<p>What are considered the most rigorous AP courses?
My school currently offers Statistics, Calculus, Biology, Environmental, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Language, Music Theory, Psychology, U.S Gov/Politics, U.S History, Microeconomics, and World History.</p>
<p>Which of those do you recommend I take?</p>
<p>“best” is subjective.</p>
<p>My son took many APs. I would think Stats, Calc, Econ and Physics required the most work though he never complained about it. Psych and Environmental have the reputation as the easiest AP’s. The history’s and Bio were interesting and I don’t think hard in any way.</p>
<p>“Most rigorous” is very subjective. Some students find Calculus, Chemistry and physics to be very difficult and rigorous, yet other students, like me for example, basically breezed through those courses and found more trouble in english language and economics.</p>
<p>It’s really up to you and what you’re good at.</p>
<p>Generally Calculus BC, Chemistry and Physics are the hardest APs.</p>
<p>Think about your question in terms of:
-which APs do not require any prerequisites? these are generally less rigorous
-which APs are most commonly self-studied without any instructor interaction? these are also generally less rigorous
-which APs do the grade grubbers flock to in order to capture the GPA weighting? these are definitely less rigorous
-which APs are typically taken only by the smartest kids in your school? these are probably the most rigorous</p>
<p>Based on my experience, I would tend to agree with lilmelonred: CalcBC, Chem and Physics</p>
<p>I am for sure taking AP Chem, Stats, Calc, Lit, Language, and Gov/Politics.</p>
<p>I have room for 2-3 more. Which should I take?</p>
<p>Re: #5</p>
<p>Another question to ask:</p>
<p>What subject credit is given for each AP at the colleges you are interested in?</p>
<p>The “more rigorous” APs are those which often get a full year of subject credit or advanced placement for a course suitable for those majoring in the subject (e.g. calculus BC, English literature, foreign language). But many APs are given only a semester of subject credit, or none at all (e.g. statistics, environmental science, human geography, psychology, etc.).</p>
<p>Okay…
I really just want to know which ones you would recommend!</p>
<p>I recommend you don’t take lit and lang at the same time.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, this is how I would rank the reputation of various APs in terms of difficulty (not that it’s necessarily this way for me). From easiest to hardest:</p>
<p>Human Geo
Enviro Sci (I’ve heard that people who keep up with news about the environment and associated political issues can get 4s and 5s without studying)
Statistics (I’ve heard not anymore, though)
Psychology
US Gov’t / Comp Gov’t
European History
Lit / Lang
Comp Sci
Biology
Calculus AB
American History
Calculus BC
Chemistry
Physics
Music Theory (I know a guy who plays several instruments, has great pitch and sense of melody, and can sing beautifully… and got a 3)
Foreign languages (I know a guy who’s fluent in Japanese and only got a 3 on the Japanese AP… and a girl who’d been to Japan, like, twice when she took it and only got a 1)</p>
<p>Assuming that adcoms would rank them similarly, the farther down an AP is on the list, the more highly esteemed you’ll be for having taken it.</p>
<p>^ Are you basing Foreign languages and music theory considerably on the anecdotes of a few test takers which really dont mean anything?</p>
<p>dirkslam41, i’m not planning on it. i will take one junior year and one senior year.
thank you to everyone else!</p>
<p>ucb is correct. The most rigorous by curriculum design (and the ones that adcoms love to see):</p>
<p>Calc BC, Physics B (& C), Chem, Bio, Eng Lit, Euro Hist, Foreign Language (assuming it is not your native tongue or spoken at home) & Music Theory (I’ve heard it’s pretty tough)</p>
<p>Note of course, YOUR HS teacher could be brutal for Enviro or Stats or Psych or Govt, but in general, the AP curriculum for those courses is not as intense as those listed above.</p>
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<p>Partially; not entirely. I could’ve provided examples like those for most of the tests but I only did for those because they were the most striking.</p>
<p>Oh, and the girl who got a 1 was considered one of the best in her class.</p>