Second Guessing

<p>Hey there everyone. This is my first time posting, so don't be too harsh. :-)</p>

<p>At my high school we don't have AP classes. All we have are honors classes. Washington University in St. Louis is my number one choice. All of my dreams would come true if I could go there. Lol. I have taken all of the honors courses available to me with two exceptions, Honors Economics and Honors US History because I took a free hour/lab assisstant hour this year. Do you think WashU will look down upon my academic record because my school does not have AP classes, or the fact that I took one free hour my senior year?</p>

<p>I have started second guessing myself after reading some of these threads to whether or not I will be accepted. I'm very involved, and if I wouldn't have taken a free hour this year, I probably would have exploded.</p>

<p>In addition, I've seen many people talk about their teacher recs. How do you know how good, great, or possibly bad your reccomendation was?</p>

<p>Frekleface, if your school doesn't have AP's, don't worry about their absence on your record. WashU ,and every school, is looking to see that you have challenged yourself and are taking the most rigorous classes your school offers. You've done that, so don't worry about the AP designation.</p>

<p>yes, most schools take into account that you don't have AP classes. but they do want to see you take advantage of what you do have.</p>

<p>^^^ those are great answers, so I;ll answer your second question</p>

<p>although you should (and most people do) waive their right to see the rec, many teachers will show the student the letter they wrote them anyway.</p>

<p>frekleface,</p>

<p>I would love to hear more about your school. AP is all the rage these days, and even schools where few students should be taking those classes are lining them up (and getting 2s and 3s on the exams). Your school is either bucking the trend, very small, or perhaps rural? How many grads? How many go to colleges? What kinds of colleges?</p>

<p>HartinGA, </p>

<p>My school is HUGE! We are a public school and have a total population of about 2500 students. I'm ranked 1st in a class of about 600 people. Most of the students graduate here, with a couple exceptions of course. Lots of students go to prestigious Universities as well. A couple of my friends last year ended up at Carnegie Mellon, WUSTL, Duke, The Air Force Academy, Rose-Hulman, and U of I. This year one of my friends was accepted to MIT, another interviewed for Harvard, and a couple got accepted at Georgetown. One applied ED for WUSTL and got in.</p>

<p>We really aren't rural or very small as you can see. We're in a suburb right outside of St. Louis.</p>

<p>I asked my calculus teacher why we don't do AP. He said that he didn't like someone else approving how he taught. He's an excellent teacher. He teaches "Honors Calculus," which is one of the most challenging, if not the hardest, class in the school. We get through enough to almost take the AP teach for CALC BC, but we don't hit Taylor series and something else. He didn't say anything else about any other classes though. In biology we use the AP book and do the AP labs, but we're not AP. So I have no idea.</p>

<p>"even schools where few students should be taking those classes are lining them up (and getting 2s and 3s on the exams)." </p>

<p>lol...nice way to put it</p>

<p>Just a thought, but if you have learned practically all you need to know for some of the AP courses, it might be worth it to buy or check out from the library the study guides and take the tests. If you do well then that will look great on your college applications because you were self-motivated and have a love of learning. If you don't do well then no college will ever even know you took the tests and it won't be held against you. The AP English Language study guide specifically notes that every teacher teaches the class differently, so they recommend taking the test even if you haven't had AP English Lang. I know someone who did this and got a "5" on the test just by using the study guide...</p>

<p>That is a good idea, though I had the impression frekleface is a current applicant, so it would not help with admissions, but maybe with placement. For a Junior in the same boat, taking SAT IIs would also be a good way to show what you have learned.</p>

<p>Frekleface, it sounds like you are in a great school and took very challenging classes. I am confident that Wash U is familiar with your school's reputation and curriculum. Also, Wash U offers placement exams for math and language, so you can still exempt some classes based on what you have learned.</p>

<p>All in all, I do not think the lack of APs will have any effect on your app. It sounds like you have taken a very rigorous load and done very well. Not very many #1s from good schools are turned down by WU, but it happens. Good luck.</p>

<p>Hey Freckle Face... you should consider buying some AP study books and taking one or more of the tests on your own. A friend of my daughter did that, and is going to college next year with a ridiculous number of credits. She took tests without having taken the AP class! My daughter didn't think her teacher taught what was needed in her AP History class, so bought the book and taught the basics to herself (got a 4, whereas most other classmates got 2's.) You should, at least try Calc AB or Calc BC. But, definitely buy the book first. My point is, you may be learning what kids in AP classes are learning, or you can do so on your own. Having some extra credit will come in handy.</p>

<p>In regards to the AP Calc. tests....if you can take the BC test, take it.....Calc 3 is much, much easier than Calc 2, so it's nice to not have to take Calc 2 twice. (And, if I remember correctly, there's an AB subgrade to the test, so I think if you end up not passing the BC part of it, you can still get AB credit. Not entirely sure about this though.) And in every single math class I've taken here at WashU, we've reviewed everything that's needed for the class, so it's not like you will be at a humongous loss. Another benefit of having AP credit (even if you're not planning on using it as a pre-req. for some other class) is that it gives you more credit hours, so you have the chance to register earlier for classes than students who came in without any credits.</p>

<p>Thanks for all of the help everyone!</p>

<p>I have the AP Biology book, but I think I'm going to buy the BC Calc one and the English one too!</p>

<p>Thanks for all of your advice!</p>

<p>Before you buy the books, you should check out the rules for your school. You will get specific credit for a score of "5" for some subjects, some will give non-specific credit for a score of "4," and so on. Check to see what kind of credit you'll get before you make an investment. I know my daughter is choosing not to take the AP Psych test, for instance, because she would not get credit for it (only one credit allowed in a particular type of class, and she already received one - or something like that.) In any case, the AP tests are expensive, and not fun, so make sure you will get something you want from taking it... and you know what score to be shooting for - 5 or 4/5.</p>

<p>your school meaning which school in Wash U. The rules differ.</p>

<p>Actually, I checked the different requirements last night for what score I need to get. I'm going to take the English test, Biology, Calculus (I can't decide AB or BC yet) and possibly Spanish. I'm not sure on the Spanish one though. </p>

<p>Do you have a certain type of AP Study Guide you would recommend? I looked online last night at some different ones, and I didn't know which ones would be the best.</p>

<p>I'm going to WashU next year, and they require you to take one semester of English no matter what, so I don't know how useful English would be. For example, I'll be in the School of Engineering, and they will exempt me from Writing 1 if I get a 5 on either of the English AP exams, but I don't receive any credit. That is, I still have to take a semester of another English class.</p>

<p>For some other AP exams, they have another policy. For example, for Calculus BC, if you get a 5, you get credit for Calculus I, and if you take their placement exam, you can also get credit for Calculus II, and go straight to Calculus III.</p>

<p>Then for chemistry, if you have a science major, you don't fulfill any of the chemistry requirements by getting a 5 on the AP.</p>

<p>That said, if you are still interested in taking AP tests without the class (which I don't recommend, as the AP classes often focus on AP test taking skills that are vital for getting a high score - knowledge of the material will not be enough), I would recommend Princeton Review. I found them to be very concise in their explanations for each section/chapter and they had quite a few practice tests, including a multiple choice at the end of each section/chapter and 2 or 3 full length AP tests at the end of the book.</p>