As I have reviewed posts over the past several months, I’ve seen so many students who have taken double-digit numbers of AP classes. At my D’s high school - considered a top notch public, often included in top high school listings - it would not be possible for any student to take that many AP classes. They are simply not offered. Combined AP and honors classes, a student might be able to get to 10 - but 14-15? I guess this - the courses offered to students - information is provided by GCs to help schools get a sense of the rigor of an individual student’s coursework? Also, are there AP classes that are only one senester? With some of these numbers, I am hard-pressed to understand how every single class a student took wasn’t an AP - is there AP phys ed?
From a college admissions standpoint, there is a law of diminishing returns once one hits 6-8 APs (or equivalent) IMO. There may be valid reasons that a student takes more, but impressing an AO is not one of them.
Some schools limit the number (or which) APs freshmen and sophomores can take; others don’t. Colleges will review in context.
There are many AP classes that are the equivalent of one semester (e.g. Gov, Stats) although some high schools stretch out to a year-long course, while others offer as a semester course.
Here is a timely article:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-01-03/how-to-determine-the-right-number-of-ap-classes-to-take
Your child’s school will send out a “School Profile” which will talk about how many AP classes are available to be taken.
Your child will be evaluated in the context of that school.
So if there are 2 APs and your child took 2, then they are taking the most rigorous courses.
So if there are 12 APs and your child took 2, then they are probably not taking the most rigorous courses.
You don’t need to take an AP class to take the exam. You need to know the material.
That never occurred to me @MaterS. It explains some of the super duper high numbers.
Here is what my D19 did in HS. AP test score in ()
10th grade
AP Macroecon - 1 semester (2)
AP US Gov - 1 semester (4)
11th grade
AP Chem (3)
AP Physics I (3)
AP US Hist (4)
AP Spanish Lang (4)
AP Eng Lang (4)
12th grade
AP Stats
AP Bio
AP Spanish Lit
So in the end she will have 10. Her HS has 6 classes each day. So 6 chances to take AP. But you have take Phys Ed. She did get out of Phys Ed 11th grade because of her two sports. That allowed her to take the extra AP. The Spanish track was setup in middle school. She took 2 years of Spanish in middle school which allowed her to start HS at Spanish II. She did well and skipped Spanish IV and went straight to AP. She dropped her sports in 12th grade and was back in Phys Ed. She is also taking an Anatomy this year which is not AP, but tough. It is worth it because she want to go pre-med. She did bow out of AP Eng Lit for 12th grade.
I thought 11th grade was going to kill her. It did hurt the GPA some. She didn’t get much sleep that year. It paid off with a good ACT score.
I do know some HS in the area that allow kids to take 7 classes a semester. I am happy with her HS that they had so many AP classes offered. I do wish they would offer honors classes in the Summer she might have gotten another AP class that way.
Re #2. Our high school offered 22 APs, but no one took anywhere near that many. When my kids were in school, I think the max was 8-9. There was not a culture of taking APs on your own either.
I suggest getting a copy of your school profile, and asking what her rank is. That gives you her academics in context. My kids' school offered 20 APs and the IBD for example, but didn't weight GPA at all, and the profile went a little way to contextualize that with AP pass rate and participation. Anyone could take AP or IB. Some schools limit access to such classes ensure their pass rates look good vs optimal participation. GPA and rank is relevant in that in schools with no GPA weighting has students take lesser loads to protect GPA. Profiles help explain some of that.
Every school is different, which is why regional AOs and GCs are key. They can give an accurate idea of rigor to college Admissions. My S19 goes to a well respected school for our state. It’s actually the top non magnate or private school in the state… only problem is the state is the worst in the country. So yay, we’re the best of the worst!
S19 only took 5 AP classes (out of 11 offered), but he took a boatload of DE & Honors. All of his DE classes are essentially worthless except for demonstrating willingness to take harder classes. Our HS also doesn’t rank, and it has a very nebulous weighting system that is not publicly stated. All things GCs & regional reps can make sure Admissions are aware of.
My daughter’s (class of 20)AP history is this:
9th Grade
Human Geography (5)-School didn’t have AP World History at time
10th Grade
Computer Science Principles (5)-Did other homework during class
Calculus BC (4)- Was pushed ahead with others back in 3rd grade
11th Grade
Language
Physics 1
Stats (could of done Multivariable but felt done with Calculus, actually stats an easier Class)
US History
12th (as of now)
Macro (1 semester)
Gov’t (1 semester)
Chemistry
Biology
Literature
Psychology
That would be 13. The only classes that in my opinion may be overkill is the Chemistry and Biology. Chemistry could be honors for one semester though the Chemistry Biology combo is not unusual. None of the other classes can be taken honors
Her 12th grade classes cover 7 periods because the science classes combined cover 3 periods. You can get out of Gym if you need a class for graduation (4 years English and Macro and Gov’t are needed for graduation. So in theory 8 AP classes could be take. Daughter also has band.
to poster #6 I never heard of Macro sophomore year.
