I know that colleges are looking for the “most rigorous schedule”, but is there a limit? I don’t think that a college would necessarily look at a schedule and say that there’s too many APs, but I’m nervous that someone will look at my schedule and assume I took all these courses just for the sake of getting into college.
Maybe it’s my fear of looking like a “typical Asian” that makes me nervous about this stuff, but I feel like I would appear that I almost “littered” my schedule with a bunch of AP classes (7 to be exact). It’s not a question of the workload but of how colleges will see this.
I’m probably just overthinking and being paranoid like I typically am.
7 APs by graduation is not too many. You’re fine, especially if you received As. 7 in one year? Littering.
Seven total is good. Seven in a year is overkill. Colleges want to know that you can do the work, and that you have challenged yourself. But one thing that happens with too many APs is that it is hard to get strong ECs going if you are buried in APs. So you need to balance it.
@2muchquan So 7 in one year is “littering”? I’ve taken 4 so far in junior year and none in freshman or sophomore year. I’ve been thinking about my senior schedule and I’m currently enrolled in 6 or 7 AP classes (one class is still kind of iffy as to whether or not I’m taking it).
Keep in mind the reason the number is pretty high is because I’m taking two foreign languages, and also there are 9 periods in the day so I still have electives.
The “most rigorous schedule” is relative to what your HS offers. If they only offer 2 APs and some honors courses and that’s what you take, then guidance can check that box on your transcript that says you took the most rigorous coursework. The other extreme is schools where they offer lots of AP, but there is usually no way to take them all. In that case you need to talk to you guidance office to see what your school considers the most rigorous. At my girls’ school the academic track they were on had most kids taking 7-9 and that was enough to get the rigorous designation. One of my girls had 7, the other had 10 - both got the box checked (2 of 10 were AP art).
OK. I’m not going to argue. It sounds like you’re fine with it. That couldn’t happen in my D’s school, so it sounded like it was over the top.
Thanks for the info guys. My school offers 22 AP courses, so I don’t know what qualifies as rigorous. As for extra cirriculars, I’m only in clubs I actually enjoy, so I’m sure I can make time if needed.
I’m not trying to apply to all the ivies or anything so I think I’m okay.