<p>OK: so you need 1000 APs for the top 10 schools, I get that - in general that is: S1 is at top 10 without this crazed AP loading - but then again that HS was a top magnet school where many courses are already at a college level jointly offered with the local community college regardless of whether they came with the AP label or not. </p>
<p>S2 is aiming for top 30-80ish schools. Are the adcoms at these schools also crazy about APs? S2 is a junior now taking 3 APs, and next year (senior year) he will be taking another 2-3 depending on the scheduling conflict vis-a-vis 4th year foreign language and unwaivable art requirements. In high performing suburban his HS, the theoretical limit on how many AP a kid can graduate with is about 10 due to the scheduling conflict, etc.</p>
<p>I would love to hear from parents whose kids made it to places like George Washington, Boston U, American, and other schools within top 30-80ish range. </p>
<p>According to what I’ve seen posted on cc, the average at Stanford is <6, so 10 is more than enough. Great grades and test scores will earn some merit money at those schools.</p>
<p>My D had a total of 4 (2 junior year, 2 in her senior year) and got into UCLA. I think they are just part of the whole picture. She also had high GPA, good Sat scores and EC’s. I would think anything from 3-6 would be fine.</p>
<p>D took 6 (more than most students at her public school).</p>
<p>AP: World History, US History, Lang, Spanish, Gov, Calc AB.</p>
<p>The school she now attends also looks at how well the student has done in those classes. They don’t want to see someone “loading up” on AP classes and then not doing well in them, so keep balance in mind.</p>
<p>I don’t think the numbers of AP’s actaully makes a difference in any colleges, whether top 30-80 or top 1-30. They want to see a rigorous course load with good grades. No need to kill oneself. Many great HS’s don’t offer AP’s.
MY DS got into Amherst with 7 (one being AP Microeconomics…only one semester long course). He spaced them out…1 sophomore year, 3 Junior year and 3 senior year.</p>
<p>It needs to be reviewed within the context of your high school. If most kids from your high school (and ones like it in your geographical region) are getting into the schools on your list with 6-10 AP’s, then that’s what is needed. Maybe it’s 2-4 AP’s.</p>
<p>Remember that there are still schools in this country that offer very few AP’s (or even no AP’s), and little opportunity for joint enrollment in college classes. So…there are kids going to college, and certainly “top 30 -80” colleges, with no AP.s</p>
<p>S (college class of 2013) took 8 AP courses (took AP exams for 6 of those courses). He also did independent study for another AP exam, since the course isn’t offered in our school system.</p>
<p>He was accepted as a special scholar to our state’s two most selective (mentioned here all the time on CC) schools, Georgetown, UChicago, Notre Dame and a Top 15 LAC where he is now attending as a special scholar with a free ride (including personal expenses!). He was also accepted to two other schools as a special scholar (not in the top 20, for sure).</p>
<p>only matters in certain colleges who will compare # of AP’s to publish somewhere for rankings…</p>
<p>Only one school outright stated two years ago that the more AP’s will get a better admission result from their school: Emory: they came right out and said that you will be compared to your demographic area, not your own high school necessarily.</p>
<p>ALL other schools have stated what the posters have said above; in the context of your own high school…</p>
<p>edit: sorry I didn’t have my coffee yet: OP said #30-80…in our neck of the woods, anywhere from no AP’s to 4-6 APs have been attending at this level…but 4-6 AP’s could land you in the top 10% here so merit $$ is sometimes a factor at this level</p>
<p>The number of APs is always considered in the context of your HS, but in my kids’ cases, they each took between 4-5 total and attended Wash U and U Chicago. Our HS is in the process of eliminating all AP classes and substituting teacher and district designed college-level classes, and admissions for the classes of 2008-2010 (to schools of all levels) have not appeared to be adversely affected.</p>
<p>This is completely dependent on local context.</p>
<p>At what I consider the best academic private school in this area, where the “30-80ish” range means roughly the 20th-50th percentile of the class, the answer will invariably be zero. The school has never offered AP classes and isn’t about to start now.</p>
<p>At my children’s large public magnet, anyone ranked in the top 10-15% would have a good shot at that level of college (60-80 kids, of whom roughly half will go higher in the draft). The norm for that group is either to be in the school’s IB diploma program or to take 5-6 APs. Nine is pretty much the limit of scheduling feasibility within the normal curriculum. Only one kid in my son’s class took that many, two if you count an IB class taught concurrently with the equivalent AP. Many of the students who would be capable of taking that many wind up taking dual-enrollment college classes instead (it helps that one four-year college is literally next door, and several more are easily accessible by public transportation from the school).</p>
<p>First, you don’t need to take 1000 APs to get into the top 10 or 20 or 30. MIT says the average for their students is a measly 5. I know my son got into Harvard with 9 (11 if you count both halves of Physics C and BC as two math scores.) I don’t think anyone in his class took more though there may have been a few who took the same number. </p>
<p>Most kids who get into those 30-80 range schools take either science APs or social science/lit APs but not both - so in general 4 or 5 depending on whether they take some of the elective APs or stick it out with languages. Quite a few bale out of English APs. (Both my kids did.) The science track kids probably take 3 science APs (one of which is “only” Physics B) and Calculus (more often AB than BC). The social science kids will take APUSH, AP Euro and a handful have take AP World. We do offer AP English Lang and Lit. A fair number of kids take AP languages if they stick it out most are on track, but there were only 5 in AP Latin out of a freshman class of probably 60 or so. Don’t know what the numbers are for other classes.</p>
<p>I agree with JHS, local context is most important. Why not ask your GC?</p>
<p>S took only 2 AP’s both in senior year and got into NYU, Bard, GWU, BU, and others.</p>
<p>I also believe it is the most over-valued stat. One poster earlier said to take 4 your Sr. year. My S’s school only allows a max of 2 per year. Many students going to Ivy and top schools at S’s school took 1 or 2 their jr. year and 1 or 2 their senior year. All schools deal with AP’s in different manners and some don’t even have them.</p>
<p>It completely depends on the context of your school. At least coming from my school, you absolutely do not need 6+ APs to get into top colleges. Many schools, mine included, even have rules preventing students from taking more than 3 AP classes per year, and don’t allow APs until junior year, making 6 the most you can possibly take. I have tons and tons of friends who have gone off to Yale, Columbia, UPenn, Brown etc with 4 or 5 APs… but then again, I go to an elite private school known for its academic rigor, which sends ~40% of the class to the Ivy league, so that might be why we can get away that. If your son goes to a more average high school, more APs might help distinguish him and show that he has in fact taken a rigorous curriculum, but I still don’t think more than about 6 is ever really necessary.</p>