<p>What is an example of "Most Rigorous"? Has anyone seen their counselors mark that? If so, what was your schedule and how many advanced courses did your school offer? </p>
<p>My school offers almost all the AP's (around 28). However, we can normally only take one in 10th grade and are unrestricted for junior and senior year. What would be considered a "most rigorous" load for my school?</p>
<p>That’s a hard question to answer, it depends on how much you can handle. But I suppose that if someone had the ability to tackle 6-7 AP classes a year, then that’s possible given the AP’s your school offers.</p>
<p>6-7 AP classes in jr and sr year, i mean.</p>
<p>At my school it’s the same way, we take 1 in sophomore year (european history) and then in jr and sr year we are unrestricted</p>
<p>The normal amount is 7-8 by graduation because people here are involved in various electives and junk. The most I’ve ever heard of is 13 by some freak who got rejected by all the top schools despite perfect academics. He probably became a machine after taking all those classes.</p>
<p>It depends upon the HS. Some HS do not have AP classes so most rigorous might be all the honors classes available. If your HS only offers 8 APs then taking 5-6 may be most rigorous. You need to ask your GC about this.</p>
<p>It varies hugely by high school. Ask your GC to be careful. I recommend taking the average amount for your school, but be smarter than most grade-whores by taking APs only in the classes that interest you and you are strong in. Not good at English? Don’t take AP Lit. Etc. Your courseload may technically be the most rigorous, but you’ll be a heck of a lot less stressed than your humanities friend taking AP Physics to “impress” colleges.</p>
<p>This is something we have struggled with a great deal! Only AP Euro in 10th grade…skipped it due to immense dislike for heavy reading/writing load and a time consuming EC (plus the teacher is VERY unpleasant). Junior year three AP’s… math track here is odd, he was fully weighted but not AP (you have to go either Functions/Trig, or Functions/Geo which is much harder but weighted the same?). He took the harder class so will have credit for ‘rigor’ but no AP here…frustrating. Neighboring schools go to calc. Sr. year three again, English, Calc, & Physics. His IT classes are not AP (programming, engineering, CAD, etc.). All electives have been academic, but he is looking at six APs vs. students who have had a whopping 12! Again, he has a time consuming EC so he decided to take his APs where his strengths were and steer clear of AP social sciences & language (although he will have 5yrs).</p>
<p>It’s impossible to know how they will be judged overall. There is no exact science that I know of…we have looked! Will his major/career-focused EC pay off enough to cover the APs he doesn’t have that some student do? I guess we will know next April.</p>
<p>I disagree with you that 13 is some machine.
I am taking 11-12 next year.</p>
<p>So 17ish?
13 in one year? Or in 2 years?</p>
<p>13 AP’s definitely do not translate into ‘machine’ (yet). The most I’ve ever seen is 20 by graduation. And by the way, that person is heading to Harvard.</p>
<p>Is taking 12 in a year an overload?</p>
<p>My daughter just met with her GC and specifically asked if her courseload would be considered “most rigorous”. She will have taken 12 AP courses and 3 dual enrolled classes. But she will have no math APs, no calc and no physics. Her GC said that her courseload would be “most rigorous” because she has taken the highest level courses in english, history and humanities, which are her strengths. I agree that it is most important to choose AP courses that you will enjoy and do well in!</p>
<p>@lebronjames, yes, I personally think 12 in one year is an overload.</p>
<p>Can you even take 12 classes in a year at your school? Self-studied APs do not appear on your transcript, the only way they will help you is if you pass the test AND the college you are attending will award credit based on your score.</p>
<p>8+4
Im applying as a pol sci major, so I want to finish the basics before I attend college.
I am not taking like Calc BC, Chem,…etc.</p>
<p>I only pursue my interests, so I think I should be fine with handling the coursework.</p>
<p>The only person who can answer this is your guidance counselor, since he/she will be the one deciding what your course rigor is.</p>
<p>Course rigor is very important. But it won’t save or help you too much if you can’t get the A’s.</p>