My son is a junion and ND has been his #1 college choice for a long time. This week he is talking to his school counselor to setting his class schedule for his senior year. Is it better for him to take 1 AP class from each subject, or to take what he’s interested in? For example, he took AP US History and AP English this year as a junior. Next year he plans to take AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, and AP Economics. Other APs that he could take are AP Literacy, AP Psychology, and AP Spanish. Is it beneficial for him to take any of those classes too or instead from an admissions perspective? It seems like 6 APs would be a lot, so we are trying to figure out what would make the most sense. Does he need to get a 5 for it to matter to ND or is a 4 acceptable? Thank you for any advice!
Don’t take a class that he doesn’t find interesting or helpful. Sounds like he’s had a good list of APs. Loading with ones he doesn’t like, won’t make a difference in my opinion. Just will make for a more stressful senior year. My son has 8 total and is applying to more selective schools. I don’t feel like he needs to do more. You can look at ND website for AP testing, and it will tell you what score they accept for credit.
Some things to consider: What do other competitive students at his school take? I never think a student should overload on APs just for the sake of it, but it’s also important to recognize that his rigor is important when applying to a school like ND. Also, he will be compared to other students from his school who have also applied there.
Regardless of what he decides on AP classes, a good guidelines is that he needs one classes from english, math, science, social studies, and foreign language each year. If he doesn’t take AP Spanish senior year, is there a non-AP Spanish he can take instead? If he doesn’t take a spanish class, he should at least add another core so he has 5 core classes.
There is no perfect formula of AP classes - selective schools want to see rigor compared to peers in same school.
If he is doing well in AP Lang this year then he can likely handle AP Lit
I would skip AP Psych unless he has a real interest. My D decided to take Spanish honors instead of AP Spanish as she was already taking 4 APs senior year.
Submitting AP scores are optional on most applications. He will only have 2 from his junior year. I say submit 4 or 5s
Credit for AP classes depends on the school but it will not help or hurt his application
My opinion - the essays are the key. The number of AP classes your son has will not be the final element that gets him accepted. My son had good test scores and 6 or 8 AP classes. ND, like most selective schools, will turn away hundreds of students with the same stats. He wasn’t even considering ND when the early admission window was open. My son applied Regular Decision. I am convinced he was accepted based on his essay on one of the 5 pillars. Have your son look at the “Five Pillars of a Holy Cross Education”. ND has a small booklet available. He should find one that resonates with his faith and education goals and write about that. It must come from his heart.
I have to agree with the essays being key. I think stats get you a look, essays get you in.
They emphasize class rigor - what your student takes compared to the other students at their high school. A good counselor letter can help your student if the counselor indicates your student took the hardest classes available. My daughter’s school only offered 1 AP class, an English class. She’s a STEM major, she took 2 regular high school English and 2 DE English through a local college - opted not to take the AP class. But she has also taken several advanced science and math DE classes, so higher rigor than what most all her peers.
I highly recommend the admissions tour before applying. They tell you great info for your application. Doing some online research will also help you learn more about what they are looking for in apps and essays. Good luck!