I am currently in 11th grade and have yet to take an AP class. I was afraid they would be too much work for me because I am involved in many extracurricular activites and I did not want to bring down my GPA, but I highly regret not taking APs this year because I feel that my doing so will hurt my chances at getting into a good college. I have taken honors classes every year and have a good GPA, but I am really worried that my course load will not look rigorous enough because I did not take any APs. I am planning to take AP Chemistry next year as a Senior, and I am wondering if it will be enough. Is it too late to show colleges that I am willing to challenge myself Senior year? Will colleges care if I take an AP class Senior year, or will they only look at my Junior year? Is only one AP class in all of High School enough, or should I try to take multiple next year instead? Or should I try to sign up for taking an AP class over the summer if that is a thing? That would not be ideal, but I really want to go to a good school (not an Ivy League or anything, just somewhere with a good veterinary program) so would it be worth it to try to take an AP over the summer?
What does your guidance counselor advise about this? Start with that person. AP classes might not be necessary at all for the colleges on your list.
You can get the pre-veterinary courses just about anywhere - even at many community colleges. So you have lots of options out there for your undergraduate studies.
If you have not taken any AP classes, then taking one or two in your senior year is a good idea, but the college application is primarily based on your 9th-11th grade classes and grades,
It is not too late at all!
AP classes are the equivelant of college courses, so it makes sense you take them later in your HS career.
Colleges will look at the courses you are taking as a senior and take that into account.
That is great to hear, thank you!!
I have already talked to my guidance counselor and he said that because I took honors classes he thinks I will be fine, and it is not necessary for me to take any APs. He is a good counselor but to be honest he did not really give me a lot of detailed advice about this situation which is why I turned to this website. But that does make me feel better and I will keep that in mind, thank you for your advice!
So, what colleges are you thinking?
It’s not true that only 9-11 matter. Or that all AP are truly equivalent to college courses. The main disadvantage to no AP before sr year is no test results when you apply. And can’t show how you tackled that rigor.
But if you’re picking the right college targets for your record, so be it.
“You can get the pre-veterinary courses just about anywhere”
Yes. There are many, many universities with good biology programs, and quite a few with good animal science programs. The ones with the best animal science programs are not always the most famous or highest ranked (in four years at a highly ranked university I never saw a single barnyard animal – this does not include the fake [plaster?] but full-sized cow that somehow ended up on top of the great dome).
I see from your other thread that you have a very good high school GPA. I think that you will be fine with just one AP class.
Your other thread looks like the right place to discuss specific schools.
You will be judged in the context of your school, so if other kids are taking lots of APs you will be at a disadvantage if you apply to the same schools. But there are lots of colleges where one or two APs senior year, and lots of honors courses before that will be fine.
You will be fine. My son got an early admit into vet school and only had four AP classes due to a terrible GC! He is doing great. As mentioned above schools like Kansas State are not highly ranked at all but has a very well respected and well ranked animal science program.and an excellent vet school. A lot of the land grant universities with outstanding animal science programs have rolling admissions and you would be easily admitted. They key for pre-veterinary med is to get high grades and animal experience as an undergraduate and a high GRE score with as little debt as possible. So follow the money and go to the place you can do very well and be happy.
As you probably realize now, this didn’t really protect your gpa. Sure the number may be higher than it otherwise would have been, but adcoms look not just at the number but at the course difficulty. Furthermore if you ask any adcom they’ll tell you that academics should come before ECs.
There is another more significant loss from this approach. You lost the chance to work on improving your academic skills when it wasn’t for keeps. After HS the slate is wiped clean, so if you had a few grades lower than you liked it won’t matter when you apply to vet school. But you would have gained a few years practice in class to find out what you need to improve on and try various approaches to do so. In college when all grades matter for vet school, you’ll be competing against kids who spent the past few years becoming better students.
This summer I suggest you learn more about the best study habits and practices. If you’re doing common things like homework shortly before its due and if you re-read the chapters a few times before a test, then you aren’t using the most effective techniques. I suggest getting the book “Make it Stick” and reading it this summer; it is about how to learn and has lots of tips for HS and college students.
What colleges are on your list? How will your counselor rate the rigor of your courses? Where are you in terms of AP courses not taken as compared to your classmates? What record does your school have in AP test scores? All of these things matter.
Without some very good reason and hook, in my area, it would be a detriment to getting into highly selective schools. Not impossible , but rare that kids outside of the AP cadre getting into the top schools. That’s because so danged many do take that rigorous course load. At a different school, could be a different story.