Hi, I’m a junior but I’ve only taken 4 AP classes this year:
Physics C Mech
Calculus BC
English Literature
Macroeconomics
I’m planning to apply to MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and while I have good scores (2300+, 4.0, 4.5 weighted), I feel as if I’ve fell short AP wise.
Next year I’m going to take:
(AP)
Statistics
Biology
Psychology
Computer Science
Which brings my total to 8. This seems far too little for these high caliber schools.
Have I hurt my chances?
No you haven’t, I’ll be willing to bet most applicants to those schools don’t have more than that.
Even if that wasn’t enough for Princeton, MIT, and Stanford for some reason, the end isn’t near if you don’t get in. Ivies aren’t exactly a golden ticket to success, just as a state flagship isn’t a ticket to failure. So just chill out, apply, and see what happens.
If you really want to have a more rigorous schedule, you could take multivariable calc instead of stats and/or substitute something for psych- those are generally seen as “easy” APs. Then again, it probably won’t matter if you don’t.
Your AP load is fine. HOWEVER…you should not develop too strong an emotional tie to MIT, Princeton, or Stanford–we routinely hear about kids getting rejected from PMS with perfect SATs and 15 AP courses.
How many APs is it possible to take in a year at your high school? What’s the highest number students regularly take? At most high schools, 8 APs is at the very tippy-top of course rigor.
I doubt this number of APs will be your downfall. They really want to know if you can do the work – then the questions is, “What else have you got?”. i think this rigor, your test scores, and GPA probably show you have the rigor. I’d focus more on really strengthening your ECs if I were you. That is where you can stand out from other applicants, something sparky in that area.
@annana @NUwildcat92 Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. I would take multi-variable calculus, but it’s not offered at our school at the honors or AP level - only the default, unweighted level.
I’m sick and tired of college admissions at the top 10 schools level. I took the SAT thinking that it would something like an ticket into a good school, but no, it’s just one of the billion things you can’t do wrong. And I say you can’t do them wrong because at this level, it seems as if there are more things you can do wrong than right.
I’ve taken what they say ‘a holistic admissions process’ to mean that it simply depends on my personality. While I’m deeply invested in those 3 schools, especially MIT, I’m fine with denial to all of them because what it says to me is that they don’t like who I am as a person. I can’t help that and I won’t force change upon myself in order to conform with whatever identity they would like in their incoming class.
@usualhopeful Historically, the highest performing students from our school, students who go on to the top 20, take maybe 12 AP courses throughout their high school career. The average for our school is less than 1, and I would say the smarter kids in our school take 3-4 their junior year and coast (no APs) senior year. The brightest, those who take perhaps 12 APs often are seen by our school every 2-3 years.
Our school is a common public high school. A list of the top schools in our state would have us closer to the bottom than the top. I voiced my concern because I fall in between the lower end 4 and the higher end 12. I also won’t be ranked in the top 1% at our school but will probably end up in the top 5% or top 6%. I’m worried about that too.
OP - Don’t become embittered, fearful or disillusioned at this early point in your secondary school career…early for the college application process, anyway.
You sound aware, astute and clearly adept at your studies.
Follow @intparent’s advice and make sure you reveal your strengths across the spectrum of your studies, activities and interests, and write the strongest essays you can. Remain hopeful, steady and positive.
@intparent I think I will focus more on ECs.
The reason I have less AP courses is because I opted to take non-weighted courses that relate to my interests. I’m interested in Computer Science, so what I’ve done is taken courses relating to engineering and programming in my school.
What I wonder is if they’ll look at my transcript and dismiss me because I haven’t all APs, or realize that I’ve taken things that interest me, potentially helping me when it comes to the final decision.
I think that essays make a bigger difference than they used to so I’ll be putting a lot of effort into them this summer.
“What I wonder is if they’ll look at my transcript and … realize that I’ve taken things that interest me, potentially helping me when it comes to the final decision.”
That’s the way to sound right there.
I would advise taking MVC anyway. An adcom will know that that course is harder than AP statistics, despite what the school says about it. If you don’t want to go into STEM or you struggled in calc BC, then you should just stick with stats, but I’m assuming that’s not the case.
