im a junior in ap lang apush and stat, i have a crummy gpa of around an 87 average bc i failed geometry freshmen year due to family issues and a crummy bio grade. I am trying to get into Georgia tech and UGA and want to load up on AP’s but my question is, is it worth it? I have a 36 ACT, lot of community involvement (officer for school tutoring club, steminism treasurer, lots of fundraising, starting own club next year, math instructor at math center, hospital volunteering, intern at animal shelter) moved around a lot, however, have more 85’s in most of my classes rather than A’s, this year I got an A in honors pre-calc and physics and B’s in the rest first semester and I am ending the second semester with all A’s except APUSH, next year i am scheduled to take
AP Physics C (both Mech and EM)
AP Environmental
AP Chem
Ap calc ab
ap macro/micro
Ap lit
and a college bio class over the summer (its 6 hours a day with lab so conflicted as to whether its worth it)
are these ap courses worth it? I am unsure of whether taking them would even compensate for my gpa and help me get into uga/tech. I was thinking of cutting ap chem and doing a medical internship instead but I know chem would look better.
You’re obviously a very smart person but it seems like your grades kind of lack and that can make colleges think that you’re lazy because of your perfect ACT.
I would cut back on an AP or two and focus more on others.
Don’t forget that researching universities, visiting universities, applying to universities, and selecting from offers (when they arrive) will add up to essentially another AP class senior year. Starting your own club will not be easy.
I would think that you should focus on getting great grades, and go a little bit lighter on APs. Personally I am good at Math and a slow reader, so AP lit would be the first one that I would drop. However, you need to decide what to take as an AP based on what you are good at.
I believe I will be able to ace ap calculus and ap physics as I am good at math and physics, however I personally dont like reading at all but if I dropped this, wouldnt tech look down on my choosing an easier english class compared to their other applicants? Or would it be a better idea to drop APES (lots of memorization) and take something else instead?
Drop APES. It’s not an important class anyways, and wouldn’t help you
" is it worth it"?
absolutely NOT.
choose ONE AP science class and then Ace it. So take Chem OR Physics. But do NOT take both.
And certainly drop AP Environmental. That AP class wont impress anyone.
Other wise you will be committing GPA suicide.
Have you already reached level 4 [ AP ]of a foreign language?
I think that I would drop both APES and AP Lit. For someone who is very good at Math, neither Calculus nor Physics scares me at all, although there is a lot of material there.
I think that technical schools (Georgia Tech, MIT, …) expect you to be able to read, write, and express yourself well. However, I don’t think that you need to compete with the students who are going to be dual majoring in Latin and Literature at Harvard. Admissions in the US is a bit of a mystery to me, but I would think that an A in honors English would be fine, particularly if combined with A+'s in AP maths and physics.
By the way, as a math major, I did like Economics also. However, it occurs to me that I am assuming that AP macro/micro is macroeconomics and microeconomics (both of which I took, as separate university courses, and liked). However, I suppose that there is also something called microbiology (which I never took, and know hardly anything about).
Honestly AP Environmental is worthless. AP Calculus AB is not tough at all if you’re good at math, same goes for AP Physics C if you are confident about your physics ability. Hardest classes out of those is probably going to be AP Chem. It is achievable but honestly won’t do much to help your college admissions. I hate to say it but I think Georgia Tech may be a long shot with your GPA unless you had a really good explanation, which you may have. UGA though seems pretty attainable.
I moved from india in 8th grade and wasnt allowed to take spanish until 8th grade so as a junior im in spanish 3
Thank you for the response! So would it be better for me to drop apes and switch to calc BC? and keep AP lit/econ/physics c and the internship? I dont know what 5th class I would take then, maybe ap comp sci a?Also i am unsure of whether this is a good enough explanation but its the truth- basically when i moved from India in 8th grade I was bullied by a group of boys/fell into a depression and to top it off my dad was away in india and my mom and brother always fought because he has ADD and never did any work, also we were supposed to go back to india that year but due to financial reasons we ended up staying
“So would it be better for me to drop apes and switch to calc BC? and keep AP lit/econ/physics c and the internship?”
At some level you have to do what you are comfortable with. When I was suggesting “drop AT Lit” I really meant to say “Drop down from AP lit to Honors Lit”. Does your school have honors ES?
Is your “ok” (rather than “stellar”) GPA due to freshman year in high school? If so, I have heard (on CC) that the various "University of California " don’t consider freshman year grades. Also, McGill doesn’t consider freshman year grades, and I think this might be true of other universities in Canada. If you are out of state, the Universities of California can be expensive. The various universities in Canada vary enormously in cost for non-Canadians, with the most famous (McGIll, Toronto, UBC) being in most cases the most expensive.
Where are you living now (state, or country if not the USA)?
I am currently residing in Georgia, and due to HOPE scholarship for GA residents I will be able to receive a decent amount of money towards my tuition.
If you failed geometry and are now in Calc, I’m assuming you retook the geometry class? Why is it still in your gpa? My daughter successfully handled 4 AP’s a semester, plus some dual credit college classes. Make sure you can handle the workload and choose the classes you’re likeliest to do well it. I can’t see a point in apes either with your other classes.
hello, yes i retook it over the summer and got an 86, however my school does not do grade replacement so the 60 remains on my transcript while the 86 simply appears as A “P” for pass, im generally good at math, I was just terrible at geometry. May I ask what dual enrollment classes your daughter takes?
She took poli sci, Econ, philosophy, Spanish, music appreciation, and film appreciation all at the local community college for dual credit.
If you are good at math, I would do AP Calc BC. At the tech schools and with tech majors, you are competing with some students that took AP Calc BC junior year and Multi-variable/variate senior year. Lose APES. Don’t forget, even “easier” AP classes like Micro/Macro can have bigger projects - like a big multi-component report on a country’s historical/evolving economic policy with lots of research involved. Not rocket science, but time consuming.
Agree with AP to Honors Lit - but check which is the better teacher before you change courses. Sometimes the AP classes have the best teachers and an Honors class can actually be harder because the teacher isn’t as good.
AP Chem and AP Physics - don’t think you need to do both. Are you taking Spanish 4?
Don’t try to over do it in order to cover up the geometry issue. Instead, use the supplement on your application to explain the abnormality in that grade. Remember, you will need time to do your applications - and they take time to do them well.
Drop AP chemistry, apes, and AP lit. Replace AP lit with honors English, take Spanish 4, and add comp sci (A if you already have some knowledge, principles if not, or just honors/regular .)
You could have a free period in the fall and dual enrollment chemistry in the summer instead of bio if you really want to take both advanced physics and advanced chemistry.
Except for math and physics, you’re currently getting B’s so overloading on AP 's is unlikely to end well - you should only take AP 's in which you’re reasonably sure you’ll get a B or higher. Taking lots of AP classes and getting less than a B will not impress any college and is likely to impact admissions negatively.
Right now, Georgia Tech is a high reach and uga a low reach.
Look into other colleges, running the npc. Start by identifying two safeties you like and can afford. They should admit students with a 3.5 GPA (your terrific act score would help with merit) and have about 50% acceptance rate.