<p>Ok, so I am a sophmore who is about to take his first AP which is Ap european History, I am a little nerovus because obviously these are college level vourses and I would like to score an average of at least a 98-100 and this unweighted. I would like to attend Harvard University one day and am also self-studying AP World History and AP Statistics. SO on these Harvard chance threads Ive seen people who have taken several APs and have averages from like a 3.9-4.0. So my question is that would APs be difficult for someone like me, or am I being paranoid. Last year as a freshman I took Honors Global History, Honors English, Honors Bio, Accelerated Math, Latin II and DDP and I did not score lower than a 98 unweighted average in any of these courses. So will like a 99 in AP European History be reasonable for me to obtain and I am also planning on buying Modern European History and Princeton Review Bookfor the course.</p>
<p>My instinct is to say no… If you can make that high of a grade in an AP class than the teacher isn’t challenging you nearly enough. I made a 5 on the World History exam, but A’s on her quizzes (which we took once a week) showed up maybe twice a month.</p>
<p>Obviously everybody’s class is different, but my teacher’s quizzes were about 16-20 questions, and very difficult, and the class average was usually in the 70s, while the highest grade was usually a low A or high B (1-3 questions wrong). The tests (once per unit) were weighted very high and were recycled quiz questions, so those brought up our grades… but even then, I had the highest grade that any of her students had at any one point during the year, and that was a 97 at the end of like our third quarter grading period.</p>
<p>What’s important is that you do well on the exam. That will get you out of a possible history credit you have to fulfill in college, and it looks good on college Apps. If you make all A’s, low or high, its still impressive…</p>
<p>Anyway, best of luck!!</p>
<p>Yeah, but the grade averaged in with your GPA and I would like to get high marks in these grades and have always been a good student.</p>
<p>Doesn’t your transcipt just show the letter grade? Or does it actually show the %?</p>
<p>Either way, lol at this thread. Come on, you’re not going to get 100% in an AP class. If you do, then something’s wrong with the class.</p>
<p>Yea… again, AP classes are supposed to challenge you to get an A, and while it was pretty easy for me to get an A in AP World, its designed so that each percent higher is exponentially harder to get to (i.e., the difference between a 97 and 98 is much greater than the difference between an 89 and a 90.)</p>
<p>I got a 110 in AP World History all four quarters and got a 5 on the exam, and above a 100 on all four quarters for AP Biology and a 5 on the exam. All schools are different, and I know the classes are graded harder in most schools, but don’t say that there is something wrong with the class if that person got a 100. Sohaibshaikh, I say go for it, and even if you get lower in APs (like low 90s), colleges will take into consideration that it is an AP class, and they will appreciate you challenging yourself even though you know you would have a higher GPA with honors classes. Trust me, a 4.0 with no APs is worse than a 3.8 with 5 APs.</p>
<p>Yeah but I dont think it’s Harvard material. Doesnt Harvard expect you to have like a 4.0 even wiht like 4 or 5 APs a year and thanks cause at my school you get 10 points added on for APs but unweighted I would like a 100 and sd6 how did you do so well in AP World could you give me any tips, even though Im taking AP Euro</p>
<p>Harvard doesn’t expect anything of the sort. You are more than your grades. That’s such a common statement said, but it really does hold true. You’re a sophomore? Stop worrying about Harvard and get to having some fun, doing your extracurriculars, and getting good grades.</p>
<p>If you take hard classes and drop to like a 93, you still have a good shot at Harvard. If you take no hard classes to maintain your 100, then you simply will not get in.</p>
<p>I think people seriously get overexcited about AP courses and the (oh no!) dreaded “college material.” Just the other day I was discussing schedules with a schoolmate who was astounded to hear about my AP’s - she said “I’m taking one, and it’s going to be difficult for me.” Seriously, they may be “college,” but most only scratch the surface and it really is not that difficult to get A’s. I’ve taken Physics B, Calculus BC and Computer Science A so far, and have gotten A’s in all three classes without much work - I actually found certain Honors courses (such as english, and it’s not that i’m bad at english) more difficult than my AP courses. So stop worrying - just try your best and if you feel that you’re not living up to your expectations then ask your teacher for help and never get disheartened.</p>
