<p>If you go with a "normal schedule" (without APs or otherwise advanced courses) your first 3 years, and then load up on APs your senior year, is that frowned upon? That is, if you take, say, 5 AP classes Senior year, how would colleges look at that in comparison to if you had taken those 5 courses throughout your first 3 years (assuming you achieve the same level of success in those classes)?I ask for my friend, who's good in terms of gpa, SAT score, EC etc., but he's only got 2 college level courses through his first 3 years (dumb decision, by his own admission) and is thinking of loading up next year.</p>
<p>I think it depends on whether or not your school allows you to take APs before your senior year. If they didn’t, then colleges will understand why you don’t have any APs in your previous years. However, it seems that you had the opportunity to take APs before your senior year. As a result, I’m assuming that admissions officers they’ll wonder why you didn’t take APs in your junior year.</p>
<p>And in addition to raising a red flag to the adcoms, I don’t know if you would be able to handle the course load of 5 APs, if you’ve never experienced the difficulty/homework load of even 1 AP before.</p>