I know that there have been other threads about this, but I haven’t seen a definite answer. I’m on track to take around 19 AP classes throughout highschool, and currently have 7 aps next year. I wanted to drop 1 in exchange for Late Arrival and wondered if it looked bad(if so, how bad), in order to focus more on ecs and the other 6 aps.
I greatly appreciate yalls help!
I’m not familiar with the term late arrival but it sounds like you mean a first period study. As long as you are taking at least one each of the basic courses (science, math, English, history, and foreign language) then taking one period study hall is fine.
I think that 7 APs is too much. 19 in total is also a huge number. This is certainly unnecessary. I do not see any problem with dropping one of your APs.
What APs are you taking? What is the usual AP fare of juniors at your school?
You are assessed with your peers. Several of my kids took nearly all APs junior and senior year because that’s the way their high school worked. In order to be taking the most rigorous course load, they had to take an AP social studies ( usually American History), an AP Science, AP calc if they took pre Calc As a sophomore, AP English , APLatin and many took an AP elective of Psychology, Computer Science, Art History, Studio Art, Capstone or other such thing. That was the way their schools were set up.
Everyone on here seems to be hyper-focused on the college admissions process, even when they have to sacrifice lifestyle. It’s good to want to go to a good university and to take very rigorous classes in order to show that, but ultimately you need to do what makes you happy. Seriously. Colleges are not looking for kids who only look good on paper, and they can definitely see that. So dropping one AP is not going to affect you at all if you’re a truly deserving and qualified applicant. It will shine through naturally.
Chill out, relax, figure out what floats your boat in the long term, and work as hard as a healthy and balanced lifestyle allows you to.
Like too many students, you have a misplaced faith in APs as your ticket to selective colleges. As long as your GC will tick the box saying that you have taken a "most rigorous’ course, selective colleges don’t really care about APs per se. In schools where APs are offered, 5-7 is fine- and there is a point where it can start to look less good, rather than better to have a ton of them- especially if getting so many done is at the expense of ECs.
In many schools, the top tier of students take all APs in Junior/Senior year, but the main benefit is that it helps their weighted GPA, and can make a difference in class rank-and that is true ONLY for the APs they do through school. Self-studied ones only help for getting credits for college, which most selective schools limit, and for applying to international universities. Remember that you have 2 GPAs- weighted & unweighted, and selective schools tend to look at the unweighted more- not least, b/c as you have noted about your school, the weighting systems at different schools are so different that you can’t meaningfully compare them.
And: your stats (GPA, test scores) just get you to the ‘qualified’ level. The "admitted’ level involves those, plus LoRs/essays and strong ECs.
tl;dr: the only person who thinks that taking 6 APs + a Study Hall looks bad is you.
Many schools don’t use APs in the admissions process, and others consider it a minor input. No school will differentiate the number of AP’s once you’re at about 10-12, if that many. Outside of the top schools 6-8 probably maxes out.
So no, 6 instead of 7 AP courses will not be meaningful. Unless you’re dropping AP English, Calc, US History, etc. and instead taking ES, HG, Psych, Art, Drawing and Music Theory.
@cptofthehouse I’d say very few at my school take a full ap load(I’d say maybe under 3 people would come close to having the same amount of APs as me).
That APs I’m taking this year:
AP Physics 2
Calc BC
AP Eng lang
AP Bio(Dropping for late arrival maybe → moving to senior year instead if I do drop)
APUSH
AP Research
AP CSP
@collegemom3717 @RichInPitt Thanks for your input, but that wasn’t exactly my concern. I had a friend who said that it looked bad to admission officers if I didn’t take 7 classes. I figured that I shouldn’t have a problem with course rigor considering I’m taking a decent amount of APs. So I wanted to clarify that the only problem with late arrival would be rigor, of which I should have sufficient regardless.
If you have any question about rigor you should talk to your guidance counselor as his/her is the opinion that really matters. The top tier colleges will want to see the guidance counselor check the box on the recommendation saying you have taken the most rigorous course-load available at your HS (which doesn’t mean taking every AP class – there is often some latitude in this). If the guidance counselor says that your prior and current HS schedules are sufficient to get that most rigorous box checked then you should be fine.
@happy1 I just emailed my counselor about it, asking if it would affect her recommendation about my course rigor. Thanks for the help.
Once you have the 5 core classes- one each of English / Social Studies / Science / Math / Foreign Language, what else you do is of less importance. Your lack of FL would be more of a concern than not taking 7 classes- and then only if you are applying to highly selective colleges and/or are applying to colleges that specify they prefer an amount of FL that you don’t have.
fwiw (not much, tbh), from here CSP & Research look like just loading up on APs for the sake of more APs. Electives that you are really interested in would be just as good from the PoV of admissions
Agree with @happy1 that your GC’s input is generally more useful than that from a friend whose info base is likely limited.
So first off we have to appreciate that this poster wants to be pushed. It seems for schools like Georgia Tech they start taking APs in kindergarten… Lol… Having like 12 is the norm. In my son’s senior year he took 6 APs with Calc 3 which isn’t AP but not easy. At an all honors school . To him it was his easiest year since he enjoyed the extra depth and it made it more interesting. So yes 19 is overkill but this might just be one of those kids that needs this. If he is pulling great grades…
I also disagree about the comment against AP research (usually taking AP seminar prior to this). Sure it’s not engineering physics but it’s a great overlooked course. At my kids school some of the best writers take this course. My son wasn’t one of those and public speaking was not great. His research led to his interest in college and developed an college organization around it. He does public speaking, just interviewed for a podcast and oh yeah, has become a great writer. He did research as a freshman and had to take a class on research techniques. He was bored since he already learned it. His college English /writing course was also a joke compared to this class and even his professor commented positively on it…
Just saying for others reading this. You had to have AP Lang and Lit before taking it at his school.
@collegemom3717 Ive already taken ap spanish lang(last year), and wasn’t too good at it, so I think I’m done with fl for now. Especially because most colleges only recommend 4 years or less.
@happy1 so I emailed my counselor and she basically said she didn’t know and it was different depending on where I applied to:
“My counselor recommendation is for you to contact the universities you intend to apply to (including the department(s) of study you’re interested in). I can’t tell you if they’d view taking a period off as taking the most vigorous course load or not. Once you contact them & make your decision, let me know what you want to do.”
I assumed that there was some sort of school standard that established the most vigorous course load, but I can’t seem to find it if it exists. What do you recommend I do(i.e., should I email admission offices) or am I missing something.
I don’t understand that answer either honestly. Perhaps he/she didn’t quite get the question. I would want to know if your schedule with the period off would be rigorous enough for HIM/HER to check the box on the college recommendation he/she fills out saying that you have taken the most rigorous schedule available at your HS. That should be his/her determination (perhaps done in conjunction with standards your HS has set but there is often leeway).
Although my opinion is not the one that counts, I personally think (as long as your have four years of foreign language which many elite colleges recommend) I think that your 6 APs should be fine. I typically don’t love to see students taking more than one science AP a year unless they are truly a science whiz kid as labs put additional pressure on the schedule/workload.
7 Aps could be seen as overload so dont worry , take late arrival.