I am a junior, and I am currently in a difficult dillema where my schedule did not turn out the way I wanted and I’m taking significantly lighter classes than I would’ve liked. My schedule is as follows:
AP Chem
Honors American Studies - English
Honors American Studies - History (formerly APUSH)
Honors Biology
Honors Pre-Calc
Honors French 4
At my school, people take 1-3 APs their junior year, which is the first year they can take them. I was hoping to take APUSH and AP Lang, but there was no space left ;( My school offers AP Chem, APUSH, AP Lang, and AP Stats for junior year.
I am thinking of self-studying for AP Stats and/or AP Psych and/or APUSH because (1) I’m interested in the classes, and (2) I want to show that I’m not trying to slack off (quite the contrary). As a prospective pre-med, I feel the first two would be better.
However, after researching, one online AP class can run anywhere from $700-$1200/class, excluding the AP exam. This is not financially feasible for my family.
Do colleges care about enrolling in an online AP course (ex. through JHU, NU, BYU, etc)? Or is it ok to self-study using books and websites? How can I make up for this weak schedule?
Background info (5.0GPA, low 1500s on SAT practice tests (testing in Dec), 99th for PSAT in 10th grade, perfect scores on state standardized testing for multiple years. I don’t say this to brag - I say this to show that I’m academically capable of rigorous courses. My schedule is just screwing me over, especially because I want to go pre-med)
Colleges don’t care about self studying, particularly easy AP exams like psych and stats. Colleges don’t expect students to take courses outside their HS in addition to a full HS courseload. Only on College Confidential is your schedule considered weak. Your GC can mention in the rec about being shut out of classes, unless you were shut out because the selected students had higher GPAs.
If you want the potential college credit, you would be better off self studying to fill in the gaps for APUSH and AP Lang than to learn 2 classes entirely on your own.
IMO you should do as well as possible in your HS classes and work to make meaningful contributions to your ECs. When the time comes ask your guidance counselor to note the scheduling issues in his/her letter of recommendation to colleges.
You should not purchase an online AP class to add legitimacy. You do not need to do that. Your schedule is fine. Just have your GC note the scheduling problems.
This far into the school year there isn’t much you can do. I agree you should ask your guidance counselor to explain the scheduling conflict in the LOR.
In retrospect, it would appear you could have done a better job advocating for yourself. Perhaps gotten your parents involved. You might have asked which class was interfering so you could have made an informed decision to postpone that class to senior year so you could take APUSH and AP Lang. I would not have settled for “they’re full” as a reason without knowing how others got in ahead of you, despite you having a perfect GPA. Finally, you might have requested the school district pay for you to attend online AP classes for which you were qualified. They likely wouldn’t agree to this, but merely bringing it up, asking if escalating it to the school board might make a difference, would have gotten their attention, and signaled to them you weren’t going to be the pushover they could dismiss for their own convenience.
Hindsight is 20/20, but now you’re prepared when it comes time to pick classes for senior year.
In terms of community college classes yes colleges may consider them in terms of admission but as to how much it is a college by college decision. I would consider several things before deciding:
cost and affordability (including books)
does your school have a connection with the college
does your school give credit and use towards your gpa
your grades stay with you even when applying to grad school
transportation and class time
What are you giving up to take extra classes?
Can that time better be used for family time, ecs etc
will the classes make a true difference?
No guarantee colleges will give you credit
your schedule if fine for colleges
Most people take 1-3, you said, and you are within the same range
I can’t tell you what is best for you but those are things to consider
One other factor - how did the people who got in get in before you did? I would probably ask guidance what if anything you can do for next year so you don’t get shut out again.
@Groundwork2022 It’s a long story. I signed up for Honors American Studies, which is a humanities cohort of English and history because I was taking AP Chem, and taking APUSH+AP Lang+AP Chem is not advised at my school. Right around the registration deadline, I realized that I actually wanted to take APUSH and AP Lang instead of AP Chem because I could take chem senior year.
By the time I asked for the change, registration had closed. I have been talking with the department heads and my counselor since April about this. My parents have gotten involved, but at a certain point, there’s not much I can do.
It is definitely my fault that I didn’t register for APUSH and AP Lang first. I have exhausted all my options available to me, so the only thing I can do is find ways to remain academically competitive.
So to be clear, the reason you are not taking the APs that you want isn’t because of high school scheduling issues, but rather that you made the request too late and they refused to bend the rules to accommodate you. So much for having your GC explain it in your app. I don’t know why a school would have such strict rules about scheduling, but if that’s the rules they use for everyone then you should have been aware made the request on time.
It seems like you are just going to have to go ahead with what you have and next year make sure you register for the courses that want by the deadline.
Self-studying APs does not help you with admissions. They don’t look at your AP test scores for admissions…seniors who take APs don’t get the scores back until after they are admitted.
So if you do it, you would be doing it for College credit. See if your colleges of choice would give you credit and if that credit would be useful.
