I’m planning on taking around 18, maybe more or less. My friend just told me that any amount of AP exams over 8 were considered the same, unless I took the most AP exams in the state.
Does anyone know how many AP exams are considered the max in the state?
Should I take more?
I don’t think the number of exams you take makes as much difference in admissions as compared to the number of AP courses. Colleges are looking for course rigor and that is all relative, based on what is offered at your particular high school. Taking AP courses and passing AP exams at a certain level can get you college credit depending on the college you end up attending, and that can save you money or time in college. I am not sure how colleges look at exam results when you didn’t take the course. I am sure some other posters on this site might know. 18 seems like a lot.
The purpose of taking AP exams is to get college credit so you can graduate faster or to place out of entry level classes. There could be a limit to the amount of credit that is allowed by examination so I would check the schools you are interested in before taking the tests. Thoses tests are expensive, you know. I’ve never heard of anyone taking so many. It sounds excessive to me.
I think there are a many better ways you could be spending your time.
I’m taking 5 AP courses right now and I want to shoot myself.
This is a silly goal. Schools are not going to be impressed. You’d do yourself a favor if you expended all that energy getting deeply involved in one or two subjects that you love, doing some independent research in that area, finding a faculty member to work with who would mentor you. See if you can produce something worthy of publication. See if you can attend a conference with others who share your love for that subject. Develop the skills to pursue your interest at a higher level once you get to college. Note most top schools will not grant you more than a year of advanced standing no matter how many AP credits you get - so it’s not even that you save 2 years worth of tuition. At best, you get one year of advanced standing, skip the intro courses and place out of a language requirement. (But unless money is really the issue, why would you want to finish a year early?)
In our local high school, 8+ APs is very common (enough to get the AP Scholar Award or whatever it’s called). But there’s one kid every year who seems to think that taking 20 APs is going to be the answer to his/her admissions dreams. Sadly their parents are usually Asian so this just plays into stereotypes. They are always smart kids who would have gotten in somewhere prestigious just by applying themselves to the things they really love.
Some of these threads make me want to stage an intervention.
Sigh, 17 year olds giving college admissions advice to other 17 year olds. SMH.
Taking the most AP exams in the state will do nothing for you in the college admissions process since many of those tests will presumably be taken in May of your senior year, after decisions are released.
IMO, there is a law of diminishing returns in play here. Once you hit 6-8 AP classes, each additional class will not substantially improve your application, and will in fact hurt it for colleges with holistic admissions if taking AP classes impacts your EC’s, essay preparation, etc.
@bsdsj22 Tell me about it. Junior year sucks -_- we’ll make it through though
Other side of the coin - AP courses can be very helpful. One of my kids found time in HS to be a student leader and 2 sport athlete, took 12 AP courses, scored 5’s on all of them, and entered a highly selective school as a Freshman with Sophomore standing. They will graduate in 4 years with a Masters degree in engineering. So sometimes a lot of AP courses can be a good thing.
But they did not take the AP courses to “look good for college admissions”. They took the AP courses because they would have been bored with lower level courses, and obviously they could handle the work load. YMMV.
If you have an average score of 4 on 5 or more you could be an AP Scholar. (perhaps with distinction) It is something neat to put on a resume but the best part is not having to pay for those classes in college (which will save you time a money especially in English etc)
@skieurope While I agree with most of what you are saying, what about the HS student who has taken 8-10 AP courses BEFORE their senior year?
Not all AP courses and tests are the same. Some are considered more rigorous than others.
As an example, suppose student 1 took AP calculus AB in 11th grade and AP calculus BC in 12th grade. S/he would have two years of AP courses and two AP test scores. But suppose student 2 just took AP calculus BC in 11th grade after completing precalculus in 10th grade. S/he would have only one year of AP course and one AP test score. But student 2 would have taken the more rigorous course.
Generally, when you start talking about >10 (or not even that many), the extra ones are likely to be the less rigorous ones (the ones more commonly mentioned as being “easy to self study” and which are less likely to be given subject credit by colleges).
@moscott That is a rare occurrence and colleges know that. Most AP’s have prerequisites, and many HS’s limit AP’s available for frosh and sophs.
Agreed. There are many valid reasons to take a boatload AP’s. The ope’y for college credit and interest in the subject are but two reasons. Don’t just take AP’s to impress colleges - they won’t be impressed.
@skieurope @ucbalumnus and everyone else
Thank you for your opinions. Without self studying, I have 8 AP exams that I will definitely take before senior year.
So I guess taking more AP exams isn’t going to impress colleges?
I want a way to let colleges know that I’m capable of doing a lot of stuff. I got a couple of Bs semester due to some stuff in my personal life, and I want to make up for it. I got straight As last year, but this semester ruined it.
It may depend on which AP courses and tests you will complete by high school graduation. If you have the more rigorous core academic ones (English, calculus, a science other then ES, a foreign language, US history, perhaps an art or music) in your list of AP courses and tests, that presumably looks better than if you have a bunch of the “AP lite” ones.
Also note that the AP awards are meaningless. They’re just a way for College Board to say “Thanks for giving us over $500 just to take some stupid exams!”
However, if you do well in those exams, you could get college credits at very low cost.
The State and National AP Scholar Awards seem fairly impressive, considering they measure performance in addition to number of exams taken.