My child’s school only offers a handful of AP courses, Art History (Sr year), Foreign Lang (Jr year), Stats (Jr), Calc (Sr), Euro History/US Govt/Econ (Sr). Because of scheduling and sequencing only 4 APs are possible to take 2 in jr year and 2 in sr year. Is that a concern for college admissions?
No.
The guidance counselor will include this information in his/her letter. Your child won’t be penalized because of what is available at that school.
Ditto the above.
Agreed, I’d talk to the Guidance Counselor before the summer and ask if he/she could include that information in the letter of recommendation.
Agree with talking to the guidance counselor to insure that information is conveyed to the college. To elaborate just bit as to why it shouldn’t be an issue. Most selective schools are looking for students who challenge themselves in the classroom as well as outside the classroom. If you have taken the most rigorous program your school allows, you can’t do better than that.
If you are interested in having your child earn more college credits during high school, I can suggest a few options. 1.
- Anyone can self study for an AP test. You just have to find a school that offers that test and will allow your student to join in for test. Homeschoolers do this all the time.
- Study for a CLEP test. You can read about this option on the College Board website. College Board administers CLEP and AP exams.
- Take a class at a local community college. It isn't uncommon for high school students to do this.
Thanks everyone. I supect since this is a common issue for all the students the GC will write about it anyway for everyone but I will check. Do not want to add in self-study or community college because the pressure is already too intense.
GC’s typically send a school profile sheet along with the student’s transcript. The school profile will list the AP classes offered so the colleges know that some students do not have the opportunity to take more than a few AP’s.
This won’t count against your child.
What a breath of fresh air!!
Also, on the Common App (in the writing section), there will be a section/supplement that asks if there is anything else the applicant wants the admissions committee to know (more or less in those words). This is an area where she can identify/explain conflicts in her schedule/sequencing that prevented her from taking her school’s “most rigorous” course load if she thinks there is a difference in what she will have taken vs some of her classmates. It is helpful to have that section of the Common App mirror her GC’s comments regarding course rigor.
Personally, I would avoid this. Let the GC speak about scheduling conflicts; it will be very difficult for the student to write about it without coming across as whiny. I’d use the additional space (only if needed) to build upon some aspect off an EC or 2 that was not able to be covered adequately in the space provided.
The scheduling confict will affect everyone in the school as all 3 history AP courses are available only in Sr year. I don’t think there will be much difference in the rigor of the course loads any student will take over another as the curriculum is well defined for everyone.
It would not hurt the chance for admission as it is due to the limit of the school. It will be reflected on the school profile report. However, to have a little bit more credits (from AP, CLEP, or CC) may save you money down the road. I do not encourage students to overload with AP though as there is usually a limit on useful AP credits.
“GC’s typically send a school profile sheet along with the student’s transcript.”
-Exactly. They have to, especailly when HS does not rank. D. was in somewhat similar situation. Her tiny private most regorous HS in our area, which includes more than just our city, allowed APs only in juniour and senior year and only 3 / year. And no ranking. Well, D. did not apply to selective Elite colleges, however, she applied to very selective programs and was accepted to 3 of them and ended up attending one that had only 10 spots for incoming freshmen. The low number of APs did not hurt her. The non-ranking situation did not hurt her either.
The straight As are straight As and they speak for themselves, cannot take them away. Later on D. discovered that her regular HS classes were in fact taught at the higher level than many others’ APs which resulted in her being hired by Chemistry prof. to be a Supplemental Instructor (she did not have AP Chem. in HS and prof. did not care) and she had lectured and tutored a good number of kids who had APs in HS.
Numbers of APs tell only small part of the story. Colleges are looking at the whole package and in D’s case, name of her private HS and graduating #1 in her class (colleges can figure it out without actual ranking, again, based on school profile and student’s transcript) were heavy factors (along with lots of others) that allowed her to obtain a spot where only 10 were available. She also was offerred a full tuition Merit award.
I understand that it will save money, but I don’t want to overwhelm the kid.
OP- make sure you get a copy of the school report in plenty of time to correct any factual errors. Many schools are sending out reports from 10 years ago without any updates. If your community has had significant demographic changes (much higher percentage of students on free or reduced lunch; more ESL families, etc.) or if the curriculum has changed- it will take time for you to flag an error and then get it through the system. The superintendent of schools likely employs someone in a research/data role and that’s the person who should be making sure the data is accurate. But it doesn’t always work that way. I know of districts that haven’t offered AP Physics in several years where the school report still lists it as a class, districts that report that 98% of kids go on to four year colleges when that hasn’t been the case since the mid-90’s, etc.
Make sure it’s accurate.
Agree with everyone else that it won’t hurt your kid not to have taken a class which is not offered.
I checked the school profile - it is accurate. They only give it for grade 11 though.
That’s standard; after all, that is the class that is applying to college this cycle.