<p>My D is a junior in HS with a 4.6 gpa. She's thinking of only taking the exams for 3 of the 4 AP classes she's currently taking. In addition, next year -her senior year- she's thinking of taking 3 AP classes and starting school late (so 5 classes instead of 6). </p>
<p>Do you think either of these decisions could affect her chances of being accepted to UCLA? </p>
<p>I'd really appreciate any opinions, thanks.</p>
<p>I think your daughter is good; especially, if the class she’s ditching isn’t A-G, like PE.</p>
<p>I am a senior who was just accepted. I am in 5 IB classes and 1 AP and am only taking 2 tests. Plus, I only took 3 AP tests last year (4 overall).</p>
<p>I would assume she is fine. If, for some reason, she gets rejected <em>knock on wood</em> that will not be the reason.</p>
<p>Tell her to take six classes. One big thing admissions people look at is the rigor of the senior year schedule because it shows a propensity towards handling a college-level workload. Five classes and only 3 APs won’t cut it. She needs to take six, preferably another AP course, but if not then an A-G class will suffice.</p>
<p>^rigor counts. i only took 5 HS classes, but i had 4 community college classes at night. then write about how hard you worked in PS.</p>
<p>I’m assuming there’s some reason she wants to start school late, so as long as she mentions what she was doing during that time and why it was important to her, I think it’ll offset taking fewer classes.</p>
<p>I left my junior year a month early (granted, after AP tests we don’t do a lot anyways…) to work abroad, and I guess UCLA didn’t mind it.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say taking a class off is that big of a deal.
I took one off this year and was accepted as a Regent’s Scholar.
However, my school has 7 classes, so I’m still taking 6. But I know many people who have a free period and TA (so 5 “real” classes) with 3 or less AP classes that still got in.</p>
<p>Not taking AP exams does not impact UC application evaluation. But passing AP scores are brownie points (which doesn’t apply to “planned AP exams” in senior year). Generally the UCs like to see students try the AP exams and since “bad” scores don’t count against the student, there is no harm in trying (unless money is an issue).</p>
<p>Rigor of senior year course load is closely scrutinized for application evaluation. 5-6 academic courses, with at least 4 AP courses, are generally expected.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your replies! I’ll transmit your advice to her.</p>
<p>I would say take the six classes if she could. The first semester of my senior year my course load still continued to be tough (took 8 classes) compared to the usual 7 that I had taken previous years. I truly believe that the college admissions officers look at consistancy as a big factor into acceptance.</p>
<p>(Just was admitted to UCLA)</p>
<p>I am taking four classes (three APs) my senior year. And a sport.
I am preparing for a big performance next month, so that’s why I took it easy, but I didn’t mention that on my application.
I also was just accepted to UCLA…</p>