<p>I attend a considerably competitive private high school, but AP courses are not offered. The administration claims that because our courses are on the same level as APs it doesn't matter, but does this look bad to schools? Everybody takes a set curriculum, including 4 years of all the major preparatory courses. I was worried about not taking any APs so I went and signed up for two tests based on my sophomore classes last year (Biology and European History) and I received 4's on both of them.</p>
<p>Will schools that I apply to take into consideration that my school did not offer AP courses, or notice that I went out of the way to take the tests despite having not taken an AP course?</p>
<p>Yes, and Yes. They will not penalize you for not being able to take them, and it's great you signed up anyway. Do that for every AP you feel prepared for. Most kids shooting for prestigious colleges don't have too many more than 4-6, and you already have 2.</p>
<p>I don't think thats true. These days students are taking more and more aps. I took 10, and it was hell</p>
<p>Why would you take that many AP courses? It seems like overkill to me... then again I guess theres no such thing as overkill in the admissions process.</p>
<p>koolaz - Not every school has the same situation as you. I bet you go to a private school, but correct me if I'm wrong. At my school, the most you can take is 8, and not until junior year. I have taken 6, and I don't think anyone has more.</p>
<p>lithiumonsundays - do you like having that set curriculum?</p>
<p>Remember, a lot of private schools d/n offer AP classes b/c me, as a prospective student, could just say, "why do I need to pay $$$$$ to take AP classes when I can take them at public schools?"</p>
<p>But uh, if there's an AP subject that looks interesting, by all means you should do an independent study course. Your teachers should be very helpful if you choose to do that, especially if you present them with a pretty, well organized plan.</p>
<p>By the end of my senior year, I will have done 4 APs on my own: Macro, Micro, Gov't & Politics, & Music Theory.</p>
<p>Actually i go to a public school, can't afford to to go to private schools. Plus I think its a waste of money. At my school, you can't take Aps until 10th grade, but you can only take one. When I say that i took 10 aps, i mean I took 5 classes and 7 tests and I'm taking 5 classes right now. I decided to take 5 my senior year because I thought it could help me in admissions by helping my poor gpa, but it hasn't worked. i'm barely getting 2-3 hours a sleep a night. If your school doesn't offer APs, take the test on your own. Schools will see that you didn't have a varied choice, and take that into consideration. It'll look good if you do independent study for some subjects, like the easy aps: macro, micro, human geography, world history, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everyone! </p>
<p>I'm kind of iffy on the set curriculum... the courses are tougher than your everyday standard courses (not the subjects really, just the detail with which they are presented) but sometimes I worry about whether that's going to be recognized (that's one of the reasons why I took those tests on my own to begin with). Its also much easier to study with my friends since we're all taking the same classes... everyone's schedule is much more organized.</p>
<p>By the way, you think I could teach myself macro or micro if I were to get a book? I'm the VP of the economics club at school and I do have a bit of a grasp of economics, so it shouldn't be that difficult... but what kind of subjects does each test cover? And if I decide to take the exam how should I prepare?</p>
<p>I only took 6, but I took 7 classes at my community college, 4 of which were basically the college equivalent of the AP classes.</p>
<p>koolaznpygmy - you know I used to have a schedule where I barely got any sleep... but I realized that when you do that, you don't absorb as much of the info, and actually do more poorly in all of your classes. Keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I posted an article from the Washington Post about AP classes. Here's a very applicable quote to your situation.</p>
<p>"Their tit for tats might appear trifling, but students say the debates help them answer fundamental questions about their high-achieving existence: Whose life is most out of control? Which program is more impressive to colleges? Which provides the best education? Who suffers the heaviest workload?"</p>
<p>Thread link: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3502069#%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=3502069#</a></p>
<p>Washington Post Link: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012402535.html?nav=rss_print/asection%5B/url%5D">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012402535.html?nav=rss_print/asection</a></p>