Also realize that doing well in your HS courses is vastly more important than self studying…also would you have time to do ECs if you are self studying?
So ask yourself why you are doing this:
Love to learn - great! Take the classes
Want college credit? Fine…but make sure it is not at the expense of your regular HS courses or ECs
AP Scholars award with distinction…this is cool and all…but is not useful for college admissions
College Admissions…doesn’t help. Many people take AP tests senior year after they are already admitted. Colleges don’t generally take AP scores into account. They take your GPA/SAT into account
@bopper Does it help if I enroll in an online course? I am considering BYU Independent Study because I can take AP Psych self-paced. There is also edX but I don’t know how much credibility that has
Talk to your guidance counselor about all of this. You are panicking about APs…your GC can include the fact that you were not able to take APs because of your schedule in their recommendation. But find out if your school would even give you credit…and if so, do you really want to add another online class on top of your other presumably online classes (because of covid)? Focus your efforts on to your HS classes.
Also how good are you at self-paced? I am one of those people who will attend classes and do my homework and keep up with schedules…but I am terrible without a structure.
AP Psych is widely considered to be one of the easiest A courses so I don’t think taking the course online or not would move the needle on admissions decisions. And FWIW my D took AP Psych in HS out of interest (she went on to major in Psych in college) and her college did not give her credit for Into. to Psych because the AP class had no lab component.
Again, I’d focus on doing as well as you can in the HS classes you have and spending time on ECs you care about.
If there was a scheduling conflict that precluded you from taking some more rigorous classes ask you guidance counselor for address it in his/her recommendation letter.
@bopper@happy1 My GC will likely not say anything…she stands by the fact that honors=AP (I learned the hard way that this isn’t true) and likely wouldn’t acknowledge that my schedule is weak.
I understand that self-studying APs doesn’t do much, but at this point, I’m willing to do anything to amend my mistakes. I’m planning on self-studying for APUSH because my Honors history class used to be APUSH, and I’ll also be taking an AP WL test in my 2nd language (I’m bilingual).
I just feel super frustrated and anxious because I feel like I’ve completely ruined my chances of attending the colleges of my dreams. I have ok ECs but idk if they come close to making up for my schedule. (if you want me to lay out my ECs I can do that too)
If I don’t maintain a 5.0 GPA, score 1570+ on the SAT, and score 800 on my SAT-II’s, I’m scared I won’t be competitive or fulfilled.
Here’s the reality. Every year each HYPSM school rejects 4.0/1600/36 applicants while accepting others with lower stats. It’s the stuff on top of strong stats that make one competitive.
If the second language is a native language, again admissions officers won’t be impressed. by a high AP score. I think you are spending your time on the wrong things – but it is your time to spend I guess.
Have you asked your guidance counselor how he/she would rate the rigor of your schedule? If he/she would say “most rigorous” then you are fine, if you won’t get that designation it is unlikely that a few self-study/online APs will make a difference for the hyper-competitive colleges.
If you think only a top tier college will make you feel “fulfilled” then IMO you should seriously rethink your criteria for being fulfilled.
–Even perfect grades, top rigor, great ECs is no guarantee of admission to an elite college. Simply put there are many more well qualified students than there are spots available.
–Of course it is fine to apply to some elite colleges and give those applications your all but don’t make getting in the “be all and end all” of your life.
–The people I see get most hurt through the college admissions process are the students who focus only on a couple of hyper-competitive colleges and then don’t get in. Please do not fall into that trap.
–Are you really going to allow a few college admissions officers who will look at your application for 10 minutes each determine your level of “fulfillment”?
–The idea that you can only be “fulfilled” at a few colleges is simply not true (unless you decide to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy) . There are so many amazing colleges and universities out there. Do the work to find them. Get your hands on some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review etc. ) and start doing some real research. Find match and safety schools you would love to attend.
–FWIW my D went to a wonderful (but not top few) LAC and she had a happier, more fulfilling 4 years (fantastic education, published research, great friends,close relationships with professors, deeply involved in ECs) than many of her friends at Ivy and equivalent institutions. (And she ended up at an Ivy for grad school to boot!)
For this year, refer back to comment #1. Focus on your current classes. Fill in the gaps from your USH class to take the AP test. Take the AP test in your native language if you want (although that one us a waste of money IMO. Develop your ECs. Do not take online courses. Do not self study any course from scratch.
@happy1 Thank you so much for your wise insight. I definitely admit that I am getting very caught up in junior year college stress and it’s impacting my mentality. I will definitely save this post to read when I’m struggling
I am taking an AP in my second language, as I am bilingual and I’ve been attending language school for 13 years. Tbh it’s less for college than it is a concrete way to encapsulate my language learning. I’m planning on taking AP French anyways because I really like French.
I will definitely ask my GC about my schedule - I just worry that she won’t be honest with me because she tends to sugarcoat things to make me feel better
