I’m a sophmore at a small (50 girls per grade) top-notch eastcoast private school. APs are offered, but they are very hard to get into because basically everyone is extremely smart and they want to keep class sizes down. We already selected our courses for next year and I did not choose to try to get into any APs because of my demanding EC schedule (varsity cross country all 4 yrs (projected), year round swimming w/ 4 hr prac commitment 7 days a week(and HS swim team varsity 4 yrs), jv softball). my GPA is 3.7 unweighted, from my PSAT scores a high 1300/low 1400 SAT is likely. It is unlikely i will take an independent study for an AP that i have interest in but is not offered such as psychology or econ bc principal is not keen on independent studies and i dont have much time for it anyway. If i have taken honors courses (at a very good school) such as honors bio, honors US History I & II, and honors eng./brit lit/world lit 4 yrs, are APs very important to getting into a solid school (solid being… clemson, fairfield, furman, northeastern, w&l univ reach maybe)?
<p>The colleges will check to see if your school OFFERED any APs and then see if you decided to take any. If a school does not offer AP courses, then a student cannot be hurt in the admission process. </p>
<p>But since colleges will see that APs were, in fact, offered at your school and you decided not to take them, it may say something. I'd recommend trying to switch into them for next year.</p>
<p>My s also goes to a very demanding private school. One cannot just sign up for an AP. Previous grades, PSAT testing score, and recommendations are required. As such, the school offers 19 but rarely do students take more than 5 throughout high school. They are very demanding and require a huge committment. I have seen public schools where the AP classes are watered down to the level of taching to the AP exam and nothing more. I don't know what colleges know or do not know about high school curriculums.</p>
<p>Smiles6082, my kids went to good public schools that had the same criteria for AP as your private: previous grades, PSAT scores, and recommendations. And just as with your school, most kids take no more than five. My kids got into top ten LACS and universities; we have a large number go on to Ivies. However, you are right that some publics water down the courses and let everyone in who asks. Colleges know about SOME high schools but not all of them. So who knows - some kids who brag about taking a dozen or more APs - and start in 9th grade no less (sorry, I don't believe 9th graders are ready for college level courses unless they are math/physics prodigies, and I've seen some of the students in these 9th grade courses - they AREN'T doing college work in history, etc) may or may not sneak by the adcoms....but the grades on the exam will tell something.</p>
<p>If your school is truly a strong high school with highly selective admission and average SAT scores above 1250, APs shouldn't matter much for the schools you list except W & L.</p>