It will depend on the kid. I know kids who have gotten all As taking 5-6 APs (and who had time for things other than school). I also know kids who struggled a ton with 2-3 APs. Gotta know yourself, what you like, your strengths, interests, etc.
S1 went for some of those AP awards…they mean nothing other than another item to list as ‘awards’. After a point, no one cares. There are 3 reasons to take AP courses. 1) The information presented in the course 2) increased rigor for knowledge/GPA 3) getting a high enough score can translate to college credit.
The AP tests themselves (exclusive of the course) only help with item 3. Since schools like MIT are highly unlikely to apply AP credit for CS (I could be wrong here), there is really no reason to do this unless you are like my kids and just covet the award itself.
The only real advantage for S1 is that his AP credits cut an entire year off of his college program…but he did not get into MIT.
MIT will only look at scores of 5 and only for certain APs and, in most cases, will only place you in more advanced classes rather than give credit.
http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/2020/subjects/incomingcredit/ap.html
@STEM2017 Right now, I am in Precalculus Honors, and I also took AP Statistics this year. Precalculus is easy, and I plan on reading BC material over the summer, along with Physics 1 material. As for Micro Micro, my guidance counselor recommended I take those courses at some point. I may or may not take Gov (would take Civics 1 & 2 instead). I joined debate team this year and want to build a relationship with the debate coach (who also teaches Gov), and he told me to take this course after I told him I couldn’t take debate and rhetoric this year. I need to build a relationship with at least one humanities teacher.
@Lindagaf A lot of people are following a courseload similar to mine next year, with the exception of Calculus. By the end of senior year, 1/10 of my grade (150 students in my grade) will probably have completed 10 APs or more.
I’m definitely not going to self study another AP for the sake of an award, but I need to at least take 11-12 APs to be in the top five in my already small school.
@STEM2017 Also, my plan to do math at Fairfield University was basically decided in 8th grade when I got a scholarship to two courses in senior year, because I was already 2 years ahead in math, so I would have taken BC in junior year. I could take a computer science course at Fairfield instead of Linear Algebra.
Sounds like a plan.
I wish you lots of luck!
Keep us posted on your progress.
@STEM2017 Thank you for all your suggestions! I will definitely keep some of the points you mentioned in mind when deciding the courses I want to take, specifically about how my transcript should tell a story about me.
Due to the small nature of my school, there aren’t many electives that would really apply to me. I am already part of my school’s PLTW engineering program, and I will take/have already taken:
Introduction to Engineering and Design
Principles of Engineering
AP Computer Science Principles
Engineering Design and Development
There aren’t a lot of programming electives (AP Computer Science A is being removed next year, and AP Principles is the only other programming course other than the babyish ones), and I really want programming and computers to tell my story. My Eagle Scout project is going to probably be building a few computers for a local Boy’s and Girl’s Club (that is in a low-income neighborhood) in order to encourage STEM and computer programming to those who don’t have access to a computer at home. I also plan on starting a programming club that works on projects and helps students who are taking AP Computer Science classes.