Hi everyone, I have a question in regards to the amount of ap courses a student takes.
Currently I am a junior and I am taking the following ap courses:
-AP Biology
-AP Calculus AB
-APUSH
-AP Literature
I currently have straight A’s in all my classes, but my question is—does a student taking more ap courses look better than me? I know 20 other students who are taking those courses, along with ap physics c and ap computer science.
Forgetting about extra-cirriculars, would a college admissions officer choose the student with more ap courses than me? (in the hypothetical case that we have the same stats)
Also is my math level too low? Would a college admissions office choose someone who took multivariable calculus over me?
But you can’t.
All things being equal (which is NEVER the case), yeah, possibly. That is, assuming they take anybody from your school. But 4 AP’s with all A’s is better IMO that 6 with A’s & B’s. Plus the 6 AP kids look like they lack a foreign language, which could hurt them. There is just no simple answer, it’s all in context.
Awww that sucks. I heard colleges only care if the most rigorous courses box was checked. Since everything is not equal, should i take more ap courses next year or focus on my extracurricular activities?
Do colleges care if the most rigorous course load is checked? Or will they actually count your AP courses?
Most rigorous > # of AP classes.
You are in APs in 4 of the 5 core academic classes.
As @skieurope points out, you really can’t evaluate one aspect of your application in isolation. Most of the regular posters on CC can give dozens of examples of students who got into a college when somebody with better stats did not.
There are schools that will be more or less impressed by that aspect of your application. The key is to find colleges who are impressed by the whole of your application.
Thank you! Will taking more advanced math courses help my application? I know some students that are taking multivariable calculus.
Also, I am currently taking Vietnamese in my high school. There is no AP Vietnamese but I will be taking level 4 of the class in my senior year. Will it look bad that I’m not taking an ap foreign language class?
More AP =/= More Rigorous
There are some AP classes that are extremely easy and others that are very hard. Taking more AP does not mean you will necessarily get the rigorous schedule designation.
I see. So I should strive for the most rigorous course load. My counselor told me that taking 7 AP courses will be considered most demanding. So I guess I’ll stop at there.
If you’re aiming high, make sure you have the right core APs in senior year. It would look odd to drop back a level, unless there’s a legit schedule conflict. It’s not that the win goes to the kids with the most AP.
Your math level is fine. But if you’re aiming for STEM and the hs offers higher, many other applicants will have taken this further level. While “most rigorous” is important, top adcoms will be looking at the transcript and can disagree.
And you’ll still need solid ECs.
I want to take AP Stats next year instead of calculus bc. Will not taking bc make a difference in admissions?
Other courses I’m taking next year include:
AP Lang
AP Gov & Econ
Honors Physics
Vietnamese 4
AP Computer Science
Admission where? What major? Because dropping down to honors physics and then taking stats could raise questions, if you’re thinking STEM and a tippy top college.
I have not taken physics yet and if I take AP Physics 1, I’m not sure if I will be able to handle it. In my school AP Physics 1 is a prerequisite to AP Physics C. I figured taking stats would hurt my major. i’m planning on applying to a biology major.
I’ve taken regular chemistry, but not ap chemistry yet. The problem with my school is that—we’re discouraged from taking community college classes since the school offers those classes here. So there’s no way I can take physics in the summer. So I will be taking it next year.
Still, what colleges?
Ok, I see the need to fit in H physics. But why not AP chem, for a bio major, why AP CS? The more competitive the college (and your home area,) the more precise this can need to be. The colleges will try to see the sense in your choices.
Any good math-sci ECs or experiences outside school? As others said, above, the whole needs to make sense (for a tippy top.)
Well i have had healthcare internships and made it to states in hosa. I had a political internship with a state assembly. I’ve also created a volunteering club and volunteer in a hospital every week. I’m also planning on to create a non-profit program for kids to be involved in STEM. And over the summer—hopefully I will be able to get a data science internship with this company.
I dont know if those extracurricular activities are good. I could take ap chemistry but I thought colleges like to see the core sciences (bio, chem, physics) so if i take ap chem next year, I would never have taken physics. My school doesn’t allow two science courses at the same time.
I’m taking ap cs because I want to combine my bio major with bioinformatics. My dream school is uc berkeley. I’m an in-state applicant.
You can’t take what is not offered. Achieving level 4 in a foreign language checks off the box of 4+ years of a FL for every single college in the country.
You are overestimating the amount of time an AO will spend on your application. While you will spend countless hours crafting the perfect application, AO’s will spend 10-15 minutes tops reading it. They will not be counting AP’s, although if there are multiple applicants from the same school, they can quickly eyeball them to see the difference between 4 AP’s and 8.
This. AO’s at top colleges read thousands of apps every season. That’s why the ‘most rigorous’ tick matters- it saves them from having to size it up from scratch. If your GC says that a total of 7 APs gets that tick in your school (and note that this is radically different from school to school), then that’s all you need from that perspective.
You are getting lost in the weeds. Go back to first principles: you want to study biology in college: what kind of biology / for what purpose? (not asking you to tell us- asking you to think about it for yourself). What coursework is relevant to that path? It’s not about impressing the AdComms with random course names, it’s about preparing yourself for what you want to do next. A cell biologist probably won’t take mulitvariable even in college and somebody pursuing aquatic ecology probably will take environmental science.
I missed in the first read that you are doing AP CompSci b/c you are interested in bioinformatics- that’s the kind of thinking that you need to push forward with. Have you looked at course descriptions to see what sort of things you will need? are you thinking more bio or more informatics? If it’s bioinformatics you are really interested in, then you are looking at CompSci majors with bioinformatic specialization (and you should be looking at UC Irvine, which has a fabulous bioinformatics center- Irvine as a name doesn’t get students as excited as “Berkeley!” but depending on your focus, it may actually be a better choice). Get your ‘most rigorous’ tick, but focus on doing building your courseload with things that will get you headed the direction you really want to go.
What schools, after UCB? It makes a diff if OP is thinking other top tier or just some other colleges which aren’t as fiercely competitive.
I don’t think any college expects a deep focus as much as the right core prep in the sciences to take on the variety of requirements for a bio major. (Or, to shift within the sciences.) The more competitive the college, the more so. For a TT, for bio related, that’s usually AP bio, chem, physics- or AP bio and at least one other at AP level, the last one regular or honors. Not all hs offer all, so it depends. But regardless of the quick view, a tippy top will still look at the transcript, what classes and grades.
Complicated.
Agree, @lookingforward - which is why investigating and thoughtfully pursuing the actual interest beats trying to second guess AdComms: it moves the OP in the direction s/he wants to go anyway.
Thank you. I will look into UC Irvine. I have another question. Does winning awards at local tournaments improve your admission chances in any way? (Science Olympiad, debate tournaments, local math tournaments)