<p>I am working towards the National AP Scholar (Canada) distinction.</p>
<p>"Granted to students in Canada who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on five or more of these exams."</p>
<p>The minimum number of APs you would need to take in order to get a shot at the award is 5. I'm considering maybe adding on an extra fluff AP, for a total of six. This way, I can decrease the effect of one possibly bad score with an easy 5 (It'll be easier to get an average of at least 4) as well as negating one score below 4 because I'll still have 5 in the 4 or higher range.</p>
<p>Is this a good strategy or should I scrap it and just take the minimum that the award requires? Hypothetically I would focus on each AP longer during prep time if I took 5 instead of 6. On the other hand, the extra fluff AP would be easy to self-study and it would improve my chances at earning the award...</p>
<p>Well, it could depend on the level of your other AP’s. If you won’t need that much time near the end, go for it. Also, if you know a fluff AP topic really well (like Envi Sci) you won’t need much study at all.</p>
<p>Your strategy is sound, but I question your goal. Crazy as that may sound, I say it as a proud father of a student who was a National AP Scholar (US) as a junior and today received notification that he is now a State AP Scholar.</p>
<p>The awards are fairly meaningless, as the underlying qualifying accomplishments speak for themselves.</p>
<p>I would take 5. If you take six, you might spread yourself too thin, and see lower scores across the board. It does depend on what APs you are taking though.</p>
<p>It is definitely possible to add a sixth AP. If it is an easy one like human geography or psychology, it can be manged fairly easily, however, the AP awards are not very important and not entirely worth the effort if the extra studying will negatively affect your other 5 AP scores.</p>