<p>so my school offers excessive number of AP courses (about 20, I think 2 of them online)</p>
<p>how many APs would be deemed most rigorous, rigorous, average, below average?</p>
<p>thanks CCers!</p>
<p>good post</p>
<p>I would think 10.</p>
<p>Mine offers 12, I've taken 8. I think that's pretty rigorous.</p>
<p>Most rigorous: >16
Rigorous: 12-16
Average: 8-11
Below average: 4 - 7
Poor: 0 - 3</p>
<p>My school offers 7 and I've taken 6- Gov, English, Stats, Comp Sci, Bio, and Calc. (stayed away from Chem) Is that considered rigorous?</p>
<p>Yes, 6 is very good because only 7 are given in your school.</p>
<p>Depends on how many the average person takes. These numbers that other people have posted mean NOTHING because no one but you knows what is considered normal at your school. So the correct way to go about figuring this out is to think of people you know who are taking the most APs. How many are they taking? Are there people taking more than you? If there are more than a few other people who are taking more APs than you, then you don't have the most rigorous courseload.
Of course, the person who decides this is your guidance/college counselor. He or she has to indicate on her counselor recommendation whether your courseload is considered the most rigorous or not at your high school. Ask her which box she would check for you.</p>
<p>how does self studying ap's fall into the equation?</p>
<p>hmm i took 1 as soph as everyone else did at my school
3 as junior.. there was 1 who took 6 as junior 1 who took 5 and about 3 who took 4.
4 as senior.. 2 taking 5. rest taking 2 or 3.</p>
<p>i guess the surefire way is to ask her.</p>
<p>"Average: 8-11"</p>
<p>There is no way 8-11 APs is average rigor.</p>
<p>i thought so too... i never thought taking 8 APs myself was an average work load...</p>
<p>neway thanks everyone!</p>
<p>most rigorous - 10+
rigorous - 8-9
average - 4-7
below average 1-3</p>
<p>2-3 APs as sophomore, 4-5 APs as junior, 4-5 APs as senior... so...</p>
<br>
<p>13 = most rigorous 9-12 = rigorous 5-8 = average</p>
<br>
<p>Everyone else's random intervals mean nothing. This depends completely on your school.</p>
<p>depends on your school really. my school offers 2 AP and I take 1 because I couldn't take the other AP class. instead I take college level courses offered by my school. I'm under the "most rigorous" category because I've made the MOST out of my schedule.</p>
<p>As with most things, finding meaning in what is most rigorous has to be evaluated in context. As Leah377 and others point out, the numbers offered are meaningless because it does depend upon the school. In your case, having 20 AP classes available may mean that most rigorous could range upwards of 10-12 AP courses taken. For a school that has either a low number of AP courses available in their curriculum or places restrictions on who may enroll in them, the number might be much lower.</p>
<p>It is typical that most selective colleges will want to have you submit a recommendation from your Guidance Counselor as part of your admissions application. Many GCs have a standard practice of providing a school profile as part of their packet of materials they submit on your behalf. While there is no standardized format for a school profile, it often will provide information about the high school, such as their academic programs, average GPA and test scores, special recognitions/distinctions, college placements, etc. It may also include mention of AP courses offered. With the sophistication of most selective colleges, if a previous graduate from your H.S. has attended the college, the admissions department probably has some idea of the school you attend. The adcoms have a good idea of whether or not youve challenged yourself, relative to what is available at your school. </p>
<p>Adcoms also have the ability through their database of all applicants to sort/query according to secondary school, and it presents no problem for them to compare applicants academic records. It becomes apparent how much you have challenged yourself academically.</p>
<p>This brings to mind a conversation I had with a Dean of Admissions at a well-known selective college known to prize academic rigor. The question posed was, Would you rather a student take an AP course and get a B or to take the regular class and get an A? The response was predictable We want the student to take an AP class, where available, and to get an A. ;)</p>
<p>I don't know how widespread this is, but I believe GC's sometimes glorify their students by doing things like "most rigorous curriculum" for students who just have an above average curriculum, claiming that they just don't want to do anything to hurt their students' chances.</p>
<p>And this whole post in general is pretty useless. A kid taking AP Stats and AP Psych does not have as rigorous a courseload as someone in AP Calc BC and AP Euro, or Honors Multivariable Calculus and Honors Research in History or something like that. In my school, people with the most rigorous math course are in Honors Multivariable, and people in the most rigorous science courses took AP levels before senior year and are now taking college courses. So you'd have to post every course available in your school as well as average stats for college-bound students in your school and percentage of students who are college-bound and all that junk in order for us to give you a proper evaluation of the rigor of your curriculum. But please don't do that.</p>