<p>How many APs are need to get into top schools such as UCLA, USC, Georgetown, UCB, NYU etc...? Ill have about 6. Is that enough?</p>
<p>there's not requirement. Depend on your school, if most of competitive students in your class take 10+ APs, then that will make you look bad. For us, 4 APs per sememster is like the max number one can take. colleges want students who perform well compared to their classmates.</p>
<p>You want to take the maximum number possible at your school. If your school offers 2, then taking 2 APs is sufficient. If your school offers 10, then taking 4 is not sufficient.</p>
<p>By the time I graduated, I've only taken 4 AP courses...</p>
<p><i>If your school offers 10, then taking 4 is not sufficient.</i></p>
<p>To the OP: Does your school regularly send graduates to schools like those you're considering? If so, how many APs have those kids taken, on average? That's really the only way to know if it's "enough". </p>
<p>For instance, my school offers nearly 20 APs. However, it is rare for a student to take more than 4 or 5 total--even the top few students. Kids regularly get into top schools with only a handful of APs because that really is the most competitive courseload within the context of the school.</p>
<p>I agree with etselec. Same at our school -- they offer ~20 or so, but my son took two Junior year and three Senior year and is in an Ivy.</p>
<p>Yes - there is no required number. If your school doesnt offer an AP in something you're interested in - then schedule an independent AP study course. Just take the classes that you're interested in. For example, one who is interested in the humanities shouldn't take environmental science just because it exists - they should work to accomodate and further their interests.</p>
<p>There are only 6 APs at my school--</p>
<p>AP Psych,
AP English Lang.,
AP English Lit.,
AP Calculus,
AP Computer Science,
and AP Comparative Government. </p>
<p>As I've taken / am taking all of them, I don't think it would give me a disadvantage against some nerd who's taken 15 APs or some crazy number like that.</p>
<p>
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I don't think it would give me a disadvantage against some nerd who's taken 15 APs or some crazy number like that.
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</p>
<p>Haha... I am that nerd. But nonetheless, Haru is right... my school offers almost every existing AP (minus AP Chinese, AP Human Geography, and other weird ones like that) so it's standard to take at least about 10. I'll be doing 14 classes and probably 15 tests. Just think of yourself in terms of your classmates... are you taking the hardest course load possible? If you answer "yes," you should be fine.</p>
<p>It's hard to say "if you're school offers 15, then taking 8 will look bad". At my school, we have World History, Eng Lang, Psyhcology, US History, Comp Sci (2), Calculus (2), Statistics, Gov't (2), Eng Lit, Physics, Bio, Chem, Art, Music Theory, and two online (micro and macro-economics). That totals to 20 AP courses. There is no way, in two years, you can take all of those. World History is the only one you can take sophmore year, and when you get to Junior year you can only take Calc if you took algebra in 8th grade (not the norm, only about 10 students from my class did so). Junior year is consumed by the 4 core classes (two can be AP), but also a language, which leaves two open electives. (Up to 6 max APs already). Senior year you also have the 4 core courses (you can take an AP gov't, science, english, and math...and you could have taken AB calc junior year and take BC calc or statistics senior year), with 3 electives remaining. (This makes a total possible of 13). So in the end, if you take double AP gov't, start math early and take the most possible math APs and consume all of your electives by APs, then you can take a max of 13/20 AP courses. But that courseload right there is not only insane, but unheard of in HS, and I come from a school in one of the top school systems (FFX county in NoVa). Most kids take around 5 (1 soph, 2 junior, 2 senior...or 2 junior, 3 senior...those are the two popular combinations), maybe 6. A ton take none.
