Our school offers 10 AP courses:
-AP French
-AP Art History
-AP 2-D Design
-AP 3-D Design
-AP Microeconomics
-AP Calculus
-AP Physics
-AP Chemistry
-AP English Literature
-AP English Language
Unfortunately, the first five don’t apply to me because I take Spanish, not French, music not art, and no microeconomics for me.
I’m currently in my junior year and I’m only taking AP Eng Lit at school and self studying AP Biology… but my AP Eng Lit mark is bringing me down sooooo much, it was the only course I had a B in last term so I really want to drop it.
The thing is–should I? When I apply for early admissions in November, I’ll only have my 1 AP Biology mark reported which kind of scares me but I’ll be taking AP Calc, AP Physics I and AP Chemistry (but of course, none of these marks will have been reported.
I’ve asked this question several times with no answers so I’m trying again. I don’t really enjoy Literature and the rest of my courses are 2 year courses so I wasn’t allowed to take them this year anyways. Will Hopkins see that I only took 3/10 available? Or will the self-studying for Bio somehow balance out? This course selection thing is stressing me out so much…
Here is my current timetable:
-AP Eng Lit (really want to drop)
-Chem 11 Honours
-Biology 11
-Pre Calc 12 (a year ahead)
-Strings
-Physics 11
-Spanish 11
-English 11
-Self studying AP Bio
Most people applying to JHU and schools of similar level will have many A’s in AP courses. If you can’t get an A in an AP course, you probably don’t have much chance unless you play lacrosse really well or the have 2300 SATs or something.
I’ve heard that college admissions counselors generally aren’t impressed when people self-study for AP exams. If you’re doing that just to impress them, its probably not worth the money. If you just want the college credit, then go for it. I personally wouldn’t drop English, though. A B isn’t life ending - I got in with, like, 4 of them I think? When you apply next school year, they’ll see your future schedule and they can take into account what AP classes you’ll be taking then, too. Rigor is important, though. Struggling in an AP class (when your “struggling” is a B ) definitely isn’t a deal breaker.
@falynweiss I haven’t gotten a B in anything for the past 2 years ago (and even 3 years ago my B was in band but I mean, I sucked at the clarinet soooo). I’m not self studying to impress them at all, I’m genuinely interested in Biology and would like the extra credits.
Ah well. I guess I’ll be keeping AP Eng Lit then.
All A’s without AP classes will generally not get you into schools of this level, particularly JHU, unless you have above average test scores or something else they want.
Agreed. Stick with the AP. My son2 got into competitive schools like WUSTL, UCLA, USC, tufts with 5 Bs/B+'s in math…all the way through AP calculus. He even was selected as a finalist for merit awards at Wustl & USC, the latter full tuition. But he had very high SAT & SAT2 scores & national academic awards. The B won’t tank your app but the lack of rigor might. So, buckle down & do your best in the AP.
@brilliantskies14 Why aren’t you taking AP Physics and AP Chem? Am I correct that you are a junior taking pre-cal? I think it’s good you are going to take the AP test in Biology even though your course is not AP. My kid’s 9th grade World History teacher requested he take the AP test even though the course was not AP. It turned out to be a wise decision.