<p>Many schools only use the core 5 subjects (math, lit, social studies, science, and language) in calculating your gpa. However, classes like macro/micro, psyche, etc don't neccessarily fit into the calculation even though they are more challenging courses. If they aren't calculated into your GPA, is there a difference between academic-level electives and these APs?</p>
<p>Depends on how the subject, both the AP and non-AP versions, is taught at your school.</p>
<p>At my high school, for instance, both the teacher and the content in AP Psych were vastly superior to those of non-AP psych, but when it came to bio, the magnet bio class was better than AP Bio.</p>
<p>Remember that colleges aren't looking solely at your GPA. Your goal isn't just to get the highest GPA possible; it's to take the most challenging courseload possible and still achieve a superior GPA with it.</p>
<p>Colleges are also looking at the level of difficulty in your classes and your ability to handle a college-level courseload. A lot of colleges have switched to calculating your GPA with just academic core courses to prevent kids from taking the "easy" PE, art, music, other non-academic elective courses at their school as a GPA boost. They are mainly concerned with how you are doing in those classes that will predict college success.</p>
<p>However, AP courses definitely predict college success, because they are college-level courses (well, they are supposed to be). So if you take an AP course and you do well in it, the assumption is that you did well at the college level. So colleges may be slightly more interested in your AP social studies, English, science and math grades than your AP "electives" but any AP courses you take will still be of interest.</p>
<p>By the way, economics is a social studies course.</p>
<p>Econ and psych are both social studies classes.</p>