So I’m in my senior year and I want to take five AP’s. I have AP Calculus AB, Literature, Politics and Government, Physics, and am trying to take Computer Science too. However, my counselor says that it will be too hard with 5 APs and doesn’t seem like she’s going to allow this addition. Can she refuse my request? I’m saying I want to do more AP and my counselor is saying no. Although we are going to have a parent meeting tomorrow, I’m not sure if she is willing to give me the 5 APs. Can someone tell me if her refusal to my request is allowed and if it is, what should I do? How can I get her to allow it.
If ur really passionate about it and ok with hurting your counselor recommendation(for college apps) then go ahead and take it up with administration, it depends on your school district if there’s no rules limiting the number of AP’s then try to fight it but a lot of school districts limit AP’s and/or have certain prerequisites like an A in the pre-AP class to get into the AP so after you figure all that out either take it up with administration or self-study the AP
Schools can do whatever they want to. My kids’ school only offered 4 APs, students could only take them senior year, and they were scheduled so realistically a student could only take two of them. Relax. How many APs you take isn’t a big determining factor in your admissions. Colleges want to know that you challenged yourself, but trust me that the one additional AP won’t tip the scales in your favor. That tip will go to a student who spent that time on a wowzer of an EC instead.
Thank you for the reply. I don’t think there are any rules limiting the number of AP’s since there have been prior cases where a student took 5 APs. I think the counselor just thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it because most students who did take 5 APs were stellar students with straight A’s. Contrast to them, I wasn’t a straight A student. In fact, one of the reason I’m trying to take this extra AP is for the gpa boost. However, my grades aren’t terrible. Rather, I only got one B my junior year and all A’s in both semester.
then take it up with administration if she doesnt budge
Are your parents okay with you taking five AP classes? How many AP classes did you take your junior year?
Your counselor probably just doesn’t want you to take on more than you can handle. She wants you to take a rigorous schedule, but she also wants you to do well in it. She’s probably just basing it on her past experience with how students have done taking on a large number of AP classes. Make sure you and your parents are on the same page about whether they think you should take 5 APs or not. If you’re parents approve of it and you show an understanding that it will be a lot of work and that you are willing to put in that effort (and accept that your grades may suffer), then I think your counselor will be more amenable to it (provided there aren’t an scheduling issues). A lot can happen in high schools when parents get involved, and they are often better and more experienced advocates than students.
Schools all handle this in different ways. They want to make sure that students are taking classes that they can handle and aren’t overloading themselves to the point that their grades suffer and/or they want to drop/change classes in the middle of the year. Some schools make students petition into classes or get their parents’ signatures to okay it. Some schools make students sign “contracts” for AP classes agreeing not to drop the class or other such things. Some schools limit the number of APs students can take or make schedules such that students can’t take certain classes concurrently. When I was in high school, counselors were required to meet with any student who signed up for more than a certain number of AP classes (I think it was 3 or 4) and talk to them about whether or not it was a good idea. Just insist that this is what you want to do, and if you can, provide examples of your past performance that suggest you will be able to handle the work (A’s in prerequisite classes, for example).
What APs did you take junior year and what grades did you get in them?
Do you have any prior experience with CS?
Remember that no one is impressed with a C in an AP class - only take that extra AP if you’re sure you can get a B or higher in it, as well as in your other classes.
I only took 3 APs my junior year. AP English Language, AP Environmental Science, and AP US History. I got an A on all of them except AP English Language my first semester and got an on all of them the second semester. As for if I have prior experience with CS, I am familiar with computer programming and coding.
I would drop the AP Lit. You’ve already proven yourself in that subject with AP Lang, and you can use the extra time to work on your college applications.
As for the GPA boost, your admissions will be primarily based on grades you already got in Grades 9-11. Some universities will check your grades at the end of this first semester as part of admissions, but others won’t – they will just check senior year grades post admission to make sure that you didn’t bomb anything and that they don’t need to withdraw the offer of admission.
Were you trying to be in the top # percentile for a certain reason – admission to a specific honors program in a college you are applying to, or a special scholarship? Maybe crunch the numbers on your GPA if you had all As with 4 APs and all As with 5 APs, and then average that into your current GPA using your school’s weighting and see what difference it makes. Probably not much. PLUS colleges will weight the grades themselves differently, according to their own method.