<p>I have a 3.6 GPA (unweighted) by the end of my sophomore year, with ap classes and honors, and i dont know if i should take all regular classes next year to get my GPA up. Because when i look at collegeboard.org, the colleges I want to get into have GPA's higher for than mine for incoming freshman.</p>
<p>Everything I’ve ever read says that your supposed to take the highest level of courses that you have access to.</p>
<p>Universities typically admit students who took the most rigourous course load that their school offered, and succeeded in those courses. In theory, a student who can do well in AP courses will do well in college because they have already studied collegiate level material. Take AP courses that you can truly commit the time to.</p>
<p>In college the general expectation is that students should, and will, study for 3 hours credit hour. For your AP courses, the expectation is the same (since you would recieve college credit if you pass the AP Exam with a high enough score, and if the school you are applying to awards credit for AP). Look a college that you would like to attend to see if they accept AP credit, and then see what score is needed to recieve credit, and how many credit hours they award per course. Multiply the credit hours by 3 to see how many hours per week outside of class you should typically be dedicating to studying for a single course. </p>
<p>If you truly have the time and the drive to push yourself to succeed, I would reccommend taking all of the AP courses that you can reasonably handle. The best of luck to you.</p>
<p>For the top-top schools, you probably need both good grades AND a rigorous academic schedule. </p>
<p>If you can’t do both, that probably eliminates 30 or so schools (maybe another 5-10 if you add in the LACs) out of the thousands of colleges in the US.</p>
<p>If you can manage a 3.6 unweighted taking AP and Honors courses (and have comparable SAT/ACT, ECs, etc) you should be accepted to an excellent university.</p>