<p>Hi, thank you for reading this thread and replying, it means a lot.</p>
<p>Okay, so right now is course selection time for Junior year and I'm a little worried about the APs to take. My school offers around 10 APs (public MA high school, pretty good).</p>
<p>Right now, my schedule would be this:
Dramatic Lit
Latin 4
AP Chemistry (year-long course)
AP European History
Anthropology/Sociology (counts as history credit)
Honors Calculus</p>
<p>There are more, but they are generic electives (health, gym, etc.)</p>
<p>Now here is my concern: I am in an accelerated Precalculus class right now which is extremely difficult, and I am NOT on the course of taking an AP Calculus during high school. I would only be taking Honors level (Level 1), but not AB or BC. Is this okay?? My dream school is Cornell A&S, and I am a little crushed-- this is the first class I have not received an A or A- in...</p>
<p>HOWEVER, this type of schedule allows me to take AP Statistics senior year as well as AP English, AP Bio, and possibly a fourth AP senior year.</p>
<p>So overall I will be taking around 6/10 APs offered at my school, BUT not an AP Calculus. Do colleges really care about an AP Calculus class, or do they purely look at the rigorousness of classes taken?</p>
<p>THANKS again, so much. Sorry if I sound like I'm worrying over nothing, but of course, this is a nerve-wracking time!</p>
<p>Just some personal experience here: I know three students who were admitted to Cornell in the past 2 years without taking AP Calculus. One wasn’t on track for it (didn’t get placed into Algebra in 8th grade, so didn’t take precalculus until senior year), one opted for “College Calculus”, one took AP Stats instead. I would relax, I don’t think it’s one course that will make or break you.</p>
<p>Taking AP Calculus is important if your major is science, math or engineering, but otherwise I don’t think not taking AP Calculus will be detrimental. </p>
<p>Having said that, AP Calculus is not always going to be as difficult as a typical Calculus course at college. AP Calculus AB is analogous to Calculus I in college, but the former takes a whole school year while the latter only takes one semester.</p>
<p>I’m sorry I disagree with the advice here. Top colleges look for students who take the most rigorous course load as possible, regardless of whether you want to pursue engineering. If you doubt that, peruse the Cornell acceptance thread (or any other Ivy) and see how many have not taken at least Calculus AB. There may be some students that get in without it but would you want to bet on those odds. ;)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1301182-official-cornell-regular-decision-2016-results-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/cornell-university/1301182-official-cornell-regular-decision-2016-results-thread.html</a></p>
<p>In my experience 8 or so APs is usually sufficient. I think if you are clearly not a math kid it’s all right to take regular Calculus or AP Stats instead. If your dream school is Cornell you’ll probably want to be in 4 APs senior year if that is what other top students are doing. There’s no guarantee it will be good enough, but getting a B or a worse in AP Calculus isn’t going to help you a lot either. My kids both bailed out of AP English and you’ll find plenty on these boards that will tell you, that you have to take it to get into a top school. You don’t.</p>
<p>
The number totally depends on how many are offered at the school. My son only took 5 but the school only offered 6 (he didn’t take AP History). I don’t think 6 out of 10 would be considered rigorous for the Ivies. I would forego Stats as opposed to Calculus but others obviously feel differently. :o</p>
<p>^Our school offers 24 APs, no one takes all of them! My older son took 9 I think, plus a post AP Calc course - got into Harvard. My younger son took 8, but didn’t have the grades for the Ivy’s he applied to. (I think he’d have had a shot at Cornell, he got into Chicago, Tufts and Vassar). </p>
<p>A few years ago MIT said that the average number of APs incoming freshman had was only 5, but that’s probably because many schools don’t offer many APs.</p>
<p>Calculus AB is already an easier version of college freshman calculus; it covers a semester of college calculus over a full year. So a “less than AB” calculus course may not be seen as the “most rigorous” choice of course available to you.</p>
<p>However, highly selective admissions are still risky and opaque. My D had 11 APs including AP Calc BC, plus the next year of Calculus (Calc II and Calc III via dual enrollment at Ga Tech), As in all the math and most of the rest, and was WL by Cornell.</p>
<p>Not wanting to be a downer, just reminding the OP that while it makes sense to maximize your chances, there’s no sure thing here.</p>
<p>
Exactly my point, so why would you want to minimize your chances at acceptance by not taking a class that a majority of your competition will have taken?</p>
<p>I don’t want to offend anyone here, but the idea that top colleges look solely at how many AP courses students take is ludicrous. That would imply that top schools only accept the students who take the most ‘rigorous’ courses offered at their schools. </p>
<p>Mathmom, I congratulate you and your sons. They’re very hard working students, and I admire that.</p>
<p>However, I know a handful of students who were accepted into Ivy-League schools with a maximum of 5 AP classes throughout their entire high school careers. A friend of mine was accepted to Harvard, Amherst, Stanford, and Dartmouth a couple of years ago having taken 4 APs, and another was accepted to Yale, Williams, Brown, and Duke with 5. Both are diligent and well-rounded students–but ‘well-roundedness’ doesn’t always imply a ‘rigorous’ course load. The first is a dedicated violinist, basketball player, and photographer. She coached a basketball team from her sophomore year to the day she graduated. The other is a talented flutist, pianist, and artist.</p>
<p>I have friends who took and aced over 10 APs throughout high school–most of them went to UCs. The remainder went to various state colleges.</p>
<p>APs are not as important as everyone seems to think they are.</p>
<p>^Doodleshock, doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s all about context. No one from our school has ever gotten accepted at HYSMC without being in the top 2% of the class and you can’t have that rank without taking at least 5 APs** in our school.** A recruited athlete might get away with less. Our school is set up so that a kid in the honors track in 8th grade can easily take an AP language, two AP sciences and AP Calc. Most top track juniors will take APUSH a smaller group take APLang. That’s five or six right there that nearly all the top students take.</p>
<p>Don’t misunderstand me; my school is very competitive. There are plenty of students here who take 12 APs in high school. I’m just pointing out that there are other students who are competitive because of their dedication to extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>Sure, and extra curricular activities can make a big difference, but at our school the kids who get into Harvard have stellar activities **and **APs.</p>
<p>Take the most rigorous curriculum in which you can be successful. And then be successful in it.</p>
<p>Whether it’s OK for Cornell is unknowable, and is also a moot point. You’re on the track you’re on. </p>
<p>Don’t waste your energy worrying what Cornell will think. Instead, do your best in the classes that are available to you. Enjoy your extracurriculars. Build a good list of colleges that includes safeties and matches that share characteristics you love about reach-y Cornell. And when the time comes, write great applications that showcase your accomplishments in a way that is relevant to each school.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it also depend on which APs?</p>
<p>Would four APs in English literature, calculus BC, physics C, and a foreign language (especially if a non-native/heritage speaker) look better than seven APs in statistics, physics B, human geography, psychology, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and environmental science to a holistic reviewer?</p>
<p>mathmom: Great, that’s my point: they don’t need to take so many APs to get into Harvard.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus: It really just depends on which college you’re applying to and what you plan to major in.</p>
<p>mihcal1: Agreed. APs aren’t a bad thing at all. Just don’t overdo it.</p>