That’s why I NEED this forum. Such a wealth of information. I only have one child. No nieces, nephews (D21 is the only grandchild) or younger cousins. So I’m learning through each of your experiences. So THANK YOU! And please note, I take no offense to anything. I welcome all opinions. That’s how I learn. 
D21 had her first AP exam today (AP Chem). She had honors chemistry as an 8th grader through our local charter (we homeschool - but for us, that means our kids take courses online and in a variety of in-person settings…I don’t teach them), so she felt ready to tackle AP Chem.
AP Chem (through ChemAdvantage) was, by far, the most difficult course she has ever had - she had to work her buns off and struggle - and it was so good for her. She carried 7.5 credits and a full ec schedule (she has been deeply involved in a few specific things for many years) and quickly learned that if she did not manage her time then she would become toast. Apart from a short distraction issue in late January/early Feb, when a new and cute boy entered her life (and her grades temporarily fell), she managed very well. Got an A- for the course and feels good about the exam. She has AP Comp Sci next week, her Honors World History Exam tomorrow, an English paper to finish, and then she is done for the year (her other courses already ended).
It has been a very busy year but I think she has grown tremendously as a student and as a person. I chalk a lot of it up to AP Chem. That class seems to put hair on your chest (so to speak).
@EGHopeful Our school is in the top five in the state. They offer all kinds of APs (maybe 35?) but almost all are taken junior and senior year and have prerequisites. You can’t take any AP science class without having taken the honors equivalent first so honors kids typically take Bio H, then Chem H, then Physics H, and then they choose one AP science senior year. If a student wants to give up a social studies or foreign language class then they can get two AP science classes in, one in junior year and one in senior year. Not many kids do that. As for BC Calc, the sequence is Algebra 2/Trig Honors, Pre Calc H, and then they choose AB or BC Calc. Kids cannot do AB and then BC. AB covers the AB material in one year. BC covers all of AB and BC in one year. Our S19 took BC this year so will take Multivariable Calc as a senior. D21 is on a little slower track but will still end up at BC her senior year.
As for English and History, most honors-type kids take APUSH and AP Lang junior year and then AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Econ senior year. And some kids take their foreign language AP senior year.
Of course, there’s all kinds of in-between. D21 won’t take any honors science. She will take regular level Bio, Chem, Physics, and then maybe AP Environmental Science. She’ll take the English and History sequences above. Some kids only do honors/AP in one or two subjects or none at all.
My kids attend a top 10 public high school in our state and no Freshmen can take APs and it’s exceedingly rare to take more than 1 as a sophomore. But then many kids take 3 or 4 both Junior and Senior years. Fascinating differences!!
Hey @AlmostThere2018 ! didn’t know you had a 2021! Maybe we can send them both to Davidson 
@homerdog – yep, he’s my younger! He’s on the young side for a 2021 grad – turns 15 late July. He’s interested in tech companies and start-ups – business or engineering. Will be interesting to see what he thinks of Davidson based on seeing it through his sister’s eyes. Right now he says he wants a big school – which is what DH and I both attended. More outgoing and relaxed than his sister – typical younger sib!
@AlmostThere2018 same here! D21 definitely more outgoing than S19. Not sure she’s more relaxed though. Uptight in her own way. Ballerina who trains 25-30 hours per week so she’s a perfectionist for sure. I think she will end up being a history or English major. Or possibly Journalism. Way too early for us to know with her.
Yes, it’s interesting how much variation there is in the APs that students can take various years. Our schools are reasonably good but not highly ranked, so the AP classes seem easier than they would be at your highly ranked schools. Easier as far as workload at least; I don’t know as far as tests and grades. The scores students get seem closer to the national score distribution and more correlated with grades.
For most courses there are only 2 levels offered: regular and either honors or AP depending on the subject. So, no honors bio for example to be taken before AP Bio. And, the regular level courses are taught at a fairly low level, many with little or no homework. So, for a student who wants to be challenged, there isn’t much choice other than the honors/AP route.
S17 was able to take all the main AP STEM courses plus various humanities APs without having to take prerequisites. He is doing well so far at a rigorous college, so having a possibly easier workload in HS didn’t seem to handicap him.
S21 will likely take significantly fewer APs than S17, though. His art academy’s AP track calls for about 5 APs total. (Though AP Physics 1 was extra and he will probably get to calculus.)
Our school is very similar to @homerdog’s. 26 AP’s offered, but no AP’s freshman year, and no AP science without honors sciences first. A difference is that our students have to take 11th grade English (regular or honors), so if you want AP Lang, you have to take it on top of your 11th grade English class (and give up something else).
I’m not a fan in general of classes taught to a test, or kids burning out in HS, so I was glad that their school discourages AP’s (other than Euro and APUSH) until senior year. Honors is definitely tough! But then I realized how much colleges stress that you must take the “most rigorous” classes available to you, so now I worry about our kids looking like they haven’t challenged themselves enough (especially since their grades are very good). Will colleges, especially OOS, know how our specific HS works?
Our large public high offers 25 or so AP classes but they can basically can only take them in 11th and 12 grades and as others have mentioned they have prerequisites. For example before you can take AP BIO or CHem you have to complete both honors Bio and honors Chem. So unless they take a summer course at a CC you can’t take either of them until 11th grade. Part of the situation at our school is that the 9th and 10th graders are in one building and the 11th and 12th graders are in a totally separate building about 5 miles apart.
