I am a junior right now and I’m scared that I don’t have enough AP courses. I will only have 7 by the time I graduate, compared to some of my peers who will have 10 - 12. All my other courses are honors, like 15 or 14 honors, and my GPA is great, 3.95 UW. I do three seasons of sports and am the VP of Rotary Interact and President of ASA, also waiting to see if I got an officer position for NHS this Friday. My SAT and PSAT are great 99% percentile. But my course rigor is not amazing compared to other students. I’m looking at schools like Johns Hopkins, UPenn, Cornell, Brown, Vanderbilt, USC, Duke, NYU, Penn State, Case Western Reserve, Pitt University.
The marginal value of additional AP courses greatly diminishes starting around 6. What could matter is what AP classes you took. APHUG, APES, Psyc, Stats and Seminar are likely to be looked at differently than Lit, Calc BC, Physics C, APUSH and World Language.
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There are kids who get into top tier with 4 and those turned down with 15. A lot has to do with how many your school offers.
Instead of measuring yourself on other kids, ensure you have a good list of reach (many on your list are reaches - even for the top students - as Brown, Vandy, and Duke, for example, are a sure bet for few if any.
On the other hand, a school like Pitt will be a safety given what you listed here.
You don’t show weighted GPA but I’m assuming 4.3-4.5 - so a match might be, depending on your major, a Florida, Georgia, William & Mary, Rochester.
A safety might be a PItt, Elon, Denver, etc. Now, the Honors College at a Pitt or U of SC might not be a given - but the schools would be as would ASU which has Barrett - which you’d likely get into.
You’re a likely at Pitta nd Penn State on the list above (assuming you’re a PA resident) and CWRU as well. The others - it’s a crap shoot - but that’s why you aim high, medium, and low.
What you shouldn’t do is compare - many state flagships get their state’s best and brightest who go for a multitude of reasons.
Be the best you - not the best better than the rest - and you’ll be fine.
Good luck.
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Ask your GC if your course load will tick the ‘most rigorous’ box. If it does, you are good to go.
Not your question, but I think your list could use another look. W/o knowing more about your goals, etc., I see a JHU/Cornell vs UPenn/Duke split - with Brown as an odd one out.
Hi, Could you explain the “splits” a bit more? I am looking to pursue pre-med with a minor or double major in business. I am still far from finalizing my list so any insight will be helpful.
Thank you!
There is no “pre-med” major. You could major in business and just take the pre-req classes/
By splits I mean that ime most of the students that are the best fit for UPenn/Duke are different from the students for whom JHU/Cornell is the best fit, who are different from the students that are a good fit for Brown. Understanding the differences between the campus cultures is part of figuring out where you are likely to shine.
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What AP’s?
That matters way more than “how many”.