<p>So, my high school doesn't offer AP or IB classes. How will this affect my chances at getting into a high ranked college?</p>
<p>Well, hopefully you can communicate that to whichever university you want to attend in an essay or personal statement somehow, but as long as you’re doing the best you can do with whats available to you theres not much else you can do about it. If it’s really going to bother you, look into online classes, some of my friends took AP World History online somewhere since our school doesn’t offer that one, they said it was harder, but you gotta do what you gotta do</p>
<p>Your guidance counselor recommendation will explain that your school doesn’t offer these classes so it won’t be held against you. However, Etuck24 is right that you get bonus points for initiative if you decide to pursue something on your own. It doesn’t have to be AP, though - it could be an on-line course, a community college class, or just a subject that you personally are passionate about. It’s a love of learning that schools like to see, along with some proof that you can handle the rigor. </p>
<p>Of course, some selective private schools say they don’t offer AP classes because ALL their classes are at the AP level of rigor and they don’t want to be constrained by teaching to the test. If that’s your situation, then I wouldn’t think twice about it.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t affect you at all ( your counselor files a secondary school report which will indicate to colleges that no APs are offered) but just know that there are other ways to maximize your course rigor. ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE: My school also does not offer AP or IB classes, but I’ve taken 6 Dual Enrollment classes at a local community college, and 3 online classes. If it makes you feel any better, I was accepted into the Echols Scholars program at University of Virginia, and the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, among others. Kids at my school (also lacking AP/IB) were accepted to Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Duke, UVA, UNC, William & Mary, Harvard, Columbia and Georgetown. That’s just this year, out of a class of 88. In the past, we’ve had Yale, Princeton, CMU, Michigan, Cornell… Even without APs, anything is possible.</p>
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<p>Admissions officers judge course rigor in the context of your school. They want to see you maximizing the opportunities you were given, so if your school doesn’t offer AP/IB classes, you’re not going to get hurt if you take the hardest classes available to you. However, I do recommend looking into online AP/IB courses (or any other challenging coursework), and if the cost is too much with those (as they can sometimes be very pricey), you can look into community college classes or free online classes (such as the ones offered at coursera.org or MITx).</p>