which is better?
a student who took a crap load of AP’s and did well but made 1B OR a student who took all honors BUT made all A’s …
fml
Depends on the school and level of the honors classes they offer. In some schools, the honors classes cover material in greater depth than the APs and are given at a more advanced level than APs; in other schools, the honors classes are less rigorous. APs are supposed to be college-level classes; what they really are are (to quote someone it the documentary “Race to Nowhere”) are a mile wide and inch deep survey classes with no depth and very prescribed formats for imparting information.
The answer to your question “which is better?” The student that learns and develops a passion for the material.
Crap load of APs, college AdComs like to see students who behave like the opposite of electrical current: Students who take the path of most resistance are rewarded more heavily for their success
Depends on how many prior B’s the student had, if any, and what the B was in/what semester. In general, though, the student with the APs has the better position.
1 B won’t kill anyone. Colleges really like APs because one they tend to be more standardized classes and if you get an A in a class and show them a 5 they know your a good student, versus you get in a A in a honors class that is totally unregulated and could be easier than an AP. Some schools have honors classes that certainly are as tough or harder than AP though, like if your school offers a Calc III class for students who took Calc BC or something. I say mostly APs with maybe one or two Honors classes (especially post AP honors classes) looks good. But honestly if a hypothetical students in all honors classes has demonstrated rigor through like SAT subject tests that their classes are on par with difficulty of AP classes than both the All Honors and All AP student would be on fairly equal grounds for admissions (even though the AP student had one “B”).
For the most selective colleges, you need both rigor and grades. However, a couple Bs in APs won’t kill your chances at all; many applicants get in without a 4.0 UW. If you’re talking about all Bs and Cs in APs, then APs probably aren’t appropriate, but as a general rule rigor>grades.
Many high schools calculate AP and Honors grades differently in the GPA. A B in an AP course won’t kill you in college applications, especially if it’s one of the harder AP courses.