Hi everyone, I am a Canadian student looking to apply in the US. My dream (reach) school is Yale, for the EP&E program.
The APs I plan on self-studying for are:
AP US Government & Politics
AP Language & Composition
AP US History
AP French
AP Comparative Government
AP Macro
AP Micro
AP Calculus BC
I chose these based off of what other students had taken in order to get into the program. Almost every applicant had APUSH, and AP Lang. Personally, I don’t want to take those because it doesn’t interest me, but everyone took this course for the program.
Should I still take these? I’m confident I can still get a 5 on these but are these really necessary for Ivy League applicants? Especially for my dream program?
As it is, I think it looks impressive that I’m self-studying so many APs because none of these are offered at my school. I do plan on taking a Math SAT subject test, and a World History one.
No college expects an applicant, particularly an international one, to take AP exams when the HS does not offer the courses. Your time is better spent maximizing the course offerings available to you and your ECs.
If you think Yale would be impressed by taking 8 exams, you’d be wrong. And it is also extremely difficult to register fir the exam without the course.
I wouldn’t worry too heavily about APUSH and AP Lang, mainly because those are pretty much the “standard” sophomore or junior year APs people take. Ik at my school (US), most kids who take honors English and honors history in 10th grade by natural progression take APUSH and AP Lang. I think by self studying for all the others, you’re showing that you’re a dedicated, strong, and smart applicant.
Also, Yale (and all US Colleges, but idk about international schools) will see a profile of your school, and see that you chose to self study for all these APs. This will look much better for you, because they see initiative, whereas in my school over half the 11th graders take APUSH and AP Lang, so when they see that in my school profile, it would look weird if I didn’t take them, for example.
If you’re self studying for that many APs, Yale’s gonna like that. I wouldn’t worry about APUSH and AP Lang. Good luck!
I would imagine that you see so many American students talking these before doing this major because those are the AP classes that are offered. Furthermore, American students have to take an English class each year so AP Lang would be the one most often chosen. AP Lit will often be chosen in a different year. Same with History - there are several AP history classes, I believe, but American students need to take a year of U.S. History so APUSH fits the bill. Much as Americans are not expected to take a Canadian history course, I don’t think you should be expected to take APUSH. Finally, if you overcommit yourself and then don’t perform well on the exams, you’ve really worked against yourself. In the US, there is no “set” curriculum for this major other than the what all elite colleges require for high school. I would not worry at all what other US students take and take what your school offers.
Since I’m Canadian, the courses offered are a little different and there’s mandatory courses we have to take. I’ll put an asterisk for all the courses that were not mandatory. Also, at most Canadian schools, the grade 9/10 courses are very general and not specialized. For grade 10, because of COVID, I was assigned courses that I didn’t choose (eg. healthcare, comp sci)
Grade 9;
English
Science
French
Intro to Business*
Geography
Gym
Drama
Math
Canadian History
Grade 10;
English
Math
Science
Civics + Careers
French *
Comp Sci*
Chinese*
Spanish*
Healthcare*
Grade 11 (plan!)
-English
-French*
-Co-op (basically where you go volunteer for somewhere of your interest, I plan to volunteer for a senator of Canada)*
-Functions
-Philosophy*
-Data Management*
-Intro to Anthro, Sociology, and Psych*
-Understanding Canadian Law*
-Chinese*
-Spanish*
Grade 12
Econ*
English
Calculus and Vectors*
Advanced Functions*
Canadian and International Law*
Core French*
Chinese*
Spanish*
I asked a lot of people who got accepted into the EP&E program at Yale, and majority of them did say they took APUSH
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Yale has changed Admissions to the ethics politics and economics major for the class of 2024. Previously, you had to apply to the program your sophomore year. It is now a regular major. However before declaring EP and E as your major, you must take 8 pre-requisite courses.
You do NOT apply directly from high school and as far as I know your high school courses are irrelevant to declaring the major, except to the extent that you may be better prepared for the prerequisites.
So, your question should be what you can do to increase your odds of admission to Yale, not to a particular program.
Even when the EP and E Was a selective major, AP test had nothing whatsoever to do with admissions. My Yale graduate adult child majored in EP and E A long time ago and only took four of the AP tests you list in high school.