<p>My school has a general limit of 3 APs for juniors, although there are some exceptional kids that take 4. However, because of all sorts of limitations, I am only able to take 2 APs this year. Since I will be compared to others from my school, would having only 2 APs while many others have 3/4 hurt my chances greatly?</p>
<p>Because of the 2 APs situation, I will be self-studying several APs on my own. Is doing well on self-studied AP exams enough to compensate for not taking the class at school? My counselor tells me that colleges prefer for students to actually take the class, but since I won't be able to do so, would self-studying be just as impressive? At the same time, does having self-studied AP score show colleges that I have the willingness to work hard on my own? Thanks for reading this and please give me some advice.</p>
<p>You’re fine. Most kids don’t take APs at all. Just keep your grades up.</p>
<p>But that really depends on their school. Many students don’t take any APs because their schools don’t offer any. In my case however my school does offer and most students take more than I do. So that becomes a disadvantage because my schedule doesn’t seem as rigorous as others’. </p>
<p>Also from what I know you’re compared to people from your school? That also makes it worse.</p>
<p>It might. I took only 2 in my junior year and regret it. I’m a senior now</p>
<p>You should be fine. Firstly, you’re taking 2 APs in school out of 3/4, so it’s not like you’re not taking any. Self-studying some makes up for it, because it shows that you are self-motivated to study subjects that interest you. It might even be better since it shows that you aren’t taking all the APs in class for the sake of having them on your transcript.</p>
<p>@OrchidBloom well it’s not that my school only offers 3/4 APs, it offers a whole lot more. Does self-studying seem better? I mean I think/hope so but others say having the classes are better cause it shows you are capable of finishing a year’s work.</p>
<p>@AtypicalAsian why do you regret it now? how many do you plan on taking now?</p>
<p>How many Juniors (a percentage) in your school take 3-4 APs? My school was the same way, in that the general limit was 3 but a few kids took 4, so it was easy to think that if you had less then 3 that you were at some disadvantage or something, but when I thought about it, the kids who took 3-4 (I was one of them and I felt “average”) made up a rather small minority of the grade as a whole. (<20%)</p>
<p>I’d say a very large percentage (probably~50%) take around 3 although very few take 4. That makes me really feel like I’m at a disadvantage compared to others. Almost the entire grade takes AP Lang except for several people. I don’t know if it’s a big deal but it makes me worried nonetheless.</p>