I have only took 2 aps, both junior year, AP Calc BC & AP English Language, and got a 5 on both and A’s in all my junior classes. I took 2 honors as well. I was wondering if this would look like I didn’t challenge myself enough since I did so well in my classes but had a light courseload (top students in my school take 3 aps, a couple students take 4 aps)? I probably could have handled 3 aps my junior year but chose to take Accounting, a class I was interested in, where I studied additional material with my teacher afterschool to prepare for a DECA competition, where I placed nationally. I also took 2 commuinty college courses that interested me.
I know this was a light courseload but if I take 4 next year, and I really did take classes that interested me, would it be okay?
I think that you are okay. Try to explain why you took the courses that you did.
Some universities place emphasis on rigor of coursework (such as Georgia Tech) so it could be an issue.
I think that you are fine.
Admissions at Harvard, Stanford, and a few roughly comparable schools is very hard to predict. These schools are a reach for everyone.
Once you step down to schools ranked somewhere around 20th or lower, you are fine with just a small handful of APs, or even none. There are hundreds of very good universities in the US, and with very good grades and good test scores you will be able to get into most of them.
I know someone who went to a very small high school that doesn’t even offer AP classes at all. Some top students went to Dartmouth College, Wellesley College, Amherst College, and a very good university in Canada, all without any of them taking any AP classes. A couple of them just graduated cum laude from schools of this caliber.
Sometime in university, regardless of where you go or how well prepared you are, you are likely to end up with a bad professor in a very difficult class, or in a class where you really have no interest at all. If you start university with a small number of AP credits, you will be able to drop these “bad” classes without falling behind. As such I think the fact that you will arrive at university with at least 2 AP credits is a useful thing. I wouldn’t stress about needing to get more because you can do well with the course load that you are already taking and have taken.
By the way, an A with a 5 AP score in calculus BC is very good. Calculus is something that you will use a lot if you go into pretty much anything STEM related. The A and the 5 in AP English suggests that you write well, which will help you in almost everything else. Good job!
@Publisher Oops, sorry, I was writing it pretty fast (I guess that is pretty ironic)- that’s good to know- do you know which colleges place a high emphasis on courseload and which place a lower emphasis? For example, do UCs care much or is it more GPA
@DadTwoGirls Thank you 
- I took those 2 aps because I thought they would be useful in college and later as well .
UCs are crazy about GPAs & class rank.
You have to google the CDS (Common Data Set) for a particular college or university to learn about the admission priorities.
P.S. Glad that you have a sense of humor !
@Publisher okay- thank you! GPA should be fine and no ranking in my school.
And yes - the sad thing is that I didn’t even catch the grammar mistake when looking back at the sentence the first time.
With two 5s, you’re still smarter than I is.
“do you know which colleges place a high emphasis on courseload”
Most, if not all selective colleges place a high emphasis on courseload, that being said, you’re totally fine. Adcoms look for progression, so as long as the honors classes are inline with what the other top students are taking and your GC selects the most rigorous for your app, you’re ok. What are the four APs in senior year, that actually is very important?
While admissions is holistic, course rigor is something all colleges look at closely. If your schedule is “ok” will depend entirely on what colleges you are looking at. It is just fine for many colleges. However, the most competitive colleges will want to see that the guidance counselor checks off the box saying the applicant has taken the most rigorous schedule available at the HS so that is something to ask him/her about in the fall.
@theloniusmonk I asked my counselor and she said she would definitely call my courseload rigorous if asked to check that box but she didn’t elaborate (most rigorous, very rigorous, etc). Next year, I’ll be taking AP Statistics, AP Physics C Mechanics, AP Spanish, and either AP Government (one semester, other semester probably will take another community college course) OR AP Literature (I still can’t decide between AP Lit and AP Gov 
).
@happy1 I’m looking for UCB or UCLA or Rice (UPenn as a high reach).
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Please note that this is an internet forum. The OP is not writing a doctoral thesis. Pedantic posts about grammar have been deleted.
There’s is no blanket statement that shcools listed 20 or below on a ranking list won’t care about rigor. Not sure what list. Lacs or national unis. In either case especially national unis that could be a recipe for disappointment. UVA unc emory wake forest Boston college Michigan usc cal Berkeley and UCLA. That’s not even going to great and highly selective schools a bit further down the random rankings schools like ut uwash northeastern bu nyu and uf.
I do believe it won’t be an insurmountable issue especially with your rationale explained. But blanket statements like that underestimate how incredibly competitive any top uni or oos state flagships at the top of the heap can be.
Keep up the good work and be yourself. But if these schools are a target you have to stretch to compete. Even 4.0 uw Val’s with great scores aren’t shoe ins with 13 aps . I know of this personally.
@privatebanker I understand, and I know that almost all colleges care about rigor. I do have a 4.0uW, but I do know that these colleges are highly selective- I was just trying to get a feel of how “big” of an issue this might be and if there’s anyway I can address it in my application to lessen that effect
It’s a big issue at the top schools since there are 37000 high schools with one two kids each with 4uw that will be your competition. Plus international plus hooked. Plus super stars with 3.9 and 1580 types.
So when they tie break for the last spots it can matter.
But you certainly have the smarts and study habits to handle all the classes.
Will it definately matter. Who knows. You can write persuasive and excellent essays and get killer recs too.
I am talking in generalities and I am not talking about you specifically. All schools are possibilities for you.
But with grade inflation and different school trends. Many colleges look to rigor and success in universal ap courses to discern subtle differences in candidates.
Plus APs are designed to get you ready for these top schools and the classes as part of their mission.
It really matters in the context of your school. If most of the other kids top tier kids at your school are taking more AP classes and tests and also doing well on them, then you look like you are taking a less rigorous curriculum which will not help you. That being said, the conventional wisdom is that first and foremost you need to do well on what you DO take. You are likely fine unless going up in direct competition against a superkid from your own high school for an admissions slot at a given college, and even in this case there is no reason why the college might not simply admit both of you anyway.
“It’s a big issue at the top schools since there are 37000 high schools with one two kids each with 4uw that will be your competition. Plus international plus hooked. Plus super stars with 3.9 and 1580 types.”
6 APs is not a big issue even at the highly selective schools. I tend not to believe adcoms (need-blind, ED is great etc.), but in this case, when they say there’s diminishing returns in taking the 9th or 10th AP class, I believe them. You have to take the right ones though and the OP is, outside of maybe APUSH not being there.
In California (assuming home state), many HSs are structured where you typically don’t take AP classes till junior year, the OP can note on that on the application if she wants. The UCs know this btw and so the OP won’t be penalized. And the OP gave up an AP to win a national award, which will be more impressive on the application.
You’ll be fine! Trust me on this one – I went to a super competitive high school that offers the majority of AP classes. I only took three my entire high school career – and they were all taken during my senior year.
If it helps, ~70 kids/year from my school apply to UMich; I was deferred and chose to withdraw from the admissions process upon receiving my deferral. So you can definitely still get into top schools with your course load assuming you have the GPA and test scores.
Quality is better than quantify. Good for you! Your course load isn’t light - you’ve done great! As long as you are balanced out with a well rounded resume of leadership, activities, volunteerism and SAT/ACT scores you’ll be very happy with your choices. Well done! Don’t e so hard on yourself.
Thank you - I think the rest of application is okay, I always do ECs that I enjoy and my SAT score is fine. Thank you, everyone, for your input and feedback!
Colleges look for the amount of accomplishments you do. These two scores are some that they would love to know about. There are many other schools who consider GPA, AP scores, and college essays, when looking at competitive applicants.