<p>Would most top schools covet this? In order to achieve this, one must take at least 8 AP exams and earn an average grade of 4 or higher. I have the potential to get this if I self study, and would like to know it's worth. Most people at my school will not even have half the number required for this award (<4 AP's). Statistically, less than 1% of all test takers achieve this, and undoubtedly, even less get it before the 12th grade. Would it be of my interest to self study enough AP's in order to get this?</p>
<p>It would be only if you can handle that extra load and do well. What you run the risk of doing is having it affect your grades. As long as it doesn’t though, it would be a great addition to an application.</p>
<p>There is a risk with this strategy. Suppose you get a 3 in one of your exams? Will this affect your other EC’s. Colleges want to see you have taken the most rigorous curriculum, they want to see that you have pushed yourself hard, but they would not want you to do things that will affect the other parts of your portfolio. So how is your time best spent? Preparing for additional AP tests or strengthening other parts of your application? Will becoming a National AP scholar before senior year give you a boost? Yes it will. Given that you already have a strong AP record or will have one without the additional AP’s, is the effort spent elsewhere? That is a question only you can answer.</p>
<p>Yeah, it’s not too bad. Just throw some easy ones in there like psych and bio.</p>
<p>I specifically picked Human Geo and Environmental Science for that reason, mazewanderer. This will obviously be a side goal and will cost me nothing but the AP exam fee. If I do successfully balance this load, will this set me apart from my peers? Like I said, the most amount of AP’s that all my peers will have by the end of 11th grade will be 6. If I have 8, will I appear more academically motivated and self initiated?</p>
<p>Wait, so this actually matters?
Cool!</p>
<p>You will look more academically motivated. And the greater benefit is the potential college credit :)</p>
<p>But-- what will you sacrifice?</p>
<p>Other than the AP exam fees, not much. :P</p>
<p>It will set up apart but in my opinion and my opinion only, the boost will not be very significant. It is one more positive sign, not something that will automatically get you admission. Yes it is creditable, and gives you bragging rights (which you should emphasize). In other words, go for it if you can handle it, but make sure that it is not at expense of anything else.</p>
<p>in my mind, it is a benefit if you can handle it.
you have to remember that only about 1000 people in the entire nation get this award after their junior year.
that’s the equivalent of adding the number of people who get 2380, 2390, and 2400 on the SAT.
fortunately, i got it :D</p>
<p>I got it after my junior year, but I won’t know for a while if it was worth the year I had last year with all my APs and ECs. I cried some nights with how much work I had to do. </p>
<p>I say try if you feel up to the challenge, but I wouldn’t go overboard on APs for which you’re not taking the classes.</p>
<p>Go for it. I wish I had taken 3 more APs. Latin and… something.</p>
<p>Eh, it’s nice, but WHY would you be studying for the APs? Are these subjects a genuine INTEREST of yours, or is it just to have a piece of paper in your belt? If it’s the paper: that’s what top colleges try to avoid, people who want to go there to get a piece of sheepskin after four years to hang on their wall and brag about.</p>
<p>If you potentially want more college credit (most likely at your state school, not at a top-tier uni), then go for it. But most top students aren’t getting 8 APs their junior year because there aren’t really 8 AP classes they really want to take/that they have time for that they won’t be able to explore by senior year (the one person I know who self-studied bio did it because she wanted to take a higher-level bio course we offered, not for the college credit/“prestige”).</p>
<p>I actually fulfill the requirement (8AP. each one is 5 except one that is 4) but I didn’t get the national scholar letter. Just the AP scholar.</p>
<p>Maybe I need to be a citizen? (which I am not)</p>
<p>I didn’t really self-study any subjects</p>
<p>By end of senior year, I’ll have taken 13 AP tests</p>
<p>But it’s not something I would really put in the application as an “award”
They can see your AP scores that you report anyways.</p>
<p>I’d save that award space for something else</p>
<p>I think I’ll give it a try. maruhan2, I think you do need to be a US citizen to get the award.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses. Has anyone had experience studying statistics on their own?</p>
<p>My younger S made National AP Scholar as a junior. He took one AP freshman year, two as a soph and five junior year (three of which were to ensure college credit from IB SL courses). Did it make a difference? I have no idea. We didn’t even realize so few kids made it as juniors til someone on CC mentioned it.</p>
<p>He pooh-poohed it until he realized that the AP Spanish score put him over the top – he had made Bs all the way through five years of the language, and you should have seen the look on his face when he realized what he had accomplished. THAT was the payoff.</p>
<p>N.B.: A lot of people think AP Enviro is an easy exam. They are the ones who are surprised when the scores come in. S2 took it as a soph because he likes life sciences, got a 5, and has found it very helpful for AP/IB HL Bio.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t think these awards amount to much. (And my kids graduated with 13 AP’s and 7 AP’s each plus each had 1 college credit course.) Self study is good to get out of classes or to go in with credits, but personally, unless you take an AP class it will not be on your transcript and self-study would not impress me much. </p>
<p>None of us is an admissions officer, so it’s hard to tell you one way or another.</p>
<p>Here are the numbers: </p>
<p><a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/ap-scholar-data-counts-2009.xls[/url]”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board; </p>
<p>(opens an .XLS file) </p>
<p>from </p>
<p>[AP</a> Data 2009](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/ap/data]AP”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board) </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>If I pull this off correctly, I’ll be one of 20 people to achieve National AP Scholar in my state before 12th grade based on last year’s data.</p>
<p>^ There’s an arms race out there. The numbers have been going up in my state year on year.</p>