I still believe why some colleges limit AP credit is loss of revenue.
Colleges won’t punish your daughter’s admission chances for not taking classes that weren’t offered to her.
Ask your GC for a copy of the School Profile that goes to colleges along with the transcripts. Our is two pages full of information on school demographics, average GPA distribution (W & UW), mean SAT scores, the APs on offer, the percent of students who take them, average scores on the AP exams, number of faculty, graduation requirements, grading system, and names and office hours of the counseling staff. It is interesting reading!
FWIW, DD’s (fairly large) high school offers 25 AP classes, of which only three are offered to freshmen and sophomores. IIRC, just two of those are half year classes. Her HS has (what I think is) a very high number of UW required classes (such as four years of gym, etc.). So due to time and scheduling, even the most ambitious kids are limited to 10-12 APs, and most don’t come close to that. If the school had fewer mandatory classes and allowed freshmen/sophomores into more APs, you might see kids with 15-20 (we hear of kids having taken that many here on CC). A smaller school may only be able to offer five AP classes (or whatever) - and due to scheduling issues students still couldn’t hit all five. That’s why it can be difficult to compare schools without the School Profile helping to put things in context.
Bottom line: don’t feel shortchanged. Even if the AOs aren’t familiar with your HS, they’ll know how to interpret the School Profile.
at my kid’s public HS in California, a pretty good HS in Silicon Valley, there are 20 AP classes offered, but the max number of AP classes (not tests) that one could take would be 11.5, and that’s only under special circumstances. 10.5 is really the max, and most kids who go to top schools wind up taking 8-10.5. No APs are allowed in 9th grade, and only one AP is allowed in 10th, unless you are taking an AP language class, in which case you can take 2. 4 are allowed in 11th, and then you can max out in 12th grade, which would be 5.5. It’s 5.5 instead of 6 since AP US Govt is a half-year, followed by Honors Economics.
We had heard from a UC-Berkeley admissions officer early on that they usually looked for at least 8 AP classes for Engineering applicants, so that’s sort of what drove the amount of classes taken. The GC marks “most rigorous” for 6+ AP classes.
my kid’s AP sched:
10th - AP Bio (4)
11th - AP USH (4), AP Eng Lang (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Chem (5)
12th - AP US Govt (1/2 year)(4), AP Eng Lit (5), AP Physics C (Mech (4), E&M (3)), AP Stats(5), AP Psych(5), AP Comp Sci A (5)
He self studied AP Macroeconomics (3) and AP Microeconomics (4)
My dd’s school also greatly limited the number of AP class. 0 in 9th grade, 1 in 10th, and then opened it up but generally would not approve more than 4 AP courses in any given year. Her school also required an honors science course before the AP version which also “limited” the options/timing. My dd graduated with 8 APs and 2 DE courses. She was only one of 4 students that had “that many”.
As others have noted, your school’s profile will accompany your child’s transcript and colleges will utilize that for context. They will also see the GC rating of her course rigor and ranking (if they disclose).
How many AP classes the high school will offer would mostly depends on its funding. Our school pretty much offer all available APs. My D21 will take 3/3/6/5 APs during the four years.
My daughter went to a private high school. Plenty of funding.
There are some elite high schools that are actually dropping the number of AP courses they offer because they believe they can create a more meaningful curriculum that will better prepare their students for college.
https://www.educationdive.com/news/ap-courses-losing-favor-among-more-high-schools/526008/
@HIllCountry I think the number of AP classes depend on size of school as well. My D19’s school has around 3600 total kids. So none of her AP classes have a size that is only 8-12. They have multiple sections of some of the classes for sure.
Small schools whether they are private or rural just won’t have enough kids to justify a class for some of the APs.
And to further expound on @gpo613 above comment. Of the 11 APs offered, only maybe 7or 8 are frequently taken. The others will only have a few kids in them. The school AP participation is about 18%, but the school math (2%) and science (7%) are much lower. It’s a decent sized school (1900), but there’s not alot of emphasis on academics except for a very small percentage of kids.
My son is in a GATE program, and he started taking AP classes in 9th grade.
9:
AP World History
10
AP Bio
AP European History
11
AP Chem
AP US History
AP Language & Comp
AP Calc BC
12
AP Stats
AP Physics C
AP Lit
AP Government (1 semester)
AP Psychology
AP Microeconomics (1 semester)
He has two PLTW and several other honors classes with these. For kids in his program, this is a normal workload.
Perhaps future respondents can just address the OP’s question without the superfluous listing of every AP taken and when and their scores.
@skieurope The OP asked how kids managed that many. I find it interesting how different schools offer APs. My other two kids will not be able to take as many APs as my first due to the differences in the programs offered at the schools.
I hope others DO continue to answer with what they have.