Hey guys,my school doesn’t offer many AP’s,and I want to show college that I can achieve on the same academic level as students from schools with more AP’s. I plan on taking 8 next year. They are Environmental science,macro/microeconomics, chemistry,us government,us history, comp sci a, and human geography.
That’s a horrible idea. Cut that number in half.
8 AP tests are completely manageable if you are self-motivated and put in the effort needed for each exam. My advice for you is to start early; I took 6 this year, and I think I did pretty well. AP Environmental Science, Micro/Macro, US Government, and Human Geography are good self-study exams - all you need is a good review book and perhaps some online videos. Computer Science A is easy if you have previous programming experience. Chemistry and US History (know how to write a DBQ) are on the tougher side, so you might need to put in a bit more time into them, but if you do, a 5 is completely possible.
I wrote a letter telling my teacher how much I hated him on AP Human and I still got a 5. I’ve heard ES is an easy course too. You might only really struggle with Chem and APUSH.
First off, @CaliCash should not discount or discourage an idea simply because they cannot handle it. Second, I self studied micro and macro this past semester and found that the studying and the tests themselves were rather easy for a motivated student. I took an environmental science course, but felt that the majority of the class was common knowledge, and the exam reinforced that, so I’d say that should be an alright one. US Government was another one of my courses, and I felt a vast majority of it was stuff I had been taught over the years in on-level classes, so it too is doable. I imagine US History would be a similar story, but since I have not taken it I have no clue. Since I have no experience with the remainder of the courses I will not comment. Good luck. By the way, I took six exams last year, five of which I had courses for. I believe for a motivated student with interest in a few of the topics mentioned, this is manageable.
P.S.,I am actually taking the class for APUSH, Chem,and Comp Sci A.
Macro, micro, and gov are essentially single-semester courses. Enviro and human are easier two-semester courses. This is doable with serious dedication.
@WASchmit Im discouraging this because it’s a stupid idea. 4 APs is considered very rigorous by adcoms. By taking 8, the OP makes him or herself look like someone who has no real academic interest and is just trying to package themselves for college. There is no reason to take 8 in one year. None at all. You should not be taking APs to match students in other schools. You will not be compared to them. Your rigor will he looked at within the context of your own school. My school offers 5 APs. I took one junior year and one senior year and I am attending Northwestern in the fall. For a student attending Stuy, that is a very light schedule. In the context of my school, it’s rigorous.
I do not believe adcoms will have that impression of a resume with more than four APs whatsoever, but to each their own I suppose.
Also, my admissions counselor encouraged me when I discussed with him prior to senior year my intentions of taking six APs. I am sure my ambitions did not hurt me in the admissions process. Also, my Honors adviser commended me for being ahead of the game when she learned I anticipated having 32 credits. Both people knew that my reasons for taking this amount was not to impress them, but to challenge myself and satisfy gen ed requirements so that I could focus on my major upon arrival and possibly graduate in three years. I do not believe these are poor reasons to take AP, but I do agree that poor reasons for testing do exist. Adcoms won’t penalize you for taking many of them, but will not compare your course load to what it could have been at another school either; however, they may, or may not, view your above-and-beyond effort compared to your school’s course offerings as impressive and noteworthy during the admissions process.
Don’t do this to impress colleges. They don’t care that you can self-study. Bad idea. Only do it if you want credit. Otherwise, don’t self-study at all. This will not help you AT ALL in college admissions.
@CaliCash, this is incorrect. There are certainly reasons to take that many AP classes. You may not find the reasons to be a good fit for you, but they do exist. I’ll enumerate several.
- You can receive elective or introductory course credit in college that will open your schedule to take more interesting, in-depth courses. I was able to clear room for an additional major because of my AP credit.
- Most people on College Confidential really enjoy learning for learning's sake. AP courses are a good way to develop a broad knowledge of a subject. While obviously anybody can pick up a book and start reading, the AP exam serves as a true motivation to pace one's self and learn.
- Contrary to what @PhilipL argues, I actually do think that self-studying can help in the college admissions process. It demonstrates commitment to your studies and a willingness to go above and beyond. I self-studied both physics Cs and comparative government. It is correct that colleges cannot compare course schedules between high schools, and it is also correct that students can get into top universities without self-studying (after all, thousands do every year). It helps, *especially* if one's high school does not traditionally send students to these universities. It shows rigor to do so, rigor that a student from a feeder high school has already exhibited.
@“Keasbey Nights” Colleges have said that they do not find self-studying impressive. Ask @skieurope, who posted this comment on this post: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1673812-self-study-aps-on-college-admission.html
@PhilipL—yeah, I’ve seen that before. It would not surprise me if, on this specific topic, the reps were not being truthful. Students are already so stressed out and there’s already so much focus on high school student suicide that I can’t imagine what would happen if admissions representatives endorsed self-studying above and beyond the high school curriculum. I am also speaking from anecdotal experience with myself and others from my own high school. This is one of those rare times where I am choosing to intentionally disregard expert statements.
I can’t possibly say whether the OP should or should not go through with this plan because I don’t know their specific situation. What I do know is that there is not a blanket answer to the OP’s question.
Self-studying isn’t looked at for rigor of your schedule. For example, if you self-studied 6 and someone else took 6 while in school, the person who took 6 in school would be valued because they had to deal with the course load, not just the exam. Although, I think they would take into consideration the fact that your school doesn’t offer them. I wouldn’t recommend taking 8 AP classes in one year. But, if you do well on the exams great, it’d just be better to take 4 and get 4’s and 5’s than to take 8 and get 3’s and 2’s.