<p>my school doesn't offer latin or various other classes/AP classes, and i really want to take them, 3 of them are AP...
do you think colleges, yale specifically, frown upon that and think of it as an easy escape or something?
i don't know, i'm already signed up because i genuinely want to take these courses, but i was just wondering.
those courses are:
latin
AP art history
AP united states history
AP biology</p>
<p>No, online courses are probably more of a bonus than a negative aspect for your application. Taking courses online (obviously depending on their level of difficulty) shows your willingness to go above and beyond what is offered to you by your high school. I took most of my math courses in high school online through the Johns Hopkins cty program (I took AP Calculus freshman year, and my high school did not offer any more math), and I believe (although this is completely speculation) that this may have helped me get into Yale.</p>
<p>dan92, at first I read your reply wrong and thought you said it was in face a negative aspect! ha ha, thank you for your fast reply.
AP calculus as a freshman? Wow…
ha ha,
if you read this, would you mind telling me how your online schooling went? I’m a little afraid that AP bio will be more difficult online…
for you, with AP calc, do you think that they taught you well enough, or did you find yourself finding outside sources to aid you through your course?
thanks,</p>
<p>I would only recommend taking online classes if your HS doesn’t offer them, and I’d take similar at a local college instead if possible. I don’t know the cost of online courses, but you could also self-study APs.</p>
<p>There’s a big difference if you’re taking them BEFORE your sr year as you would be able to take the AP test before applying and prove that you learned the material.</p>
<p>my school doesn’t have AP Gov so I took it online through Virtual High School during my senior year and got in to Yale — I think it helps applications because it shows that you’re willing to go above and beyond what your school has made available. this is true even in your senior year, because that’s when a lot of students take easier and/or fewer classes (especially second semester) so being willing to put in the extra work is impressive.</p>
<p>@bluepicasso - I took AP Calc AB at my high school, and then continued my math throughout high school online with BC, Linear Algebra, and Statistics. I found it fairly challenging to learn outside of a classroom setting without an easily accessible teacher, but some of the courses I took were more conducive to learning the material than others. Make sure that the online courses have online lectures - my Linear Algebra class didn’t, and basically consisted of me reading a math text book (loads of fun, right?) and submitting homework problems and tests. I found it very difficult to learn without any type of human interaction (even virtual interaction; the online lectures for other courses were acutally great), so I would really recommend making sure that the class has an online lecture serious. To answer you last question, I did not need outside sources to supplement my coursework.</p>
<p>thank you all who replied so much! i feel a lot better now. although i found out AP U.S. is at my school, so i hope that colleges don’t look at that too badly. instead of my honors credit U.S. course in actual school, now i’m taking law studies in it’s place.
i’m not sure if my V.S. has online lectures, but even if it doesn’t i suppose i’ll have to manage as you did, thanks dan92 for your reply back.</p>
<p>My son (Yale 2013) took several courses from Stanford University’s online program, Education Program for Gifted Youth. Their AP math and physics courses are excellent, and I believe they have added AP US History.</p>
<p>I took multiple online classes through Florida Virtual School and another school (Duke) told me that taking them showed I had a desire to learn even outside school and it was a positive. I’m sure Yale views it the same way.</p>
<p>From what I understand, the adcoms will see it as you taking initiative. You are taking classes not offered at your school in your own time. I can only imagine it as a beneficial thing!</p>
<p>This site is interesting as well as informative. Enjoyed browsing through the site. Keep up the good work. Greetings…</p>
<p>@dan92 - I’m considering taking BC Calc online next year. Could you tell me what website or program you used when you took it?</p>