Scholar: Granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams
AP Scholar with Honor: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams
AP Scholar with Distinction: Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams
State AP Scholar: Granted to the one male and one female student in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia with scores of 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP Exams, and then the highest average score (at least 3.5) on all AP Exams taken
National AP Scholar: Granted to students in the United States who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams
National AP Scholar (Canada): Granted to students in Canada who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on five or more of these exams
National AP Scholar (Bermuda): Granted to students in Bermuda who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on five or more of these exams
DoDEA AP Scholar: Granted to the one male and one female student attending Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools with the highest average score on the greatest number of AP Exams. The minimum requirement is a score of 3 or higher on three exams.
International AP Scholar: Granted to the one male and one female student attending a school outside the United States and Canada that is not a DoDEA school with the highest average score on the greatest number of AP Exams. The minimum requirement is a score of 3 or higher on three exams.
AP International Diploma: Granted to students who meet criteria outlined here.
</code></pre>
<p>The hardest is actually State AP Scholar, not National AP Scholar.</p>
<p>There’s a standard joke that dozens if not hundreds of college admissions officers tell:</p>
<p>“We’re often asked whether you’re better off taking the AP class and getting a B, or taking the non-AP class and getting an A. We want you to take the AP class and get an A.” (Yuk! Yuk!)</p>
<p>It’s mildly cute the first time you hear it, nauseating by the time you’re sitting through your 20th (or whatever) admissions information session, as I did with two children now in college. But there’s some truth to it.</p>
<p>It’s also true that many colleges will try to determine whether you took the “most rigorous” course load available to you. At a college that values rigor as well as GPA, as Michigan does, a negative answer to that question might be at least as damaging to your admissions prospects as a slightly lower GPA. If I recall, they actually ask the GC to certify whether your course load was “most rigorous,” but the Admissions Office’s own scoresheet also has a place for the readers of your application to evaluate how rigorous they think your classes were. Context matters. If your school offers many APs but you only took a few in order to pad your GPA, that will probably show up as a padded GPA and a student who at the margins is inclined to skate. On the other hand, if it’s well understood at your school that some APs are more challenging than others and you took all the most challenging ones, then you probably don’t need to run up the number of APs just for the sake of running up the numbers. Just be sure your GC shares that assessment. </p>