I go to a small school (600 kids) in Florida that offers only a limited selection of AP classes:
AP Calc AB
AP Psych
AP Environmental Science
AP Lang
AP Lit
That’s it. My school is so small, and the students are so uninterested on taking AP classes, that they only offer 1 class of each. So naturally, if it doesn’t work with your schedule, you don’t get to take it. My guidance counselor is strict about letting kids take AP classes online and will likely not even approve of it. If you want to take more courses, you have to dual enroll at a local community college. The problem with dual enrollment is that the courses are too easy (the one that I go to anyways) and doesn’t prepare you well enough for college. The credits also don’t transfer out of state.
I’m a junior and I never wanted to go to this school. My parents forced me because they liked the small and quiet environment. This school is more concerned for vocational training/classes, which doesn’t benefit me for college. I am currently dual enrolled and taking extra classes, but my dream schools are out of state. What do I do? My transcript isn’t competitive enough, and there’s only so much I can do.
Most colleges will look at your school profile and see if you took advantage of the opportunities they offered. It also shows initiative that you have sought additional opportunities outside of your school.
It should be no issue. The top colleges want the guidance counselor to be able to check off that you have taken the most rigorous schedule offered in your HS so as long as you are doing that you are fine. It sounds like you are doing that. You are not penalized for not having classes your HS doesn’t offer and admission to top colleges is not based on who has the most APs. If you do have any scheduling conflict that takes an AP out of play for you perhaps your guidance counselor can mention it in his/her recommendation. Taking the dual enrollment courses shows initiative and an ability to handle college level material which will be a positive in your application.
While your HS may not be the perfect fit for your aspirations, take advantage of the positives. If it is a smaller school, try to get to know your teachers so they can write more personalized recommendations. Learn everything you can in that small, quieter environment. And get involved in things you care about in the school or in your community.
^ that. But if you can fit in APs, go for calc, lang, and lit, before the others. And when you choose DE classes, a class that’s just of-interest to you is ok, but try to use the cc overall for the rigor that your hs misses. Some of this depends on your possible major, but eg, if your school doesn’t offer AP chem, take chem at the cc, not some random whatever.
Adcoms know not all cc classes are as rigorous as at a better college, but it’s how you do choose that matters.