Hello! Looking for some insight in AP classes. I realize that’s a big question! My D21 is in an IB program so this is new for us with our D23
She has signed up for 5 APs next year
Her counselor basically told her that will be a lot of work and she should only do it if she is up for it
I agree, but am wondering if here are some AP a you would recommend keeping and others letting go of? For example, I have heard maybe doing math or science but not both. Any thoughts or recs much appreciated!
@annegp what are the 5 classes? I found it helpful when we did our schedule to layout both Junior and Senior year and start with the subject areas that are of the most interest.
4 Likes
Welcome to the thread, @mozwo123 ! Also have a 21 and a 23–so far we have seen similar inundation with emails as well as real mail, following the 10th gr PSAT. We have noticed more Northeast LACs this time around, and less west coast. No idea. Most of the actual mail goes right in the bin, sadly.
1 Like
I agree, it depends what the 5 are. If she wants to apply to top-tier, focus on which ones will be needed to stay on the most rigorous track at her school. If you think she is an above average student but not super-efficient and disciplined, I would not recommend doing 5. Some of this is school-dependent too: At some schools, the top 20-25% of kids or more do 5 APs as a junior, at other schools no one would ever do that as it would be nearly impossible or sometimes not even allowed due to extreme workload. Your counselor should know these specific details.
1 Like
And most of my kid’s is West Coast (actually Northwest Coast), but that’s what geographic targeting will do for you.
That said, York College of Pennsylvania is for whatever reason sending her a lot of email.
She gets about 20–30 emails/week (best thing we ever did: setting up a throwaway gmail account for anything that might get her sent college marketing emails, like signing up for AP tests and such), but she’s only getting a couple pieces of paper mail a week so far (mostly from the University of Portland, it feels like).
We’re throwing all the paper mail she gets in a box so that at the end we can see how many linear feet she’s ended up receiving.
1 Like
Thank you! She is a strong student but not super efficient. She excels in math, but because of a slow processing speed she needs extra time to really do well. She does not truly love math or science but is in advanced classes for those subjects this year and believes the track would then be AP. I also think doing those subjects fully remote is a pretty bad experience. I can see her possibly going into finance or mechanical engineering. As a parent I want her to do well and be challenged but not overdo it and have a stress filled junior year.
She is very competitive with her sister unfortunately, I think that will push her to look at competitive LACs.
I will connect with her counselor.
2 Likes
@annegp I have had similar concerns - my D23 is signed up for 6 APs next year (out of 7 classes) after having done 3 this year. We talked about it a lot before deciding on it, and I’m still not sure whether it’s going to be too much. But she really wanted those particular classes, and for some subjects, she didn’t have much option. We never wanted her to stack up a huge number of APs, but given the pathways in each subject and the choices available at her particular school, she is headed towards more than I thought she’d end up with.
As others have said, some APs have reputations for heavier workload than others (though it could still vary by school). For my D23, I’m not too worried about AP Calc AB (even though my daughter is not a math kid) or AP Lang (English is a strength), and I’m hoping AP Physics I won’t be worse than AP Chem was this year (all remote), but I definitely have concerns about AP Research and know that APUSH is a lot of work. On another note, my S21 has slow processing speed, so I understand the impact that can have - it really affected him with APUSH because of the sheer amount of reading and writing for that course. Good luck figuring it out - we are looking for that same balance you described: challenged without overdoing it.
@mozwo123 College Board tests seem to be one of the most common routes to getting inundated with mail/email from colleges. We didn’t want to deal with it and had our kids select when they took PSAT, AP, or SATs that they didn’t want to share their info (there’s a question along those lines that they answer as part of the demographic info they fill in before testing). I think that after the fact you can have them go into their collegeboard account and select an option that allows the student to share less/take their name off lists for the future, but the schools that already have the info are likely going to keep using it ? As @dfbdfb did, we also set up a separate gmail specifically for D23’s college-related stuff so it’s all in one place. We didn’t do this with S21 and wish we had. My D23 uses this gmail for college-board-everything as well as virtual info sessions with colleges, etc. She and I agreed that we’d both have access to this email account just to be sure important things don’t fall through the cracks, but since it’s still so early in the process, I hardly ever look at it.
I have a D21. She took 4 AP classes both junior and senior year. She works hard and smart. Honestly couldn’t have handled 5.
Junior year
APUSH
AP French
AP lit
AP AB
Dropped AP physics for honors
Senior year
AP Lang
AP Econ
AP Stats
AP Psych
@nichols51 thanks for the tips. Tad bit late for the college board opt outs but will create a separate email account for S21 for college stuff!
@annegp Which AP science? I have twins, one is taking 5 APs and the other is taking 4 APs and math at CC (don’t know which math yet but will finish Calc C this year). They are both taking AP English, AP World and AP Economics.
Twin 1 is taking Calc A/B is taking AP Physics 1 and twin 2 is taking AP Physics C which is supposed to be the hardest course at their HS. I would have preferred a less intense schedule for both, but they are intense. I would not have allowed twin 1 to take Physics C. Also, AP Econ is a full year class in our county (micro one year/macro the next) unlike most places where it’s a semester course.
I definitely think it depends on the student. I have an S21 who loves math and science and took 5 AP classes his junior year: Chem, Physics 1 & 2, Calc BC and English Lang. He had a lot of work but he thrives with intense science and math classes. Meanwhile, my D23 is registering for her junior year classes right now and she wants NO part of what her brother did! She wants to take AP English Lang and just stick with honors for math and science.