For my two cents: there isn't a minimum, or a maximum, for any school. They want to see you take a demanding courseload and do well. If you take mostly honors fresh/soph year, and take a couple APs junior year, and some senior year, you should be fine. An increasingly tougher courseload is ideal, as long as your grades stay about the same or increase. Don't take five APs senior year and burn out (although i took Physics, Calc AB, Comp&US gov't, and English and i did well)...drop out when you know you cant handle it. An A in a regular or honors course is better than a C or D in an AP. But try to stay average with your fellow classmates, or a few more ahead to be competative, if you can handle the work.</p>
<p>
<p>Based on the thousands of apps I saw last year both in selection committee and as a reader, I can tell you that the average # of AP's for admitted kids was 5 or 6 (that's total for all 4 years of HS - i.e. 1-2 per year if evenly distributed). Many admits (most likely the majority) had no college classes. The most common AP's taken were in math and science (no surprise, it's MIT). The overwhelming majority got 4's and 5's on all tests.</p>
<p>I'll pause here to add that I frequently saw kids with perfect SAT scores and perfect grades and a gazillion AP classes get rejected. Why? Because often these kids knew how to grind, but brought nothing else to the table. And that's not who we're looking for at MIT. We admit kids who show genuine passion. Sure AP's can be one of many passion indicators - but I emphasize one of many.</p>
<p>When I was on the road, kids asked me repeatedly whether or not they should take a given AP class.</p>
<p>"Well," I'd respond, "would you be taking it because you genuinely want to, or simply because you think it will get you into college?"</p>
<p>Sometimes they didn't know the difference, which is a tragedy that deserves its own thread. But I digress.</p>
<p>And this is where you all start saying that adcoms are talking out of both sides of our mouths: we encourage kids to follow their hearts in the choices they make, and then as adcoms we want to see that they've taken "the most challenging courseload."</p>
<p>To which I say: guys, I work for MIT! If a kid doesn't want to be taking a challenging courseload in high school, that kid is certainly not going to be happy here.</p>
<p>Quite simply, the students who are happiest here are those who thrive on challenge. Most of our admits have taken AP math and science because they would have been bored silly in the regular classes. Indeed, they genuinely wanted to take those classes. They don't look at MIT as the prize; they look at MIT as the logical next step. It's an important distinction.</p>
<p>That said, AP's are not the only way to demonstrate that one is passionate and likes challenge. Read Anthony's story for an example: <a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/misc/miscellaneous/hello_im_anthony.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/misc/miscellaneous/hello_im_anthony.shtml</a></p>
<p>When faced with the choice, we will always choose "the right match*" over numbers. We're not lying when we say that. You've heard me beat that sentiment to death in other threads, so I won't do so here.</p>
<p>(*Match = mission, collaborative spirit, hands-on, balance, character, and passion, among others.)</p>
<p>But the reality is that when you have 10,500+ applications for ~1000 spots and 70% of the pool has great numbers, your pool is going to have plenty of kids who have the passion and the match and the scores/grades/AP's. So we admit those kids - what other choice do we have?</p>
<p>But then (understandably) you guys say "Look! You need X, Y, and Z to get into MIT!" To clarify, we don't require those things; many of our admits just happen to have them. And, I might add, for the right reasons.</p>
<p>This brings me to the more important part, where we toss my affiliation with MIT out the window and I give you my thoughts as a parent.</p>
<p>There is only one coin. There are many sides to the coin, but there is only one coin. And you can flip it however you like.</p>
<p>So when a parent says to me, "Why does HYPSM put so much emphasis on AP's?" I reply "Why do you put so much emphasis on HYPSM?" When a parent says "My kid's value as a person/student shouldn't be measured by how many AP's he/she has taken" I say "...and your kid's value as a person/student shouldn't be measured by whether or not he/she goes to HYPSM." I could go on and on.</p>
<p>There are literally hundreds of amazing colleges and universities out there (some of which actually admit kids with no AP's!). Many of them would actually be better matches for your child. Many of them would provide your child with a better education. Most importantly, many of them would ultimately give your child a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment. The right match will do that.</p>
<p>And the match goes both ways. We try to determine if your kid is a good match for MIT. Your kid should be trying to determine which school is the best match for him/her. As a parent, what are you doing to help him/her figure that out?</p>
<p>Here's a hint: if you're spending time obsessing that a lack of AP's is going to keep your kid out of Stanford, you're missing the point.</p>
<p>As I told the kids in my blog, I had a wonderful college experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, at a school that is currently only #23 on the USNWR LAC list (The HORROR!). I got a phenomenal education and can certainly hold my own against any Ivy grad. As a bonus I got to grow up, get married, have kids, buy a house, land a great job, and enjoy life.</p>
<p>I took one AP class in high school.</p>
<p>Make sure your kids are choosing their schools for the right reasons. Name, status, "brand" - these are not the right reasons. Let your kids be kids. Let them follow their hearts. Encourage them to have a present, not just a future. Don't let them define themselves by which colleges accept them - and don't let them define themselves by doing things only to get into certain colleges.
