Hi there,
I have heard that top colleges expect more than 8 AP courses. Is there a way for kids to take AP courses during summer? If so, from where? The high school that my kid goes to does not offer any AP courses during summer.
Thx,
az
The most selective colleges want to see that you chose the most rigorous courses available to you. Specific numbers of AP or other courses are less relevant (obviously, taking 0 out of 0 possible AP courses is seen differently from taking 0 out of 10 possible AP courses that were the most rigorous options at the school). For those colleges that ask for a counselor’s recommendation, will your counselor indicate that you chose the most rigorous courses available to you?
There is no specific # of AP courses that top colleges look for in an applicant. They want to see you challenge yourself so they want to see you take the most rigorous courses offered at your HS. It could be 2 AP’s or 10 AP’s but do not get it into your head there is some magic AP threshold you need to reach to be competitive.
If you want AP courses in the summer, you may want to self-study, but again this is frowned upon by top schools, especially if these courses are offered at your HS during the regular school year.
^^^^Yes.
If you want an actual number 6-8 is usually quoted. But there is no rule, and colleges look at how many AP courses are offered at a school. It doesn’t mean if the school offers 6, they must all be taken. Scheduling conflicts are real.
Self studying CAN serve a purpose. Impressing adcoms isn’t one of them. Self study is useful if:
-the school doesn’t offer the course, and the student wants to be able to get college credit.
-the student plans to take certain courses in college and wants to be able to place out of Intro level courses.
-the high school has few, or no AP offerings, and an intellectually unchallenged student truly wants to challenge him or herself.
-the high school doesn’t offer a course, and the student has genuine interest in that course and plans to study it in college.
That last two are of course wishy washy, but genuine student interest in an AP is only known to the student. There is no way to indicate on the app WHY someone chose to self-study. Again, though, self-studying won’t get a kid into college and it doesn’t impress adcoms at tippy top colleges.
You heard wrong. The above posters are correct.
6-8 APs for students from a decently performing high school tend to be the expectation (ie., about half the Ap’s offered). If the school only offers 4-6 AP’s, then the student is expected as many as possible, and the guidance counselor is expected to explain how many can possibly be taken (for instance, “Ap’s are reserved for juniors and seniors, and limited to 2/year” or “Due to a scheduling conflict, Lee couldn’t take AP Z nor AP X”, “Our school stopped offering AP Y when the teacher retired”…)
Summer studying and self studying, as noted above, won’t help get into college.
Summer is better used for original activities that can provide fodder for an essay and show a different facet of the student.
If the student elects to study during the summer, it should NOT be all summer (as the student would likely pass for a “robot” who can’t do anything but study) but perhaps a summer session at a community college, something like 5 or 6 weeks.
Top colleges are “holistic” in admissions and don’t go by a formula for AP’s. In fact, for some, fewer AP’s would be appropriate to make time for some other activity, such as music or writing or a business venture. It depends.
There is no expectation from colleges but you can self study and take as many AP exam as you may like.
No one is expected to take classes that aren’t available at their high school.
In my opinion (AP teacher) Summer AP classes (I have known kids who do online versions) are not a good use of time as the tests themselves are ONLY offered in May. Foolish to complete work in July which won’t be tested for 9 months.
that is a good point. Certainly counselor canmention that in recommendations. thx for your response.
Thank you all for your response. Appreciate your input.
If your high school offers a variety of AP classes, 2 in tenth grade, and 3 to 4 each in 11 and 12th is easily doable without summer classes and will yield 6-10 total if you a shooting for that number. My kids took classes like health, online over the summer to make room for academic classes during the school year.
General thoughts on AP classes:
**What are AP Classes? **
AP courses are rigorous, college-level classes in a variety of subjects. AP (Advanced Placement) courses are challenging courses. You take the class, and at the end of the year you take a standardized test with students all across the country. Generally, if you get a 4 or 5 (out of 5), you will get credit for the class in College. A year AP class is the equivelent of a semester class in college.
https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apcourse
Does AP really help you in university? I’ve heard the ‘might get you credit/let you skip classes’ ?
