<p>Hi, I'm new here, so forgive me if I'm posting this in a bad place. I wasn't sure where to put it. I'm a rising senior at a public high school that performs above average but isn't anything particularly special. They don't typically allow enrollment in AP classes until senior year, so I haven't taken any as of yet. That being said, most kids at my school who want to go to competitive colleges load up on APs their senior year, taking one in each subject. I myself want to go to a competitive college (no Ivy's but schools like Duke, UNC, NYU, and Tufts are on my list), but after reading the description for AP classes and then looking at some of the electives I could take, I found myself completely uninterested in APs. So I made my senior schedule the way I wanted it to be:</p>
<p>Chemistry II
Honors Humanities Literature
French III/French IV
AP Statistics
AP Micro & Macroeconomics
Honors Physics
Gym
History of Music</p>
<p>Now I'm kind of freaking out that not taking AP Bio, AP Calc, AP Gov, AP English Lit, etc. will completely screw me over for college admissions, since I'll only have taken 2 APs. I have good SAT scores, a good GPA, and everything. So I don't know what to do. To be honest, I care more about organic chemistry, music, and the humanities than I do about calculus and biology. And taking more APs would have meant that I couldn't continue past French III. I want my education to be about what I enjoy learning, not about what I can cram into my schedule to look best for college. </p>
<p>Just remember, your counselor does have to check off a box concerning the rigor of your schedule. So as long as she checks off “rigorous”, you should be decent. Also remember that a lot of those colleges admit students who take several APs in one you. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Not sure what you were expecting for a response, but prestigious colleges (Duke, UNC, etc.) will see this schedule as not challenging yourself. It will be hard to sell this as rigorous, especially if you have a high GPA, which shows you have the potential to excel in AP classes but you chose not to. Also, the APs you are taking are some of the softer ones, so yeah…</p>
A lack of rigor probably won’t reduce your chances at a top school to near 0.
It will hurt your application, but it won’t kill it. Just make the rest of your application as great as possible.</p>
<p>I gotcha I was just being butthurt at 2am. I appreciate the clarification and will do my best on my apps to highlight my ECs. Thanks for the response.</p>
<p>How does your school rank–weighted or unweighted GPA? If it’s the former, then yes, your chances will likely be impacted. These schools will expect you to be at the top of your class. Most high schools have a fairly limited curriculum for the top students, and you’re expected to do well in the hardest classes. </p>
<p>Of course, it’s difficult to really gauge the rigor of your schedule without more context. But it seems like you’re intentionally skirting hard classes for those that are marginally more interesting, and that doesn’t look good.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that AP courses really substitute for college courses, so you’d probably have to take biology, calculus, government and English in college anyway. Why not take them while you’re in high school, get credit for them, and then take your organic chemistry, music, and humanities in college, where you will probably have better teachers and more stimulating classes anyway?</p>
<p>I think what I’ll do is switch from AP Stat (damn, I wanted to take that) to AP Calc so that I can take AP Physics C. That’ll be a compromise, as I can still mostly take what I want, with the exception of Stat (provided that the scheduling all works out). Also, while I appreciate everyone’s responses, I just want to point out that these classes aren’t “marginally” more interesting to me. I’ve already taken chemistry, biology, and a class on US government and history, so taking the APs for these just seems redundant to me. I like learning new things. That’s why these classes up here are more interesting to me. Anyhow, my class rank is weighted, so you’re right that I should try for more advanced courses. Fortunately, my Humanities class is weighted the same as AP, so that will be a plus. Again, thanks for the input.</p>
I was just being butthurt at 2am. I appreciate the clarification and will do my best on my apps to highlight my ECs. Thanks for the response.</p>