<p>I'm a sophomore who is in the process of picking out my courses for next year. I currently have a 4.0 and take the hardest courses offered (and an AP that isn't offered to sophomores, but I got the administration to let me take it). However, I struggle a little bit in honors chemistry, and just barely have an A. Next year, I have the choice of taking AP chem or honors physics (either way, I'll be taking AP physics senior year). AP chem is notoriously difficult at my school, and the teacher doesn't believe in giving people A's. Plus, I feel that taking honors physics next year will prepare me for AP physics senior year. However, I've read on multiple sites that colleges look closely at whether or not a student took the hardest possible courses in high school. Would Princeton (or any other prestigious college, for that matter) hold it against me if I were to not take advantage of every AP available?</p>
<p>I think this is a very relative sort of situation? I feel what they mean by hardest courses is that you take the most possible courses at the highest level at the school you attend. If you struggle with Chem, and the teacher doesn’t give out A’s easily it should be acceptable to replace it with an equally highly standard of course.
I am not American and don’t know the difference between honours and AP courses so maybe the AP Chem is higher.</p>
<p>So I suppose think about whether there is a large difference between the two options to have available and what would work better for you. There is no point taking a more difficult class if you just struggle to do very well, but then again if the marks are similar enough to what you could get in the other class, and it is considered more challenging then maybe go for it.</p>
<p>For example I took a subject where I was 1 in 4 of the first people to sit it for my country (we were doing the British A Level system). I actually got a C in it, but taking it actually helped my maths and physics marks, but took time away from doing a few other things that I would have loved to. I did learn a lot and still enjoyed the classes a lot - but I feel that the time taken by the classes and studying for my finals could have been used more productively for me in other areas.</p>
<p>Aren’t AP exams graded by College Board, and not you teacher? </p>
<p>MRU93Raith, honors in the U.S. are equivalent to GCSEs, and APs are equivalent to A Levels.</p>
<p>Oh ok, thanks for clearing that up for me.</p>
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Nobody is expected to take “every” AP course offered. To be safe, confirm with your guidance counselor that they will designate your proposed courseload as “most rigorous”.</p>
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Yes, but the HS transcript carries more weight in admissions.</p>
<p>sherpa, so do teachers grade AP subjects as well? I thought only official CB grades mattered…</p>
<p>@Sherpa: Is the counselor asked to designate my courseload as such to the college?</p>
<p>I’m not sherpa, but I think I can answer your questions. </p>
<p>MeIsHM, to answer your question, that’s not how AP courses work. You take a class like any other and your teacher (at your school) gives you a grade. Teachers at different schools may have different standards even in the same AP Chem class; whether you get an A, B, C, etc. is independent of the college board. The grades you get in AP classes are reflected on your transcript and in your GPA. SEPARATELY, you can take AP exams after taking AP classes in which students can score a 1-5 (5 being the best), which are scored by AP graders in a process overseen by collegeboard. But ultimately the impact an AP class has on your GPA (the part solely determined by your performance in the class) is more important than your score on the test.</p>
<p>shannoqr: I don’t think your counselor has to or will report that you could have taken AP Chem but decided not to. All that colleges want to see is that you’re challenging yourself and taking advantage of higher level courses at your school, not that you’re taking EVERY last one possible. In a letter of rec, no good counselor would draw attention to the fact you didn’t take AP chem; they’d emphasize that overall you challenged yourself with honors/AP classes which are some of the most challenging at the school.</p>
<p>I think honors physics would be the better option for you; you don’t sound very enthusiastic about chemistry and you’ll need the familiarity for when you move on to AP Physics. Don’t worry about not taking AP Chem. As for the “most rigorous” there is a part of the commonapp counselor supplement that asks the counselor to describe the rigor of a student’s course load in comparison to others in the school. It sounds like you will have no trouble being marked as “most rigorous” so don’t worry about AP Chem if you don’t want to take it; doing what you like will help you more in the end with colleges</p>
<p>I would say don’t get so caught up in AP classes. Take AP classes in subjects you feel passionate about and would potentially study in college. Since you have yet to complete honors physics, do not assume you will certainly take AP physics. I think you need to look at the whole picture of who you are and see if it matches up with the type of person who will be successful at Princeton. In that light, you will be able to make the right choice for you.</p>
<p>jleroux - 3 years ago I would have agreed with you. My son is a junior and just had his junior “college conference” in a large, super competitive public suburban HS. He has taken 8 Honors/AP classes so far, and will take 3 more next year. </p>
<p>Just now his GC said that since he did not take 6 HNR/APs each year since sophomore year (and in theory he could have), his courseload would not be marked ‘most rigorous’, even though he will have taken 6 years of science (2 HNR, 1AP) 5 years for. language 1HNR / 1 AP), 5 years math (1 HNR, 2 AP), 4 yr english (1 HNR), 5 year history (2 AP). It was a surprise as he has met with and discussed this with GC several times. He was always advised to have ‘balance’, only stretch for those classes you are passionate about etc. Yet, here we are - not ‘most rigorous’ and that might make all the difference.
If your goal is to get to a Top Tier university, I think to have your bases covered you have to take EVERY AP you possibly can, whether or not it’s a good personal decision. Ultimately my son decided he was not a check-the-box student. He is taking and took what was relevant to him and what he enjoyed. But that decision will have consequences.</p>
<p>I should note that our HS has Honor classes that are as, or more, challenging coursework than APs but the College Board does not have an AP test to go with the coursework. Universities, however recognize these courses as very high level, generally according the extra point that APs get. For example Honors Biomed - most difficult class in the school.</p>
<p>In response to Rowmom’s point, you could just meet with your counselor and make sure that he/she will mark you as “highest courseload” even if you take honors physics. See what your counselor says.</p>
<p>Adding to my post #11: Since that time several coaches - HYPS level - have requested S 's transcript, and they have all said - “looks great - this is what we are looking for,” so we feel better about it. However, we are still early in the process.</p>
<p>One school went so far as to break-down the number of Cs you could have (2) and Ds (none), regardless of your GPA. So, I would temper my previous post with, ‘challenge yourself by taking difficult classes amongst the subjects you are interested in. Make sure you have a solid effort at taking challenging classes - not just one AP class - but as many as you can and are genuinely interested in.’<br>
You have to be aware early in high school. We weren’t, but S has always been academically inclined.</p>
<p>People often ask whether it’s more important to have high grades or to have a rigorous course load.</p>
<p>It’s not one or the other; it’s both. You have to have great grades in really hard classes.</p>
<p>AP =/= hard course. Some APs at my school are a joke. If you stick with the legit APs at your school, usually AP Physics C, Chem, Lang/Lit you dont have to take them all</p>