Hey guys. I am a 10th grade student at a philadelphia high school called Julia R. Masterman. In my high school 9th and 10th grade students are not allowed to take any AP classes. You begin taking AP classes in 11th grade. Unlike most schools, you have to apply for these AP classes and the teachers must accept you. Now, in 11th grade you are only allowed to take 2 AP classes and in 12th grade only 3. However, if you feel like you can handle 1 more A then you can send a letter to the dean explaining why you want to take an extra class. There is a 50-50 chance she accepts you or denies you. Unfortunatly, the dean and I are not what you may call the best of friends. I don’t like her and she dosent like me due to an incident in the lunchroom. (Someone threw food at a teacher, the dean blamed me, there wasn’t enough proof to prove the alligation so I was let go). As you may tell, she denied my of taking more then 2 AP classes. I tried going to the counselor and principal and they all failed to help me. Being realistic here, theres probably nothing I can do to change her mind. So, as you can tell by where I decided to put this discussion, I want to go to Harvard. Based on the fourms I’ve been seeing, Harvard compares the amount of AP classes you took to others in your class. In the end, I would be taking a total of 5 AP’s (If the dean continues to deny my letters), while my other classmates would be taking 7 AP classes. I was wondering how I could increase the amount of AP classes by doing online courses. How would that work? Can I put these classes on my high school transcript? Would it help my weighted GPA, since I wouldn’t be able to compete with someone that has 7 APs? Thanks!
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Dude I feel you. I am in 11th grade and even though I have already taken 4 AP’s this year I wanted to take 6 AP’s but was only allowed to do 4. So what I did is I forced a meeting with the principal and some other school officials and apparently its a rule (at least in my school district) that no one can tell you that you can’t take a certain class if it fits in your schedule. So i told the principal and administrative reps this is what I am doing and there is nothing you can do about it. They had no choice but to let me, but they did make me sign a waiver in case I died, so I couldn’t sue the school. So to sum up my advice is to keep fighting for it. Tell them how serious you are. Throw a temper tantrum. Stage a sit in. Do whatever it takes!! If this doesn’t work just self study and take the exam at the end of the year, so Harvard can still see you took the AP exam. Good luck dude! (p.s trying to get into harvard too, maybe we’ll meet one day)
And if you can’t manage to get into those 2 AP classes, then you could ask your GC to explain the guidelines in his/her rec and say that you took as many challenging classes as you could take. You also could self study, I suppose, but you might run the risk of putting time, effort and money into taking those tests and then not getting a decent enough score to even consider sending to Harvard. Whatever you choose to do, I wish you luck!
@Tobster18 That’s very interesting that your school district has a rule like that. How did you find out about that rule and do you think that this rule is in the Philadelphia school district?
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Hmm, not a lot of people have much insight on this problem… Really would appreciate it if you share some advice with me guys!
Let’s put Harvard aside for the moment. Your situation is such that it could negatively impact ALL your college applications, so you need to take this issue very seriously – and tread lightly with your dean and guidance counselor.
First off: When you apply to college your guidance counselor must complete the Secondary School Report (SSR) on your behalf. As part of that report, your GC is asked to rate the rigor of your course load as compared to all other college bound students at your high school. As long as you receive the MOST DEMANDING rating from your GC, it doesn’t matter how many AP tests you have taken. See page 2 of SSR, upper right hand section: http://www.du.edu/apply/media/documents/2012CASSR.pdf
So, the first thing I would do is have a discussion with your guidance counselor about your situation. I would directly ask them if you can expect them to give you the MOST DEMANDING rating on the SSR. If they don’t give you the MOST DEMANDING rating it won’t NOT matter how many additional AP tests you have taken outside of school. Having a less than demanding rating will make your application seem not as competitive as your peers – and no amount of explanation on your part will be able to counter your GC’s rating.
Secondly: On the SSR, page 2, under evaluation, notice the phrasing
If your GC mentions the food-fight issue in your SSR, or they mention it in relation to your lack of AP courses, or if any of your recommendation writers mention it, you might appear to be “damaged goods” to any selective college.
So you really need to have an honest and open discussion with your GC so you (a) know where you stand, and (b) what can be done NOW to address the situation so it does not negatively impact your college applications. That might include taking on-line AP courses, or taking a college class at a local university or community college. It also might require including your parents in the discussion with the GC, or your local school board. Whatever you do, DO NOT exclude your GC from the discussion and decision!
You can take university courses at your local universities (say in the summer) to prepare your AP tests. If you choose your university courses wisely, it may come across as a signal that you take on an initiative outside of your high school comfort zone.
@gibby Hmm, I was wondering about this SSR, what would happen if I was to receive a very demanding course selection instead? Would I still be competitive? Also, I don’t think I should worry about my GC mentioning the food fight. As I explained before, there was not enough proof for me to receive any disciplinary actions, not even a detention. However, I will still ask my GC on the matter to be sure.
Yes, you would be considered competitive, but NOT as competitive as other students from your high school applying to the same colleges as you that were rated most demanding by your GC.
@yoyoGod I think you should follow @gibby advice, she is way more experienced than me as I am only in 11th grade. Also if you have to most competitive schedule possible at your school, Harvard would compare you based off the students at your school not others.
While I almost always agree with @gibby , and do this time as well, I also need to say that it is highly unlikely that the GC will mention a food fight on the SSR. Disciplinary action mentioned on the SSR are almost always of the most serious nature, e.g. hazing, drug dealing. If the GC mentioned every piddly disciplinary item for every kid in HS, few kids would be going to college. 
As always, confirm with your GC.
And now we must ask @skieurope what piddly things would have been in his recommendation, had his GC mentioned them. 