My DD18 took 3 AP classes her junior year and has 5 this year. The one good thing about Clemson is so long as you score 4s and 5s they give you college credits. So she will be starting as a Sophomore because she will have earned about 35 college credits with her AP tests. Although she will probably still want 4 years of undergraduate and will double major she could be done in 3 and save a year of tuition room and board. Other schools are not so generous in granting college credits for AP classes, That is something to consider when doing the college search.
My kids’ (small, Catholic) school does not offer APs until junior year. Students have to be in honors classes before going into AP. And if you take honors/AP math, you have to take honors/AP science and vice versa. S19 has opted to do APUSH this year and AP English next year. He wants to major in English/writing and decided that shooting for APs in those two areas while remaining college prep for math/science was right for him. Mr. InfiniteWaves and I have supported those decisions.
S21 seems to be following the same trajectory. He is in honors history now. And qualified for honors English next year. It will be interesting to see if he wants to pursue the AP route for those subjects come junior year. Like his brother, he is okay remaining in college prep math/science.
They are taking after me. This is exactly what I did in high school too! Although, they are both doing MUCH better with “regular” math/science than I did. Clearly, Mr. InfiniteWaves genetic influence there. 
@3SailAway I am pretty sure, from what I’ve read, that college admissions know how each high school works. The colleges will be sent a form along with your kid’s transcript explaining the course/AP/grading policy, etc.
We are homeschoolers, and my kids have always been a bit advanced. So they took honors high school science classes in middle school through our local public charter (my youngest is finishing up physics right now) which, in our personal homeschooling philosophy, makes them ready for the AP sciences. There is no way, for example, D21 would have survived even the first month of AP Chem this year if she hadn’t already had and done well in Honors Chem. So I understand and agree with the general philosophy of not being able to take AP exams without first having had a pre-AP type course. For many kids, that means having to wait until 11th grade for many of the APs.
D took the May 5th SAT, not for any purpose other than our own goals. She took it Aug 2017 and did pretty well. Curious to see if 9thg grade English and Academic Comp class (read a lot) will raise her CR score. NMF is the plan to finance college. NMF schools that give close to full ride are the only schools we will look at. She has no interest in competing for Competitive scholarships. So NMF is the focus. Plan B is live at home and attend Texas Tech.
Knowing what our financial reality is early on has helped so much (EFC more than state school, Dad not contributing to college cost, CSS will not be kind).
High schools provide colleges with a “school profile” that at least explains what AP and other advanced courses are offered. You may be able to find the profile on your school’s website.
But, there are variations in how the information is presented by the schools.
For example, S17’s says “AP is an open enrollment program” and # of students taking exams, # of exams taken, and % of scores at 3 or above. (67%, ick!) It doesn’t give even a list of AP courses offered, which bugged me because they never offered the AP Physics C courses and didn’t make that clear.
S21’s doesn’t say anything about access to AP courses, but has the full table of AP test score distribution for individual tests the previous year. (Yipe, nearly 1/2 the AP Physics 1 scores were 2s, and only one 5. And, even more ick: 52% overall AP test pass rate.)
Other things a profile generally includes are the racial makeup of the school, % free and reduced lunch, sometimes % first generation to college, how GPAs and ranking (if any) work, any special codes on transcripts, average SAT/ACT scores, maybe average SAT Subject Test scores, graduation requirements, and % of students attending college.
They also would talk about any special programs or academies available at the school. They may make some comments about which courses they consider to be most rigorous. For example, S17’s says “We consider AP, IB and ___ Dual Enrollment courses to be equally rigorous.”
For the most part, our schools not caring as much about getting all kids to “pass” or score 5s on AP tests didn’t impact S17 poorly. However, after he scored 4s on APUSH and AP English Lang in 11th, he looks a bit into the grading rubrics (before would have been better…) and found that his teachers were teaching the “safe 3 or 4” essay style instead of the harder to master 5 essay style.
@JanieWalker As a homeschooler, I think you will need to come up with your own “school profile.”
AP Chem is reportedly a tough course at many schools. That is the only science our schools now offer an “honors” version of. S17 didn’t take a chem class before he took AP Chem in 10th, but his 8th grade science class was pretty good in that area and chemistry has always been something that interested him outside school. S21 will take the art academy version of honors chemistry at his school next year and probably never take AP Chem.
@BingeWatcher NMF is a great program. I’m so thankful that it enabled me to attend college away from home. Will she take the PSAT in 10th also as preparation? The full ride or full tuition NMF scholarships seem to be changing every year.
@Ynotgo, yes she will take the PSAT. I am glued to the NMF thread and the changes with the merit at the different schools. She is eager to spread her wings and get out of West Texas.
@BingeWatcher, BTW my DH grew up in far West Texas–about a mile from New Mexico. My nephew is just graduating this year from the HS that DH attended.
@Ynotgo Yes, I’ll have to come up with our own profile. I’ve already begun working on it - basically an explanation of why we homeschool and a description of our philosophy and how we’ve acted on that philosophy. I will add to it, edit, and tweak it over the next few years.
@3SailAway Ugh - I always have typos - at least this one was funny!
@BingeWatcher One of my favorite bands has a song called West Texas Teardrops. When S23 was little it was his favorite song by them - he would sit int he back seat and shout West Texas! over and over. Of course now he hates it because he can’y possibly like anything we like LOL! Not sure if I can post a link here but if it doesn’t work you can look on youtube for that song by the Old 97’s. 
@momtogkc, got the link, love it! Thanks so much. By the way. we are planning a drive to Florida next summer to see the Florida schools that have the OOS NMF…Even though they very well may not be in play but he time class of 2021 comes around. She really wants to see Harry Potter World.