. .</p>
<p>I'm sorry to change subjects... but what exactly is AP English Lit? I went to CollegeBoard's AP Lit site, but I'm still confused as to what it involves. Is it kind of like the Verbal section of the SAT I but longer? Also, how does it differ from AP English Language?</p>
<p>^^ The lit test involves more analysis involving outside texts. The Lang test (FR) gives you a passage, and you have to analyze its rhetoric, literary devices, and purpose. The English Lit test gives you a passage/poem, and you have to bring in examples of other books you have read that would help describe what point your are trying to make. The multiple choice are somewhat similar. </p>
<p>The AP test, in both Lang. and Lit...is NOTHING like the SAT verbal. Takes much more logical and critical thinking skills and you have to write three essays.</p>
<p>I thought the AP Lit test was similar to the Verbal SAT, but I didn't take the new CR section. If you log onto College Board, you can see old essay questions- that might give you a better sense of the difference between the two. In any case, both English exams are very easy if you do well in CR.</p>
<p>i dont understand why you would take ap courses in subjects you arent interested in. why would you take ap comp science if you want to be an english major? doesnt make sense.</p>
<p>i have , our school offers like 10, but you cant take any of them till you're a senior so, at most, kids take like 5.</p>
<p>warble: actually, looking back...the CR section is set up the same way as the AP mult. choice, but I thought that the AP lang. mult. choice was sooo much harder and required more concentration. However, with the CR section, you have to go pretty fast, which makes it somewhat difficult as well. They both are hard and easy in their own way.</p>
<p>I took AP NSL 10th grade
I took AP World, Ap Biology Ap Calculus AB, BC in 11th grade
I am taking Ap Physics C Mechanis Ap Physics C Electricity and mechanics, Ap Psycology, Ap Stat.I am already an Ap scholar with honor I would have been with distinction but they dont take sub scores for Ap cal AB AND BC with 3.8/4 gpa and got deferred , I truly believe colleges have their own way of doing things.</p>
<p>My high school offers 20+ AP Classes. As a sophomore I'm taking AP human geography. Junior year I plan on taking AP physics, AP U.S. history, and AP lit. Senior year I plan on taking AP comp, AP euro, AP mac/econ, AP calc, AP spanish and either AP chem or AP bio. Taking six AP classes senior year isn't uncommon at my high school. Pretty much depending on your abilities, you can take any AP class offered at my high school starting soph year.</p>
<p>I took all but one of the AP courses at my school (AP Music Theory isn't something you just try out) which amounted to 9 total, 2 sophmore year, 3 junior year, and 4 senior year.</p>
<p>It is an advantage to take AP courses if they're offered since it conveys the message that you're challenging youself with the curriculum you're offered, but since a lot of colleges don't accept them for credit (of the 9 courses I only used 2 of them towards any real credit in college) I don't think it is vital.</p>
<p>a LOT of my friends are taking all AP this year...senior year. </p>
<p>Sophmore year I took AP Euro History, Junior I took AP US History and AP Eng. Lang, this year Im taking AP Lit, AP Calc BC, Ap Macro Econ, and AP Amer. Gov. </p>
<p>I thought these classes were really fun, and I am glad I took them...even if I wasn't going to credit for them.</p>