<p>I would like to go to a good school like Duke, USC, or Stanford. Should I take AP's in as many subjects as possible, just because it looks good to colleges, even if I have no interest in some of the subjects? For example, I'm not interested in science or history, but should I take AP Chem or AP US History just to have enough AP's when I apply?</p>
<p>Many people take courses like APUSH regardless of their interest in the field simply because it’s the next sequential course on the honors track.</p>
<p>But otherwise, don’t do it. You’ll just waste time and burn yourself out.</p>
<p>If you’re not interested in science or history, what exactly are you interested in?</p>
<p>I’m taking AP Calc and AP Stats sophomore year (Honors Physics, Honors Spanish, regular US History), and plan on taking AP Econ and AP Physics senior year. I’m strong in math and science, but I don’t see myself as a doctor or engineer or scientist. I think I’d be better in business; unfortunately, my school doesn’t have any business type classes.</p>
<p>take them if you feel like you’ll actually get something out of them.</p>
<p>Kid, you are competing to get into top schools.
Other young people are doing everything in their power to impress adcoms.
There are only so many slots for students.
Do not believe other students on this board who reinforce the “do your own thing” myth. They are trying to reduce competition to enhance their own chances.
If you are not interested in science or history, you are probably not elite college material.</p>
<p>While adcoms are not impressed by a lot of shallow EC’s they are turned off if you do not take the toughest academic courses your school offers.</p>
<p>Look at Penn and Emory when you apply to college. They have good undergrad business programs</p>
<p>Thanks - so that sounds like take as many APs as I can handle regardless or whether it’s something I think I’m going to pursue later.</p>
<p>BigG, if that was a jab at me, I’m a senior who is nearing the end of the admissions process. I’m not trying to discourage twinkle from doing anything.</p>
<p>Twinkle, don’t take classes in which you don’t think you’ll do well; a poor grade is usually indicative of such a problem, which will harm your chances.</p>
<p>Education is more than career training.</p>
<p>What did you take (or are you going to take) junior and senior year?</p>
<p>BigG is sort-of-kind-of right. Admissions officers want to see you challenge yourself by taking a rigorous high school courseload. However, you shouldn’t take as many as possible.</p>
<p>Like I said before, things like history, science, and math usually end up being an AP course during your Jr/Sr year if you’re on the honors track, so it would be in your best interest to take those and complete the sequence. </p>
<p>But if you’ve got a full courseload, don’t go out of your way to self study, say, psych and statistics, just for the hell of it. It may seem impressive to you and your peers, but most trained adcoms can see right through that. You’re better off using that time potentially spent self-studying doing something both impressive and relevant to your intended career. </p>
<p>Remember, numbers aren’t the only things that matter. You need time to devote to your ECs and other things.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure everyone only takes APs because of college. Unless they are a geek.</p>
<p>I’m sure that many students take AP classes because they are absolutely bored by the classes in their school’s “regular track” and would actually like to LEARN something. That doesn’t make them “geeks.” (Not that there’s anything wrong with that…)</p>
<p>
I’m pretty sure you’re almost completely wrong.</p>
<p>The only reason I aim to take so many APs is because I’m aiming for AP National Scholar by the end of junior year. So it’s sort of a personal challenge for me [and the award will be a resume padder, I’ll admit]. Besides that, I am genuinely interested in accumulating advanced knowledge in topics that the average high school curriculum merely dabbles at. If I were aiming for a school that admitted more than 50% of applicants, I’d probably still take the same amount of APs.</p>
<p>I think to some extent it makes sense. I took APUSH not because I was interested in American history but because it was the next class in the Honors track. My friend who’s taking AA English this year is switching to AP not because she likes the English language but because she hates the way a regular class works. (In my school there is no “regular” English in 11th and 12th grade, just AA and AP.) I never considered taking regular US Hist. It’s just not an option for me. But now that I have that out of the way, I choose classes because I like them. None of the AP courses I’m taking or planning to take are offered in the regular or Honors form. But I do have to say I don’t consider taking regular histories. I’m not messing up my weighted GPA and class rank for some minor interest. Besides that, regular classes at my school are far from intellectually stimulating for me.
I think it’s okay to take APs for something other than admission, but loading up on random ones you don’t care about at all is probably a bad idea. My selected AP courses show my interests. I’m not taking Econ AP because I don’t care about it even though I’d get to take two tests. I’m not taking AP Euro because I’m tired of exclusively Western histories. And so on.</p>
<p>Yeah I take APs because I’m either really interested in the subject (like Psychology, Environ Science…etc) </p>
<p>or if it’s a core class (English, math, history, science) because that’s just what everyone on the “honors” track takes. The regular class…would bore me to tears. And I wouldn’t learn anything at all.</p>
<p>What’s the typical number of AP classes that highly selective colleges look for? Seems like everyone takes a ton…5 isn’t really enough, but 9 sounds insane unless you take summer classes at a college</p>
<p>hmm im selfstudying 5 this year.</p>
<p>taking 4-5 next year and self studying 3-5.</p>
<p>idk about junior year.</p>
<p>Wow, that sounds like a lot. When you say self study, do you mean online or at a local college? Do you have a lot of ECs on top of all that?</p>