<p>Yeah don’t worry about getting a 99 in an AP course. Focus on getting an A (obviously if you’re applying to Harvard), but you don’t need an A+. A perfect example is just my last year APs. I was taking Chem and English Language. I got a 99 in Chem easily, while everyone else got mostly Cs. I got a 90 even in AP language, while there were certainly others that had 97s and 99s. I got a 5 on chem and a 3 on language. I still don’t think my chances at any of my reaches are SHOT because of AP language. This simply shows that English does not come as easily to me as science and math, and, since I am taking AP lit next year for my English class requirement, it shows that I am challenging myself. That is what colleges are looking for. (Don’t take this to mean that getting a C is all right. It definitely isn’t.)</p>
<p>Go for it. I started off with Euro as my first AP and pulled out of it with As both semester, just passing the exam with a 3. By the sound of your grades, you should be able to outdo me by a long shot in anything. It shouldn’t be too challenging to you, and having those review books will really help you. I actually used those same two books and I don’t think I would have had a chance at passing without them.</p>
<p>Just wondering, why is everyone’s first exam AP euro? In my school, you only take that as a junior or senior, and my first AP was Physics B</p>
<p>In California at least, you usually take a european history class sophmore year. So that’s probably part of it.</p>
<p>I agree with Stimulus here
my sophmore year lit class (regular, not h/ap) had more work than all of my other classes combined (2aps and 3 honors)
its kinda ironic since my only non-weighted class was class I got a B in LOL</p>
<p>yeah, it’s usually english that kills everyone - teachers are insane</p>
<p>I think you may have some unrealistic expectations. There’s a reason most schools weight AP classes- they’re hard. They’re supposed to be hard. And colleges know that. Even if they only look at your unweighted GPA, they also have your transcript, and if you have a (le gasp) 3.6 (which is still terrific) but you loaded up on the APs they’ll understand that you challenged yourself with a difficult courseload. So go ahead, strive for a 98-100 unweighted! It can’t hurt! But keep in mind that it may also be the first class you get a B in.</p>
<p>As a lot of people have said your grade in the course is often unrelated to your score on the exam, and your exam score is more important since it’s standardized and your teacher’s meanness isn’t (though getting a D in the class and a 5 on the exam may say bad things about your work ethic)</p>
<p>You didn’t really give us enough information to advise you on how difficult that courseload would be. If you’re a dedicated student (which you obviously are) and are willing to put in the time you should do well. Since I’m a bit more of a laidback person (read: lazy as h3ll) I wouldn’t recommend self studying two APs sophomore year- I’d pick one, if you do it at all. I did 1 AP my sophomore year (world history) and it was a great warmup to take 8 more APs junior and senior year without being overwhelmed. I didn’t get a single rejection letter, and I applied to some top-tier schools. </p>
<p>Also, please keep in mind the kind of people who post on the Harvard forum here at CC. It’s not exactly a balanced picture of the applicant pool! Everyone here is a really obscenely, unusually serious student for the most part (and some have a gift for hyperbole/■■■■■■■■) or else they wouldn’t spend so much time posting. I’m sure you’ll do great, and don’t get intimidated by some of the more boastful people on the HYPMS forums!!</p>
<p>Finally, relax. Your grades are not everything. It’s nice if you have a shiny GPA, but don’t max it out at the expense of your ECs and social life. High school is supposed to be fun, right?</p>
<p>Thanks man</p>
<p>I totally agree with Biggie_Smalls. Think for one second: You’re probably going to study for the next 10 years of your life. And trust me, it’s going to get harder every year. You’re going to look back in college and be like “Why did I want a 99 so badly in my high school Sophomore year?” because you’ll be studying 5 hrs a day and only pull 80’s. </p>
<p>As for whether a 99 is practical… well, if you’ve gotten 99’s before then maybe it is practical for your school. But I my school, it’s practically impossible to get 95+ in any language/ social science course, and we’re talking about non-AP courses here. I’ve never heard of a single person who got 95+ in any English course at my school. Okay, I’ll admit it, Canadian schools are different and it’s 10 times harder to get 90’s here (since A= 80-100 and most class averages hover around 60ish - 70ish), but still…</p>
<p>UGHHH ^ I had the highest English grade for the honors English in my class and it was only a 94 unweighted. And although Im weaker at History I probably had the third or fourth highest history honors grade of a 91 uw. But I guess it really varies as I go to a boardin school.</p>