Since I take orchestra, this fills up one class per year where I can not take an AP course. Currently I am a sophomore taking just 1 AP course, which is A PUSH. One of my other friends dropped orchestra this year in favor of AP classes. By the end of senior year, he will have taken 4 more AP classes than me. Does this make a big difference on college apps
Conventional wisdom on this board says after about 7-8 AP classes it doesn’t matter at all.
Can’t tell out of context.
In general, once you get past 6-8 APs, the law of diminishing returns kicks in, so each additional AP would not add appreciably to an application.
Being a sophomore, you cannot gauge what your GPA will be taking 11 APs nor his taking 15 APs. Course rigor is just one piece of the application package.
I will also say, as a sophomore and based on your other threads, you are spending waaaaay too much time worrying course combinations and permutations. Focus on you, and not what someone else is doing.
Dropping (non-weighted) orchestra specifically to take more (weighted) AP classes could be a way of boosting class rank. That’s only going to work if you do well in all the APs and if your school actually ranks. Taking 15 AP classes likely won’t impress any college any more than taking 11, though. You risk hiding your personality and becoming a grinder.
“Focus on you, and not what someone else is doing.”
This is very important. You need to do what is right for you. Don’t spend much time thinking about how to impress colleges. Instead, spend time doing what you want to do. Do it well, and you will be able to find appropriate universities.
Personally I think that 11 APs are too many.
I’m going to be honest here. It seems like you are searching for a magical formula to guarantee college admissions when there isn’t one. College admissions aren’t simply handed to the student with the most APs. Colleges also don’t want you doing ec to impress them. They want you to do ecs that you are passionate about once your past the trial stage of testing new activities. You seem really obessed about what looks best for colleges. It is better if you focus on your interests and don’t worry about what other people are doing or what colleges think.
My nephew never even thought about applying to ivy league until his senior year. He still got in and he had never done anything special to put himself on an ivy league track. For instance he never self studied for a single AP or took an SAT prep class, took honor classes in topics of interest that didn’t have AP, did things he was interested in for ecs etc and had no big honors/national awards.
It’s a valid question. I don’t think we should berating the OP for asking it. The key question is: What would you enjoy more? Many of my friends in HS opted for Marching Band/Orchestra as their elective, and those who didn’t opted to take an extra AP course (ex: Psych, etc) instead. In the end, the college outcomes were relatively similar, and the people that took band/orchestra got into some great colleges. Where it might matter is your weighted GPA/overall course rigor your guidance counselor denotes on your application (ex: if they check “most rigorous”), but again the people that took musical electives instead did not have an issue with this.
If you enjoy music and see yourself growing through that, do that. If you would rather take a rigorous course in something you are interested in (ex: history/computer science/psych, etc.) do that.
Good Advice
Stanford:says:
We expect applicants to pursue a reasonably challenging curriculum, choosing courses from among the most demanding courses available at your school. We ask you to exercise good judgment and to consult with your counselor, teachers and parents as you construct a curriculum that is right for you. Our hope is that your curriculum will inspire you to develop your intellectual passions, not suffer from unnecessary stress. The students who thrive at Stanford are those who are genuinely excited about learning, not necessarily those who take every single AP or IB, Honors or Accelerated class just because it has that designation.
Take your Orchestra. Keep learning teamwork, leadership, music. Make friends. Have fun.
Yes, it’s a valid question. However, if one looks at the OP’s posting history, I get a sense that s/he’s applying the “throw everything against the wall and see what sticks” approach to college admissions, which is just crazy. Keep in mind that the OP is just starting sophomore year, so there’s much that can happen, positively and negatively, over the next two years which can impact admissions.
Time can be better spent reading up on the college admissions process first. MIT has some great blogs that also apply to other colleges. A good book is How to Be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport.