How much emphasis is placed on course rigor? Will it make a huge difference if one take honors instead of a.p.? Thanks
@pitt2021 - Miami considers the rigor of your secondary school record (check the common data set) as very important. This is generally the case for any selective school. The usual recommendation is that you should take the best courses you are capable of. Are you being recommended for AP courses? Do you feel you are capable of doing the work?
I tend to look at it this way - if you are capable of getting B’s in AP courses, I think you should be taking them.
A mix of honors and AP classes will work for a school like Miami. But the type of student who is successful being admitted to Miami tends to be taking mostly AP courses by senior year if they are available in the courses you are taking.
What year are you and what are you looking to study in college? What other schools are you considering?
Around 4-8 APs is a good number for a selective school like Miami.
@Themclos thank you both very much. I am a junior and my school doesn’t offer all the elective AP’s like Econ or psych. I am not exactly sure what I want to major in but I know I want to go to medical school after. I am aware how comprise pre med is at Miami. My trig teacher said my grade is right around the cutoff for AP. I’m considering mostly state schools. Miami and Uf are the two most competitive schools I’m looking at. I have multiple reasons for taking the honors and course rigor is the only reason to take AP(besides for potentially testing out of college). The c.asses are very similar but AP has a lot more of the competitive kids.
@pitt2021 - schools will take into consideration the AP courses available to you. If AP Econ is not available, they will not expect you to take it. They will look to see that you have taken the most rigorous class schedule which you can. One of my daughters’ was recently accepted to Miami and she will have completed 6 AP courses when she graduates high school. I can tell you that she elected to take honors environmental science rather than AP enviro. The class is the same (literally the same) - the only difference being the requirement to take the AP test. After looking at her schedule, including extracurricular activities, etc, she did not see a reason to take the AP level class. It did not hurt her acceptances. (Now, if she were applying to Ivy league schools, she would have made a different decision.)
How many AP classes are available to you, and how many of those do you project you will have taken? You want to smart about this, but you want to be able to get some sleep at night as well. One other thing to note, especially with Calc, is that while the classes are similar, AP Calc tends to move much quicker than honors Calc. the difference can be significant.
@pitt2021 I applied to Miami this year, got accepted, and am attending in the fall. I would say not to overload yourself with AP courses, take what you are capable of taking and challenge yourself if you think you can do it. I only took 1 AP sophomore and junior year and 2 APs senior year, only taking honors classes for the rest of my classes even though my school offers a bevy of AP classes to take. Between my various extracurriculars and the already heavy workload of my honors classes, I didn’t feel it was essential or beneficial to take AP classes in several subjects, especially considering that it would not be beneficial to my major in college. My advice to you would be to continue to challenge yourself as long as you feel confident that you can maintain a high academic standard in the AP classes, but don’t stretch it to the limit.