Another thing to add is that quality trumps quantity. Adcoms would rather see 4 APs with all 5s than 15 APs with all 3s (of course if you can take 15 APs and get all 5s, that’s great, but most people can’t tbh)
@annana I’ll talk to the teacher to see if I can get a curriculum for it to give it some weight. Psychology is my actual ‘filler’ class, so I might replace it with MVC.
So my take is that you should consider taking multi-variable calculus. My guess is that the reason they don’t AP or weight it is because not enough students are at the level where they can do it anyway, so they can’t support multiple sessions (and it is beyond the AP curriculum level). Weighted GPA isn’t what admissions is all about – they want to see if you challenged yourself. And I would argue the multi variable calc is more challenging than AP Statistics.
You should read “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport. I think it will set your mind at ease about the number of AP’s you’ve taken, and help you see what colleges think about that.
Also, though, I hope you have identified matches and safeties that you would be willing to attend. It is so much easier just to focus on top schools that everyone wants to go to. But the bottom line is that very few people get in, and you need a strong backup plan that you can feel good about. You sound good enough at math to understand how low your chances really are. So I’d focus on finding other schools you also want to attend, are more likely to get into, and can afford. If you get into one of your top schools, great! But you want to have choices in April that you can be happy about if that doesn’t happen, too.
@intparent I understand. I have good safeties and good matches if the worst happens.
ONLY a a measly 8 APs is plenty. You don’t need more, it will not help you. Top colleges are not judging an AP competition. There are many threads I could direct you to right now, but in a nutshell, here is what you need to know: high grades and scores and course rigor only get you to the gate. To get through the gate, you need to be exceptional in some way, and that doesn’t mean a bunch of clubs. What is exceptional about you? Figure that out, and show adcoms. Then you might get in.
So… not to belabor the point… but thinking of them as “if the worst happens” is a mindset that may make for a difficult spring next year. You need to think of them as the most likely outcome. Of course you should strive to do your best to put in good applications to your top schools. But you can’t treat the others like they are the worst outcome. If you are doing that, then maybe you don’t have the right matches and safeties on your list. It is so much harder to find good matches and safeties that you would genuinely be happy at, but I highly recommend it. We see kids out here every spring that didn’t put enough due diligence into that part of their search, and then feel stuck with their options. There are tons of great options, be sure you have picked colleges that you think are great as your matches and safeties.
^^^ I concur - the title of this thread is troubling. Going to a state flagship or a regional LAC is not the “worst.” Think about why you think that the elites are the only schools worth attending, and why you think that you deserve such schools. Some research and introspection may be helpful.
8 AP or similarly advanced courses, distributed in various subject areas (as you have), seems perfectly fine.
Just don’t get obsessed with super-selective schools. You may have the courses and stats to avoid quick elimination on that basis, but you also likely need to be outstanding in other aspects like essays, recommendations, and achievements (e.g. state or national level achievement or award in some academic or extracurricular area) to have a non-trivial chance.
With high stats, you should have a wide range of schools that you can get admitted to, though you also need to talk to your parents about budget constraints. So find some of those non-super-selective schools that you like and can afford, so that you will have a happy April next year.
After some consideration, research, and campus visits, I don’t think I feel the same way about getting into a ‘top’ school.
Basically, I think I’ll be fine whichever school I attend.
Worrying about regular or honors multivariable is silly because students who aren’t at the honors level don’t take multivariable calculus in high school. I wouldn’t worry about whether the school labels it as honors. If they are using a standard text that should be fine. Can you talk to students from your school who took it and placed out of multivariable in college? Did they think the course was good enough?
That’s a much better attitude OP. Just ensure your list is balanced. Aim for something like the 2-3-2 approach with safety, match and reach schools. That number is just a guideline. Do a lot of research to be sure that you are happy with each of your choices, esepcially the match and safeties. Time and again we read about devastated students who are only left with a safety or a match school because they assumed top grades and test scores would get them in to a reach school. If your only choice comes down to a safety school, there shouldn’t be despair, but an acknowledgment that there was something you liked about it.
You need to consider your stats in terms of the middle 50% of accepted students. Being well into the 75th percentile is the best best, but understand that once a school’s acceptance rate gets to around the 20% and below category, all bets are off. My opinion is that no college with an acceptance rate below 30% can ever be considered a safety. Remember that expressing interest is important to many colleges, often those with acceptance rates in the 25-35% range. Good luck to you.