<p>I am planning on going to very good universities in the United States, as an international student.
In my school, there are only two APs supplied: AP English, and AP Chemistry.
I plan to pursue an Economics major, and I have read that AP courses are the same as college level course and when you have already take an AP for a subject, you no longer need to take that subject in college.
Do the colleges look at how many APs I have done or have not done in considering my application?</p>
<p>Yes they definitely look at the amount of APs that you take. Taking only two APs will hurt you at top school however, they might look at you in a lighter fashion because your school offers so few APs. My school is different in that they offer around 22 APs so if someone only took two that would hurt their chances. Also they rarely give credit for APs at top Universties unless you score very high on the Final exam and even then they require you to take a test when you arrive at the university to place out. Since you can only take two APs my advise would just be to make the best of your situation by scoring 5s on the exams and have a high GPA 3.9-4.0 UW .</p>
<p>Definitely take the two APs they provide and I would suggest you consider self-studying some as well. Try one of the economics one or both if you want :)</p>
<p>I agree with everything that has been said so far. Addressing the original post:</p>
<p>-Yes, colleges will look at how many AP classes you have/have not taken. If your high school only offers 2 AP classes, then you should take them both and make sure that your guidance counselor mentions that you took all the AP classes that were available to you on his/her recommendation.
-If you are interested in economics, then you should definitely consider self-studying the macro and micro APs.
-Collegeboard likes to boast that taking APs can earn you college credit, but the truth is that it is not quite as straightforward as they make it seem. Some colleges only accept scores of 5s, while others may be more lenient. Some may allow you to completely skip over a subject in which you score well, whereas others may only allow you to place into a higher class within the subject, but still require you to take some classes within that subject. You should research the AP credit policies of the colleges you are interested in.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar situation in that I attend a high school where AP classes are only offered to seniors, and to to take an AP class I had to finish all the honors level high school courses, which is really frustrating. However, I was told by my school guidance counselor that not having that many AP classes would not hurt my chance of admission as long as I took all the challenging courses that were available to me. So, like everyone else said, you are only expected to take the two APs offered by your school, but self-studying shows initiative and will make you a more attractive applicant. </p>
<p>If the courses offered at your high school are very rigorous even though they are not deemed APs, maybe you can take SATIIs in those non-AP subjects to show that you’ve taken challenging classes to prepare you for college. (or maybe since you’re an international student you don’t need SATIIs?)</p>
<p>Thank you all for replying to my question.
Would the APs count as high school credits?
If I take AP English, would that count as 1 credit for high school?</p>
<p>It is really a shame that my school only offers 2 APs. However, we have an excellent community service program, and a sports program.
I am an active participator of both.
I also have a 4.2 GPA, can this possibly replace for not taking as much APs ?</p>
<p>Definitely take the 2 AP classes offered at your school and if I were you I would try to self-study for some additional AP tests. AP Economics is definitely an AP that is possible to self-study and since you are interested in Economics, you should maybe try that. Good luck.</p>
<p>AP English seems reasonable for economics, but do you like Chemistry? If Sciences isn’t you thing, then I don’t know if you’d want to take AP Chem. </p>
<p>If you don’t take Chem, I’m sure Admissions people who understand that Chem has nothing to do with economics and you did the best you could…</p>
<p>self-study them. I swear, AP exams will save you THOUSANDS of dollars. If you are going to an ivy, credits cost about $500+. So if you take a standard AP test and pass you’ll save about $1,500 right off the bat. Not a bad deal if you ask me. If you take tons of AP classes you could graduate in 3 years or less. Once again if you are going to an ivy that means one less year you have to attend which will save you 40-50k at least. Not to mention that you’ll graduate one year ahead of everyone else and that means you also get to work one year before everyone else. Bottom line: take as many AP exams as you can. IT IS WELL WORTH THE EFFORT! I guarantee you that.</p>
<p>^Not necessarily. I’m going to a school where, despite taking ten AP tests (not blowoff ones either), I only get credit for four tests (chem, both physics, and Calc BC). So, I actually lost money (about 500 dollars, because I had to take 2 late) by taking the other six tests. But my school is an exception to the rule, along with a few others. Most schools have very lenient AP credit policies.</p>
<p>^obviously, there is an exception for every rule.</p>
<p>Im assuming you pass the exam first try and your college accepts the test scores. In other words, the student has actually done his homework in regards to his future college’s AP credit policies.</p>
<p>APs aren’t really the most important thing that colleges are looking at. Yes, they will make a difference, but no, lack thereof will not drop you to the bottom of the list. There are people who have only taken 3 APs who have gotten into top colleges. I would recommend taking the ones offered and possibly self-studying econ… Don’t feel pressured into APs, this is probably not the best site to ask either because people will have a heart attack if you say only 2 APs… I’m here to tell you it doesn’t matter as much as these people make it matter.</p>
<p>AP courses count as high school courses; you’ll get high school credit from your high school for them.</p>
<p>Some colleges will give credit for certain scores on some AP courses. The college my son is going to requires a 5 on an AP test for credit, and then gives credit only for tests that align with a course taught at the college. (So AP Human Geography would not receive credit; good thing he didn’t take that one! )</p>
<p>Some colleges cap the number of credits they will give for AP courses; others do not.</p>
<p>You will not be penalized by colleges for taking two AP courses if your school offers only two AP courses. Please check with your guidance counselor to ensure that you are taking the “most rigorous courseload” available at your school.</p>
<p>As mentioned, some kids self-study for AP exams; you do not need to take an AP course to take the exam. Also, there are AP courses available online; my son took AP Comp Sci online this past year (after a fashion, anyway… he was enrolled in the course, but didn’t do any of the labs, which I didn’t know until the end of the school year, the little stinker!!). There are also materials available online for self-study and of course, there are review books that you can buy that can be an excellent resource for self-study.</p>
<p>Can anyone let me know of some recommended textbooks for AP macro and
micro… I think I will take both of them, and probably AP Calc in my
senior year.</p>
<p>However, when I take APs in my senior year, how colleges know that I
took them, they would not see it in my appication and I wouldn’t be
able to send them my results at the time of application.
Can anyone share their thoughts on this please? Thanks</p>
<p>^whenever you apply to college they will be able see the courses you are taking your senior year in your transcript or your application itself. For the ones you are self-studying when it asks any for AP tests to be taken like the common application you can put that down there. Hope that helps!</p>
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