<p>really depends on your school and if you can handle it. my school only allows two AP's a year. you might be able to get three with like special special permission</p>
<p>You should take the 4 AP classes. It might take some getting used to, but you will assimilate and persevere.</p>
<p>If the AP classes at your school are rigorous (and not all are) then I hope you take 2, or, at the most, 3. I am curious about what else you like to do with your time. That is really a big part of this question. Are you planning on focusing entirely on academics, or is there something else you are passionate about? If you do theater, music,volunteer somewhere, take photographs, or collect exotic butterflies..whatever, think about the impact of 4 AP's on what else you might want to be doing. </p>
<p>I'm a parent, and have found that we all base our philosophies on our own experiences. I went to a very demanding high school, myself, and did homework for hours and hours every night. I was the top kid in my school, got perfect SAT's, got into top schools and, guess what, was too burned out to take advantage of any of it. I ended up working in Appalachia, traveling, getting to know myself, instead. </p>
<p>My kids go to a school that is not at all academically challenging, even the AP classes. There is little work, and discussions are not very stimulating. But, they have ended up in a better place than I did. My son is at an Ivy college, doing what he loves, because he had the free time to explore his interests and get to know himself in high school. He even had time to read and learn on his own, in a way that followed his own interest, not the prescribed curriculum. Same with my daughter.</p>
<p>If you really love academic learning, go for it. If you are just looking at AP's to get into college, then maybe rethink what you are doing, take fewer AP's, and try out some other things. Just my two cents as an "older but wiser" person.</p>
<p>just tossing this out there...i would HIGHLY recommend taking an AP exam your school doesn't offer if it's something you like. obviously you're going to have to be the disciplined type that sets aside time to study for it and not some last minute cramming (you cannot do that for the AP especially if you didn't take a class to prepare you for that). talk to your academic counselor or dean of academics or whoever. i'm not saying you HAVE to, but if you know you can do well on them then go for it. </p>
<p>i took chem, art history, and world history that way. (and i took 9 other ap classes as well)</p>
<p>Finishing 3 APs is typical by the end of junior year at my public school that
sends students to Harvard every year. finishing 8/9 by the send of senior year
is also typical.</p>
<p>We however do not have any of the so called "easy" APs and have only
the hard edged math/Science/Social studies/language ones.</p>
<p>The top three students might have 5 Aps by end of junior year and
12 APS by end of senior year. They also tend to have beaucoup ECs
and national level awards.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>most harvard students end up with those 6 APs PLUS a lot of extracurriculars--they can do it cuz they're smart, and ultimately being hardworking won't get you into harvard.</p>
<p>Just do what you can handle. As a sophomore, I could only handle 4. As a junior, I could handle 8. And by 8 I mean I spent an hour a night tops on hw, and only 5 of them were classes. (It also helped that 7 of them were math/science + US history, which is somewhat of a joke) So really it comes down to whatever APs you want to take. Stockpiling AP Latin, French, and all three Histories is a waste of time.</p>
<p>[Keep in mind that taking a lot of APs =/= getting into any top 15 school, let alone Harvard]</p>
<p>
[quote]
As a sophomore, I could only handle 4.
[/quote]
-__- are you a genius or is your school pretty easy?</p>
<p>Only at chemistry to the first and somewhat to the second. </p>
<p>Although really, the key is studying during the summer prior to the school year. For the past two years I have had no problems going to bed by 10 (although obviously I'd stay up later to watch TV/go on the net) while hitting up the gym 5 days a week. Now look where it got me...3 hour days =D</p>
<p>I only took four my entire high school career because a lot of them overlap with one another and I just picked the one I'd do the best in or that I was more interested in. At my school, I basically maxed out on AP courses because of the overlap in schedules.</p>
<p>Take what you're interested in. I took 3 soph. year, 5 jr. year, and mostly ran out sr year so I only took 3 (and a 4th year language that will prepare me for the AP exam in that language, but my school doesn't weigh this class as an AP) this year. Definitely do NOT overload yourself too much. I had way too much on my plate last year, about 30 hrs of ECs per week along with the 5 APs of which 4 were pretty tough. I got a few B's and thought I would go insane.</p>
<p>comp mom,
your response was by far one of the best I have read. I am very active out of school. I am the president of the Key Club at my school and the Future Lawyers of America club. I am secretary of Model UN. I volunteer out of school a lot, and I play an instrument in school. Some of the posts I have seen state examples of students who do not take the most rigorous course loads, but get into good colleges. I also see students who take on really difficult courses and do get into good schools. I just don't want to make a mistake that may alter my chances on being a strong applicant for colleges. I also want to keep my sanity during my junior year. Your insight has helped me so much. I am even more convinced on taking 3 APs now rather than 4. Thank you.</p>
<p>Bluesky, you sound like a great person who is very open to thinking more deeply about what you are doing. Looking back on your high school years, you will be glad that you lived for the present, as well as the future! Good luck...</p>
<p>I basically maxed out on the APs that I could take at my school by taking two junior year and two senior year. I know there a lot of juniors now that are taking more AP classes than I am because they're going to the Legion of Art to study AP Art History and other things like that, which I simply cannot do given that it's so far and conflicts with my ECs.</p>
<p>i have taken 10 APs during high school</p>
<p>bumpy bumpy</p>
<p>10 AP’s during high school</p>
<p>I apparently had a death wish when signing up for courses during high school (I’m a senior now), because my load of 10 APs scared the bejesus out of the administration and guidance department. And it was hard, but SO worth it. Ask kids who’ve taken those classes and find out what the workload is. I purposely avoided classes like AP Bio and Psych because they required so much memory work.</p>
<p>remember that’s is not to simply takes the most AP’s, it’s to do well in them ALSO.</p>
<p>^^ Amen, amen I say to you, guitars101.</p>