<p>I’m a sophomore right now and the only honors class I have is HL Math Analysis. I am still not sure on what classes to take next year. </p>
<p>HL Spanish 3
AP Calculus
AP Psychology
College Prep English
College Prep Chemistry
College Prep US History</p>
<p>Because of my honors class as a sophomore I only get 3 more grade bumps, so I only chose 3 AP and Honors for next year. Senior year doesn’t factor into the gpa so I plan on taking 3-5 AP classes then. </p>
<p>But my question is does taking CP classes look bad? Is that schedule strong enough? Right now I want to go to UCSB, but I want to have a lot more options (UCLA, UCSD, UCI…), so is that good enough for these schools???</p>
<p>I took 7 AP, 10 honors, 4 college courses and I got a 1970 on my SAT and a crappy GPA and I got into Irvine, R and San Diego and REJECTED by LA and USC.... I think they might help only to an extent... they can't make or break you. Mr friend had like 11 AP classes and he got rejected by every UC except R....</p>
<p>the most important factor by far is your GPA, thats the biggest determining factor of getting into a UC, especially after seeing valedictorians from my school rejected from UCLA, and I go to an extremely competitive and well known high school.</p>
<p>I agree...with the UC's its all about GPA. They don't care much where the A's are coming from as long as they're coming. Just make sure you take a couple challenging courses. AP courses are always a plus, i'd take those first unless you're planning on a major in one of those CPs</p>
<p>My whole HS caeer (career?) I only took 1 (!) AP class, and thats this year in calculus. Its not that Im not smart enough (cause I am), its that no one ever told me that it would be better if I took them. They said: "these classes are harder." I said: "no thanks." So I did extremely well in HS, then I applied to UCLA, UCSB, UCSD and one other one. I got rejected from LA, but I got into SB and SD, so Im sure APs dont make a huge difference.</p>
<p>they are no more important than your GPA. my friend took all regular courses four years, got a 4.0, and got into all the UCs with around 1800ish SAT.</p>
<p>UCSD uses a point system that really doesn't factor in the AP classes directly. The AP classes can boost your GPA, which then can boosts your points towards UCSD acceptance. UCSD also uncaps the weighted GPA used to calculate your comprehensive points. </p>
<p>For the more subjective schools, however, AP classes can make a huge difference. Let's say you are applying for engineering and you don't take many AP classes. Engineering is generally competitive and taking AP classes will make YOU look competitive. You already have a huge amount of AP classes setup for you so it is enough to get into UCSB or other schools depending on your major. It's good enough, but more is better! </p>
<p>My friend has lower sat1 and sat2 scores than me, but his school offered him a billion AP classes a year. Because his school is completely not competitive, he ranked 4 in the school with 4-6 APs a year. As a result, he got into ucsd, ucsb, ucd, uci, and ucb. I, on the other hand, have a lower weighted GPA because I wasn't offered many AP classes since my school was still opening during my freshman year. I'm ranked 50 in my schoool. And guess what? I only got accepted to UCI Electrical Engineering :[ while he got into everhwere... Good luck to you and your admissions. I know I had one of the worst experiences in college acceptance. No matter what people say, there is a lotto in the admissions of any school.</p>
<p>Jas0n...You said UCSD does an uncapped weighted gpa, is that the main gpa they use when looking at admissions? Also do you know if UCSB has an 8semester cap or uncapped???? Oh..and thanks everybody for the information.</p>
<p>UCSD uses ONLY the uncapped weighted GPA so it gives a huge boost to everyone who <3s their AP classes =]. As for UCSB, they only take the capped weighted GPA. However, this won't stop them from looking at the many AP classes you have taken. Take as many AP classes as you can handle. It should be fun and challenging anyway, unless your teachers are annoying... It's only high school though, not college. You seem to have a good chance as is in most UCs, so you are on the right track. Keep working hard towards your admissions.</p>
<p>I don't think they're too important. I got into UCLA on 2 AP classes junior year and 4 senior year (not many in comparision to others), additional honors classes, 2000 SATs, 700+ on my SAT subject tests, and all A's except for maybe 3 B's throughout highschool.</p>
<p>A good number of students from my school got into UCLA (around 15) this year even though we are not a school known for any academic success. The SAT scores of most of the students who got into UCLA were not spectacular (1750s+), most took around my number of AP classes as well, and the grades of most were decent (probably a couple Bs, mainly A's). I don't know why so many of us got in when last year nearly no one from our school did. I honestly couldn't take a stab at what the deciding factor was for all of us.</p>
<p>It seems that your GPA is foremost though. I hope that gives you some perspective since obviously no one at my school took as many as 11 AP classes but they got in. I'm guessing it might be better to take a few key courses that challenge you but make sure you can handle them, instead of piling on a bunch that you may get mediocre grades in because you don't have the time to dedicate to all of them.</p>
<p>Because the bottom schedule works with the 8 semester cap, I'd pick it. You are obviously challenging yourself there, and it will look better to UCSB. </p>
<p>Now, I have one proposition for you. I say you get As in all classes (or at least almost all). I made a mistake allowing myself achieve a few Bs to feel relaxed and ended up with only a 3.9 GPA. I'm in a program right now where I am a part-time high school student and a part time community college student. Being more serious this year, I noticed how my slacking in high school was plain weak. If I stayed like that this year, I would not be surviving in a community college... Nothing was ever hard to me, but I allowed myself to get those Bs. I'm pretty confident nothing is hard for you either, so you can get those As. If you bust a "jas0n," you might just end up getting rejected from many schools =( (yes I got rejected from ucsb). </p>
<p>I know this might not be your style, but you might end up regretting it? I know I do. You got this man :].</p>
<p>I say take 3 AP's and keep the HL Chemistry. If you're absolutely sure you're gonna get B's in AP English, then move it to senior year. With a less AP workload, then you can put more effort into APUSH and get an A.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, and what you said is just like me, I know I can get the grades but I just slack off.</p>
<p>I still don't fully understand the honors and ap classes deal with 8 semesters bc you said the bottom schedule works with the 8 semester cap, but I thought the bottom schedule had 12 semesters??</p>
<p>EDIT:
Oh, I made a mistake there. You can just drop the honors classes and just take those four APs. Having four AP classes would fill the 8 semester cap efficiently and look better. Oh, I recommend taking some community college classes to make you look better for UCSB =].</p>
<p>Don't slack off :D. Don't you ever feel weak having to say that you slack off?</p>
<p>Truly best off with a balanced courseload and a high GPA. Students with tons of very hard classes, but "B" grades do not fare as well as students with very high GPAs who took an easier courseload with fewer AP/honors classes.</p>