<p>My impression after multiple college visits is that admissions department are not interested in students who take very high numbers of AP classes.</p>
<p>Once you have 6-8 APs in key subjects for you (especially English, math, science) the primary benefit seems to change to obtaining additional college credits.</p>
<p>Does it seem like that to others?</p>
<p>Dependent on the types of colleges you visited, I guess. For competitive programs, colleges have a reasonable expectation that the student took a reasonable amount of APs given his/her circumstances. I would agree that 6-8 is a good amount. I suppose there are kids who take more than that AND manage to perform well. That’s an extra feather in their cap.</p>
<p>I agree that once you reach a certain level of rigor in the high school curriculum while getting good grades, you have proved you are likely to be successful in college courses. That is a minimum at selective schools, but they are looking for more to distinguish one applicant from another. Taking additional AP courses isn’t necessarily going to accomplish that goal. Beyond additional rigor in classes, other aspects of an applicant’s experience and character tend to become important when drawing lines between otherwise qualified students. However, taking many APS may be necessary to achieve the high rank schools also consider important.</p>
<p>I agree with both of you. </p>
<p>I am alluding to students that I have seen doing unusual things to take additional AP classes, such as arrange an early morning PE so they can take 7 APs in Junior year and another 7 in senior year. Maybe also took 1 or 2 in Sophomore year. I do not see the point of taking 15 or 16 AP classes.</p>
<p>The point T26E4 made about performing well is a good one. It seems to me that scoring 5’s on 6-8 APs would be better than scoring 4’s on 15 APs. </p>
<p>Also, to Niceday’s point, it would be difficult to have the time to have committed to significant ECs that are also required to support a strong application or to even have a little bit of fun.</p>
<p>Sometimes in a effort to maximize the number of APs I have seen students take AP Statistics when they have been offered the more difficult Honors Multi-variable calculus class that is the follow-up to the B/C calculus AP course. Some people have the impression that AP is the ultimate achievement. </p>
<p>I like how Niceday put it that taking a decent number of them demonstrates that you are likely to be successful, but beyond that the benefit wanes. Instead, I think students would be better served to take the most rigorous courses available that are relevant in their interest area. </p>
<p>If a student is interested in Math and Science, but avoids MV Calc Honors because it is not an AP class and takes AP Statistics and AP Art History in their schedule, it just looks like they are chasing AP credits instead of focusing on interest area.</p>
<p>AP classes are important for selective school admission, but I think that in many cases more is not better, and constructing a thoughtful schedule with a good number of selected APs that best fit your interests, and performing well on them is more important than chasing all classes available with AP attached to them.</p>
<p>Taking AP classes and tests are for your own good, not just for college application. For admission, a strong applicant would take as many challenging courses as possible while maintaining a very good GPA. If your GPA suffered after taking too many AP classes, it may have an adverse effect for admission. AP exam scores are mainly for college credit purpose, but most schools would have a limit on the number of AP credits. Nevertheless, you are often compared with other students from the same school. So you should look up your high school profile to see how competitive you are in terms of course load.</p>
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<p>I’m not sure AP scores are all that important, at least compared to the grade you got in them. You don’t want to score 1 or 2, of course, but it seems to me the fact you took a number of them and did well over the course of a year is the main thing they look for, not the score. I think there is some emphasis on taking the more rigorous ones as well, AP Chem over AP Enviro, APUSH over AP Psych, AP Calc (AB or BC) over AP Stat, etc.</p>
<p>I have one of those kids who will graduate with 10 APs (2 soph, 4 junior, 4 senior), and what’s interesting is when she interviewed, once they established she had taken the APs, the courses they were most interested in was - woodworking. My kid is a girl and apparently a girl who is a top student yet also builds furniture fascinated them. She even writes about it in her Common App essay.</p>
<p>Maybe all those AP drones need to head down to shop class if they want to stand out. At least I’m hoping it plays out that way.</p>
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<p>When you apply to college your guidance counselor must rate the rigor of your schedule, as compared to all other college bound students at your high school. All selective colleges want students to take the “Most Demanding” schedule available at their school. If your GC rates the kid who takes 15 AP’s (with all 4’s) as “Most Demanding” will they also rate the kid who took 6 AP’s (with all 5’s) as “Most Demanding?” That seems to be the more pertinent question, and one that only your guidance counselor can answer. See page 2 – especially the upper right hand section that asks about AP’s and course rigor – of the Secondary School Report: <a href=“http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/documents/UG_Admissions_SecondarySchoolReport.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/documents/UG_Admissions_SecondarySchoolReport.pdf</a></p>
<p>At my DD’s school, the kids take crazy numbers of AP classes because that’s the only way to keep a high class rank…if they don’t take 5-plus, they’re pushed out of the top 20.</p>
<p>^ Exactly, that’s why the high school profile is important when considering course load.</p>
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<p>I can only tell you what every single admissions official has said to us on every single school visit we’ve taken.</p>
<p>The admissions committee looks to see that the applicant has successfully taken the most rigorous courses available at their high school.</p>