Yes, you can get credit for classes. Each college tells you how much credit you get. Here is an example:
https://admission.case.edu/apply/ap-ib-and-college-credit/
Sometimes that means you can skip the class, or sometimes it means you move on to the next class. You have to look at each college.
**Do AP classes ‘look great on your transcript’? **
Yes, because you are taking the most challenging courses you can. Top schools want to see that.
For example
“Academic Excellence
The primary criterion for admission to Stanford is academic excellence. We look for your preparation and potential to succeed. We expect you to challenge yourself throughout high school and to do very well. The most important credential that enables us to evaluate your academic record is the high school transcript. Remember, however, that our evaluation of your application goes beyond any numerical formula. There is no minimum GPA or test score; nor is there any specific number of AP or honors courses you must have on your transcript in order to be admitted to Stanford.”
http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/
What if my school only has 1 AP class?
Schools evaluate you in the context of your school. If your school has 20 AP classes and you take 1, that is different than if your school has 1 AP and you take it.
An example ffrom Stanford again:
“Personal Context
Just as no two Stanford students are the same, each applicant to Stanford is unique. This means that as we review each application, we pay careful attention to unique circumstances. We take into account family background, educational differences, employment and life experiences. By focusing on your achievements within context, we evaluate how you have excelled within your unique school environment and how you have taken advantage of what was available to you in your school and community.”
http://admission.stanford.edu/basics/selection/
Should I self-study APs?
If you want credit in college, then yes it is okay to do that. If you want it to look good for colleges, then no. Colleges generally don’t take self-studied AP tests in consideration for admission. Colleges want to see how you do in classes… You should pick classes that are more likely to be accepted and you are more likely to pass and you are more likely to get credit for. An example would be AP Micro or Macro Economics. An example that would not work would be AP Biology because you are not taking the lab.
Are there alternatives to AP classes if my school doesn’t offer them?
Yes.
Dual Enrollment is taking classes at your local Community College while you are still in HS. You don’t have to pay for the classes. Other names might be: Running Start, PSEO, College in School, CollegeNow
CLEP: College Level Examination Program. You can take these tests to "place out"of a class in college. Check
https://clep.collegeboard.org/exam
For example: https://advisingresources.tcnj.edu/test-credit/college-level-examination-program-clep/
I wonder about how the difficulty of the AP class factors into admission. D18 will have taken 6 or 7 AP classes by the time she graduates and all but one will be STEM related (Bio, Chem, CS Principles, Calc AB, plus two/three more senior year).
Note: D18 isn’t looking at tippy-top colleges, so it might not matter.
@droppedit- I think it depends on the major you are applying for (if known). If applying for a STEM major- AP classes in those subjects (if available at your HS) would look better than APs in humanities. BUT if you are applying as humanities major- the opposite would be true. D has a friend who got into Yale her year without a single AP in math or science (and their HS offers plenty) - she was applying as an English major
For the top tier colleges one needs to take the most rigorous coursework offered in your HS as determined by your guidance counselor. Your S should talk to his guidance counselor to see if he schedule has sufficient rigor for him/her to check that box. There is no requirement to take any set number of AP classes. In fact a number of top prep schools (ex. Fieldston) do not offer AP classes and regularly get students into all the top colleges and universities.
This is a recent thread that is on the exact same topic so read through it.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1954268-graduate-of-a-classical-high-school.html
“If your high school offers a variety of AP classes, 2 in tenth grade, and 3 to 4 each in 11 and 12th is easily doable”
“What are AP Classes? AP courses are rigorous, college-level classes in a variety of subjects.”
Which begs the question if they are so rigorous and truly college-level how come so many students are taking AP courses in grades 10 & 11? Are there really that many 10th & 11th graders capable of doing college-level work and if so why aren’t they in college?
^^^^One reason might be that AP courses generally cover in a full year what a college course covers in a semester. And while all APs do cover a set curriculum, the rigor of the actual course can vary greatly from HS to HS.
STEM AP classes are not inherently harder than non STEM AP classes. Can we stop perpetuating that myth?
The two AP classes my STEMish kid thought were hardest and were her lowest AP test scores were AP Euro and AP Spanish.
I personally didn’t put an ounce of effort or study time into Calc BC back in the day and got a 5. Worked my butt off in AP English Lit.