For a different perspective from a non-US school where AP is not the norm, DS19’s school runs a magnet AP program which is by application and selection only. They start in grades 9 & 10 with 5 mandatory pre-AP courses and then in grade 11 they are allowed to choose which pre-AP classes to continue with based on which AP courses they intend to take. The majority of the AP classes are offered as grade 12 credits with only 2 (AP Eng Lang & AP Psychology) being offered in grade 11. They also recommend taking no more than a combination of 4-5 pre-AP/AP courses in any given year. So most AP classes have 3 semesters of pre-AP courses as prerequisites with AP Calc BC having 4 (you have to take pre-AP pre-calculus in first semester first).
I think one way students take so many APs is that GCs can’t/won’t say no.
There are exceptional students (very small group in the context of our very average HS) that can handle 5 or more APs in a school year and ultimately double digit APs by the end of HS. They can do so while juggling substantial ECs, get plenty of sleep at night, and still have time for friends and down time.
Then there are good students (larger group), not exceptional but still good students, who try to juggle what the exceptional students can juggle and end up completely overloaded.
I find it sad that when the above plays out, the adults in the system step in and limit the number of APs the exceptional kids can take.
Thankfully this wasn’t the case at our HS.
What do high schools with these policies do when a student who is highly advanced in math or foreign language is ready for calculus or AP level foreign language in 10th grade?
I teach 5 AP social studies classes (Euro, US, World, Human Geo, and comparative Gov). Kids at my school can take AP classes to fulfill all 4 years of social studies credits (including Psych, Gov, and Macro - which I do not teach). They can take 3 years of credits in other core subjects, plus electives like language, art, music theory etc. we get kids with 10+ APs a lot. My own kid graduated with 12, but to be fair, she took test in Euro and World Without taking class - she prepared with me.
“I looked at our high school profile - it offers 15 APs and 7 honors classes. Due to prereqs, only juniors and seniors can take APs. Kids take 6-7 classes per day. The profile says 6 APs is norm.”
Just make sure that norm means the GC will check most rigorous, if that’s something you and your daughter think is important. Don’t forget the honors classes as adcoms do look for those as well, colleges like to see a progression, of say Spanish 4H, followed by AP Spanish, again assuming both are offered. As you posted though , you don’t have to buy into the rat race and get the rigorous box checked either.
If the GC doesn’t explain the AP policy (only jr and sr year), your D can certainly do it in the more info section. In some high schools I’m familiar with in the bay area, it’s a similar policy (though you can take Calc AP as a soph), so they advise putting that information in. Most students take AP classes starting in jr year and do fine with college admissions.
I understand the perceived need to get into that certain dream school or program, and therefore focusing on what admission committees and scholarship interviewers are looking for. Having been through this now with DS18 and now ramping up with DD20, I have come to appreciate that it is really finding the right level of rigor for your own child. That isn’t based on looking around at what others are doing, but rather what fits your own unique kid.
Have they had the right prerequisite courses? How did they do? Are they really ready to do college level work in the subject? If they are, it can be really discouraging to have to do work that is below their abilities. On the other hand, if they aren’t and find them can’t keep up despite putting in more than a normal number of hours outside the classroom, what a confidence killer. Totally unnecessary stress. After all, they are in HS, and there is nothing deficient about working at the HS level while in HS :).
DS18 took 13 APs and 3 dual credit classes. That was the right number for him. Looks like DD20 will be taking 9 APs and 3 dual credit. That was the right number for her. I love that because they will enter undergrad with so much credit, they will both have the opportunity to study multiple subjects more in depth, rather than just one major.
@LOUKYDAD, I agree that different students require different classes and motivation and that the opportunity to take maximum advanced classes should be provided and leave it up to the student to decide what makes sense for them. I am feeling way behind the 8-ball as we did not plan out D19 4-year HS course load in advance nor was I planning to do that for college. And I feel like I should have had her take the AP French exam right after she finished Honors French junior year so she could potentially meet FL requirement that way. But, then again, taking college level foreign language is a good thing. Anyway, too many words. This is the first time being on CC has been more stressful than helpful for me. I suppose I should be thankful for that.
Nor should you.But you can strongly recommend that she do so, with the caveat that courses, outside of required and/or introductory ones, often change year to year.
Many colleges have placement tests for foreign language exemption. They generally won’t garner credit, but it’s better than nothing.
My D1 was and is an academic kid. It is what she likes more than anything else. She took 10 AP classes (11 Exams - Econ is 2 exams) because she liked the material and it challenged her. She didn’t take APUSH because she wasn’t that interested in the subject and didn’t want to. We didn’t care about the “most difficult curriculum” check box. She also took 4 college courses her senior year.
D2 took fewer AP classes. Shunned any that involved writing. Only took STEM and Econ. Those are what interested her. She did fine also.
Your student should take the APs that interest them and not worry about the other students. When it comes time to apply to college, your student will land at an appropriate college with similar peers. What’s wrong with that?
@ucbaalumnus - DD’s high school met students where they were. There was usually a handful of kids who were above even the most advanced track and the school had an agreement with a university that had a huge online course selection. The school would schedule a “study hall” for that student and they would take the course during that time slot in the distance learning lab. Students also met with a teacher in that subject area at school regularly.
That said, those students were the exception, not the rule. When more students became interested in a course, the school would add it. For example, my daughter’s senior year was the school’s first for AP Physics C. There had not been the interest in prior years but they knew by her junior year that there were over 10 interested and on track, so they hired a retired professor to teach it (he was amazing). This current year, they didn’t have the interest so he’s working with the sci oly team, teaching engineering, plus helping the two students who did want to take C with their online equivalent.
This was a private HS.
“This is the first time being on CC has been more stressful than helpful for me. I suppose I should be thankful for that”"
skieeurope tried to stop the humble bragging early on, and once that started, probably didn’t made you feel too good. The reason most colleges stop at around 7 or 8 is that they know that a lot of the AP classes have grade inflation, they see their own students struggling with the same classes and so are not going to believe that HS kids are breezing through similar content. What’s done is done, have her focus on the rest of the app and as you said, you can avoid the rat race (which APs are intrinsically a part of), and use the info for your younger child(ren).
The demands of AP courses vary a great deal from school to school. I think that is a big variable in how many AP classes a student can take, second only to school restrictions on the number of APs.
Multiple courses that each focused on the AP content, without added bells and whistles, could easily be manageable by a strong student.
In contrast, our local school had work overload in the AP classes. The AP Calc BC class was pre-announced to take 2 hours of homework per night. My nephew and niece went to a school where the AP Calc BC students had to meet with the teacher daily for an extra hour before school started. Both of these are unnecessary.
The AP Lit class featured overkill in terms of written homework. Multiple AP classes had a fairly heavy summer workload before the school year started.
There is also the question of AP assignments after the AP exam, but before the school year has ended, in districts where the school year continues for a month or more beyond the AP exam. AP US History and AP Chemistry had major, time-consuming assignments after the AP exam–worthwhile in the case of AP US History, less worthwhile in the case of AP Chemistry. AP Calc BC continued with coverage of calculus topics that are not on the AP exam.
In science subjects, students almost always had to take the honors or regular level course before the AP course.
So only a few students took as many as 8 APs in this district. It would not have been possible for anyone to fit in a much larger number of courses of the same intensity.