I am currently in the process of completing 4 AP classes. AP Economics, AP English, AP US History, and AP Psychology. In theory, if I wanted to go to an Ivy League, would this be a sufficient amount? I have A’s in all of these. All of my other courses are Honors. Also, if I take more APs as a senior, will this matter??
There is no magic # of AP’s for top schools. They want to see you take a challenging HS schedule dependent upon what your HS considers challenging/rigorous. If that is 4 or if that is 10, you want your HS counselor to state that you have taken a rigorous course schedule. Top schools will expect you to continue your rigor into Senior year so you should continue to challenge yourself so if that means taking 4 or more AP’s then that is what you should plan to do.
My advice is always the same when it comes to AP classes and that is to take the AP classes that interest you and not just to look good for admissions.
As @Gumbymom said “There is no magic # of AP’s” as the answer is going to vary from HS to HS. For example, some high schools such as Boston Latin, restrict the number of AP classes a student can take, so applying to college from Boston Latin with 4 AP classes is going to be considered having a rigorous course schedule. However, at a high school such as Stuyvesant where the top 10% of the class is applying to colleges with 8+ AP classes, applying from Stuyvesant to colleges with 4 AP classes is going to be considered as having a less than rigorous course schedule. Speak with our guidance counselor and ask them how many AP classes at your HS is considered having a rigorous course schedule.
YOU BET IT DOES! Colleges expect there to be an upward trajectory of course rigor each year, meaning as you progress from 9th to 12th grade, colleges expect the rigor of your course schedule to increase. And colleges expect you to do well in your classes – even senior year. In fact, when you apply to college, students are asked to list their senior year schedule, and your guidance counselor submits a mid-year and final grade report to the colleges on your list. If your grades start to slump due to “senioritis” or you drop a class, that is going to negatively impact your chances. If you apply early to a college and are accepted, your acceptance is contingent on you completing your senior year courses with the same high grades that you had in grades 9-11. Every year on College Confidential there is a post from a student who’s acceptance was rescinded due to their poor performance senior year. Don’t let this happen to you.
Okay, so anyone who wants to go to an Ivy at my school takes 5-6 AP classes. I am only in 4, but all the rest of my classes are Honors.
If you seriously want an Ivy, my advice is to get past this notion admissions is about who’s got the longer list. Or whose gpa is .01 higher. None of you would get in with that superficial view. But yes, how the GC answers the rigor question is important.
Even if the GC says your sched is most rigorous, it takes a whole lot more than just that. Holistic. You knew that, right?
@Collegecurious49: Ask your GC if your course schedule (4 AP classes with the rest honors) would merit a rating of MOST DEMANDING. If your GC answers “Yes”, you’re okay in terms of course rigor.
That said, I imagine 80% of applicants to ivy league schools receive a MOST DEMANDING rating from their GC, so as @lookigforward said, “it takes it takes a whole lot more than just that.” Here’s a good video to watch that might help you understand; although the video is about Stanford, everything in it applies to the ivies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UYhTylqC9o