Well, I am not sure if this is the right forum to write this down, but I just want some advices from you guys.
I am turning into grade 10 after this summer and I am studying AP micro and macro economics.
And to be honest, I have no idea when I am going to take the actual official test because the fee for registration is quite expensive so I think I may have to study more to make sure that I don’t take the same exam over and over and waste my money on it.
My friends say that mostly people take around 6 or 7 courses of AP to be accepted by highly standardized college and my teacher said that we don’t have to take that many AP courses. He said around 3 is enough and I was little confused because I wasn’t sure what courses and how many courses I should take.
In addition, if you have some ideas about recommendable courses for AP, just please let me know. I am struggling here because I have not enough information about AP courses.
I am thinking about going to college related to liberal art field, perhaps a English teacher for middle school or high school and this kinda section.
How many AP classes you take depends on how many your HS offers. You should take as many as possible that your HS offers, within reason.
Generally, US high schools have AP classes between August and April, and the exams are always in May. There is only one exam sitting per year per exam per student.
3 is enough if your HS does not offer many AP courses.
What if I told you, my friend got into MIT after only taking 3 AP classes sophomore and junior year with none freshman year (with one extra self study, which was Lang and he got a 4 on it)…
Yeah, you don’t really need anywhere near as many APs as you might think. Students on CC tend to put more value into AP courses because they feel like its the epitome of what colleges want, but you need to remember that if you’re weighted against the majority, even with 3 or 4 APs you’ll appear as a stellar student to even some of the most selective colleges. I would put less pressure on how many you take and more on what you’re getting out of it. It also helps to keep in mind what school you go to and where you’re coming from… I know for my school, the average student graduates with two or three APs under their belt, but at a school a county over, the highest ranking student took at most two APs. It’s really about location and availability, honestly.
Also, it’s important to keep in mind that colleges don’t look at just your academics, but they appreciate a student who takes part in many activities and contributes to the community (i.e. ECs.) APs can make your academic background stand out, but they can’t make you as a student.
Still, I’m under the impression that you think a person who does not take all 30 of the APs offered by CB will have a slim chance at top schools. It takes a whole lot more than APs to be a great person. Take advanced courses if you want, but focus on being a good person.
How to max out your GE credits from AP exams… Okay, probably doesn’t work at the more prestigious schools, but if you do this at my school and choose an engineering major you’ll only have to take two GE courses… And more APs will put you at a higher class standing when you enter
AP Calculus BC
AP US History
AP English (Lit preferred, but Lang is fine)
AP World History
AP Art History
AP Biology
AP Physics
AP Chemistry
Other AP Social Science (2)
Stop worrying about “the standards of others.” You’ll never meet them. Someone somewhere will always be brighter or better looking or have more money-- or have taken more AP courses.
Take the courses YOU think you’ll enjoy, the ones that will stretch your abilities without causing an anxiety attack. Sure, you want to work hard in high school, but not to the exclusion of having a family life or of developing real relationships. You want to have time to learn to help others, to explore new interests as they present themselves.
Don’t take APs to meet other people’s standards. Meet your own. If you have a goal of completing 4 AP classes by senior year, meet that goal for YOU, not because Princeton wants you to do it. If you can manage 4 APs throughout your hs career and get perfect grades, it is worth more than someone who has taken 7 APs by their senior year and got B’s/C’s. Just do your best and don’t worry about other people’s expectations. Especially if they’re CC expectations. Some kids on here are too insane. Do things that YOU enjoy. Take AP Biology because you love bio, not because Sally Smith with a 2400 SAT and 5.0 is taking it.
If you want to be an English teacher, take AP English Lang and Lit. Take AP Art History. But most importantly, take things that you will enjoy.
@sprights@bjkmom@tangentline@michelle426@Earthlingo@rhandco Thank you for all of your advice! I decided to choose subjects which I can study and enjoy at the same time. And is it true that one student can take one subject only each year? I am thinking about being a high school Eng teacher so I should also consider about taking Eng Lang and Lit as well as Art history.
I also feel that I’m being outright attacked for my bluntness on the number of APs, but I guess I’ll just dodge the attack. You learn a lot about life, time management, study skills, (Edit: our flawed education system), and a whole bunch of other stuff when you’re forced to struggle in difficult classes. There is a point when one can take too many AP courses that provide no benefit other than bloating one’s GPA. That’s a definite time to stop taking as many APs and allow the ones that will give you enriching experiences / skills.
To be honest, I responded to the OP without reading any of the comments that followed-- I never read your post.
The OP was written by a rising sophomore-- a 15 year old-- trying to take as many college courses as possible. At that point in a kid’s life, I feel there should be so very much more on the horizon than a series of APs. Sophomore year is one of incredible personal growth. I’ve always loved teaching sophomores because, for better or worse, that’s the year they become whoever they’ll be as adults.
I stand by my advice, but certainly never meant to attack anyone Honestly, in reading the responses, I feel that @sprights did the same-- we responded to the OP, not to you.
. We can have differing points of view without anyone attacking anyone. But, again, my apologies if that’s not how you read my response.
However many INTEREST you. If you are not interested in physics, don’t take AP Physics just for the AP!! It’s sad to see people rushing to take as many APs as possible even if they don’t like the subject to increase acceptance odds… Just do what interests you
Like other people said just take AP classes that are interesting to you. And take as many as you think you can handle.I’d recommend taking about 3 AP classes.Unless you think you can handle more.
A future high school teacher may not really be looking at highly competitive expensive schools, so ignore below if that is the case. If you want to go to a moderately competitive school or your state flagship or whatever, you should really look at their top 75% stats and maybe even contact admissions
If top 20 national USNCO, that person is off the charts and probably could have taken no AP classes.
If you want to go to a highly competitive school, you should take enough AP credits that your guidance counselor can legitimately say that that you took the most challenging curriculum they offer. For a bright student, the AP classes should be providing more than a checkbox and not be a terrible struggle (they are still 50% slower than a college class, typically, although economics gets you 2 AP credits in one year).
Few students take a dozen, although my Ds high school had lots of kids who did, most are in really good schools or in honors programs. Most highly competitive students would take 3-6, if I had to guess.
These schools are also pricey, so the cost of the AP tests is not really out of character with what you are committing to. And you get college credit so you can take more interesting classes than those who don’t have AP credit. Or you can skip GE requirements and take any humanities class that really interests you. That varies by school, since their degree requirements all vary.
If you do not take AP classes, what will you take instead ? Honors (easier) version ? Tech ed classes ? Another language or music or art (any of these would seem legitimate equally valuable experiences) ? Do you have hobbies or sports or charity work that require more of your time ?
Trying to take the easier or easiest path to a highly competitive college is likely not the best plan. Sure you can find someone in the history of say MIT who took no AP classes and had a 3.1 GPA and 1900 SATs, but maybe you don’t know something else about them (like top 20 USNCO or did important research or started a real charity or was top state athlete or whatever). This is risky plan unless you too are truly special … not just somewhat special in your tiny high school and family circle.