1 Like
Hello and welcome! @2Devils gave some good advice upthread. It really does depend on the kid and what they can handle. Has your child been able to manage a full slate of honors or pre-IB/AB classes with success? If so, that’s a good indicator that she can handle the rigor. All of my kiddos have done some combination of IB /AP classes. D19 took four AP/IB classes junior year, S23 will take six. If it’s a subject they’re not passionate about (e.g. foreign language), then I was fine with them dropping down a level to honors or regular.
Just remember that being able to “handle” the workload is only half the picture. What is the opportunity cost of taking that extra AP class? 5 AP classes means 5 AP exams, need to balance that with SAT/ACT prep, etc. Will it cut into their time in pursuing other extra curricular activities? LOTS of great advice coming out of this topic!
3 Likes
With my twins, one is taking 4 AP’s junior year and the other is taking 2 AP’s and a dual credit (weighted the same as AP for GPA).
Freshman year they both took 2 AP’s and this year they are both in 1 AP.
I let the boys decide themselves how much they could handle. Our school allows you to level down at the 3 week mark of the first grading period. My twin who is taking 4 AP’s needs and likes the challenge…he’s in 1 AP and all honors right now and doesn’t have a grade below 96 in any class…he wants more of challenge and is primarily targeting private schools where AP credit will serve him better than Dual Credit. My other twin will most likely
go to one of our instate publics so Dual Credit is a no brainer…they will transfer and save money. This is the route we took with my S21 (more dual credit then AP)
and he’s saving a lot of time and money at our public in state schools.
just set up a specific college email for your kids and use it to register for everything.
My D23’s has hundreds from the PSAT test i assume. so glad they are not in her regular email inbox as the few emails she gets that are important would be lost.
1 Like
for D23’s classes. We’ve been thinking and thinking about this. SO THANKFUL we made a decision: she’s staying at new school. we switched schools large 80% low SES school > small private this year.
small private does not have as many options as large public. Only a few AP classes; several Dual Enrollment classes though. If she can get these classes into her schedule, she will take
AP calc
AP CS
DE Physics
DE psychology
honors English
Religion type
two others (hopefully world history) that fit into schedule
In regards to the questions above about 5 APs - two of my older kids did that junior year. They were on a block schedule, and I felt the teaching at this high school wasn’t super strong. We knew which classes to take the AP test with and not. both ended up AP distinction - but didnt take the physics test (sweet guy, bad teacher). It was doable, but a lot of work. both took calc BC. I wouldnt recommend that again though – if kid is going into a math-related major. take it slower. (ab/bc).
sun is shining, its feeling like spring here. i am feeling so much more hopeful than several months ago about next year.
4 Likes
At my kids’ school (D23 and S20), it’s unusual for students to take more than 4 APs per year, and more than 5 is pretty much unheard of. In addition to having strict grade requirements to take APs, the school requires the exam, and is very protective of its high pass rate.
D23 has been struggling this year to stay focused and motivated with hybrid schooling, and wants to drop down a bit in rigor next year, which is fine with me. Her tentative junior year schedule is:
- AP Language & Comp
- Honors Spanish Literature (she’s taking AP this year, and honors lit. is the next step)
- Honors US History (she qualifies for APUSH)
- AP Calc AB (she qualifies for BC)
- Science, still not sure, maybe AP Physics 2
- Theater or Creative Writing (or both, if she’s willing to give up having a free period)
She/I need to do some research on her science options. By the end of this year she will have completed the required physics-chem-bio sequence, and foregoing science junior year is not an option at her school. She says she’s unsure which subject she likes best since so much of her science education as been online: chem (this past summer), bio (this year), and AP physics 1 (last third of freshman year online). In all honesty, she wants to do the one that will require the least work! Hence, her tentative choice of more algebra based physics with AP Physics 2. She also qualifies for AP Bio, AP Chem, and AP Physics C. Her school has struggled to find a decent teacher for AP Environmental, so I’ve counseled her to stay away from that one. The handful of non-AP options are not appropriate for her for one reason or another. Her older brother was on a different academic track, graduating high school with “only” 3 APs TOTAL, so I don’t have his experience as a guide.
Anyone have any thoughts on the workload of AP Bio, Chem, Physics 2 and Physics C?
FWIW, D23 is all over the place with major and career aspirations. She went through a STEM-centric phase in grades 7-9, but has cooled on math & science lately.
At our school AP Chem is thought to be harder than AP Bio while AP Bio is thought to have at least an equal workload (maybe more) due to the amount of memorization required. I don’t know about the Physics. My D23 has AP Chem now and is going with AP Physics 1 next year.
Good points! Lots to consider. Waiting for her counselor to get back to me and have planted the seed with her. The downside of remote school is that I suspect it is going to be harder to connect with her counselor. I feel for all of the school administrators who are working this way.
I was just talking to a friend of mine who is faculty at NCSU about this. There are two approaches, throw everything you can at the wall and take the hardest classes or try to cultivate a well-balanced profile. Not to say one could not do both but elite schools look for passion and well-balanced applicants over all else. Grades matter but not as much as we think here. MIT released a lot of data on this a while back.
The point is, if your kid can handle all the coursework then by all means let them do as many APs as they can but for most kids 5-6 APs total are probably ok as long as they come across as balanced applicants. And the other dirty secret is how much you are willing to pay? For LACs and other tier 2 private schools, they get plenty of kids with SAT 1450, 6-8 APs, standard strong types. The ones that get in largely are the ones that can pay close to full fare. This was posted on another thread but is worth sharing here.
1 Like