<p>Does anyone know what a typical schedule looked like for candidates that were accepted to West Point? Do most of these kids take various AP courses?</p>
<p>well, part of the admissions decision heavily relies on "course rigor," so i would imagine that accepted cadets did not choose the easy route in senior year.</p>
<p>So do you mean that most candidates loaded with advanced placement courses? Any folks here that got an LOA.. can you guys voice your thoughts? </p>
<p>The reason I ask is because junior year I took 3 AP classes, and for my senior year I'm taking 2. Is this weak compared to most people? My school might be different than most.. but for the most part... these courses take up a lot of time and energy. School philosophy wont allow more than 2 people to have an A in the same AP class.</p>
<p>My son took 6 APs senior year - probably not the norm.
Your counselor can include your school policy with your transcript (usually they will include a school profile as well). Course difficulty is assessed by admissions, but WP will compare your class load to what is offered at your school.</p>
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<p>That seems odd. Aren't AP courses graded on a number scale (1-5)?</p>
<p>And I thought AP tests were administered and graded by AP Services, a division of The College Board (the same folks who run the SAT tests).</p>
<p>I'm not taking any AP classes, but it's because our school doesn't offer any. Instead, I take college classes. This semester I'm enrolled in 3, including 2 extras at night that no one else at my school takes. Lol, sorry, I'm ramblin. </p>
<p>Also, becauseof how screwed up our school system is, I'm taking an Honors english class, as well as a College english class, and I also have to take Accounting 2 to keep my rank.</p>
<p>The AP tests in May are graded on a 1-5 scale by College Board, but the classes themselves are graded by the teachers. It becomes very apparent to college guidance counselors if a teacher is grading too harshly. Example is if a student earns a C in class, but earns a 4 or 5 on the test.</p>
<p>That's unfortunate that a school would limit the opportunity for students who earn an A to get an A. That might be a policy that could/should be challenged by parents within the school system.</p>
<p>My plebe was in the International Baccalaureate program at her school, so all of her classes were based on a 6.0 level, as AP classes are.</p>
<p>My advice to you is to take as many of the higher level classes as you can handle, while keeping good grades and doing your extracurricular activities. When looking for colleges for my older kids, college guidance counselors said that they would rather see a "C" in an AP/honors class than an "A" in a regular class. It shows that you're willing to take on the challenge.</p>
<p>It's a juggling act - at WP and all the other competitive universities/colleges.</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>My son, who received an LOA dated September 30, took six AP/IB courses during each of his two semesters during his senior year. Whether that is typical or not, I cannot say.</p>
<p>"Aren't AP courses graded on a number scale (1-5)?</p>
<p>Not at my son's high school. There traditional letter grades are given for AP courses; the AP exams, if the student decides to take them, are graded 1-5.</p>
<p>Taking 6 AP classes during senior year is extremely amazing. We only had one kid do that in the past 4 years and he got accepted to Princeton, Harvard, and Berkeley. I just feel fairly insecure. I can't take a science AP this year because it would require me to get out of Jrotc. Is AP Literature an important course to take senior year? I scored a 4 on the AP english exam, and did well in the class, but Literature (I learned first day of class) is almost completely different than AP English. It's too philosophical and well...doesn't seem like a very masculine genre... I'm planning on dropping that class (Then taking English 12) so I can maintain 2 APs senior year</p>
<p>Mr Sinister: Have you looked at the course load that you will be required to take at WP? You will be interested to see that it includes English Literature...</p>
<p>I think you will find a wide range of grading scales among high schools throughout the country that make camparisons like this pretty hard. Some schools use a point system, some use a grading system with 4.0 grading scale as the norm and 5.0 scale for AP or honors classes, some evidently use a 6.0 sclae for AP or Bac. courses. The only way the academies can really sort these differences out equitably is to use standardized test scores and evaluate the candidates class rank amongst his/her peers. Grading inflation is so rampant these days, and that issue appears to be even more apparant with schools that consider themselves more "competitive" than "others". Your best bet is to concentrate on delivering the "best " file you can with the opportunities and choices that you have. In the end, no one elses stats matter to YOUR application. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Tell me about it. On this CC site, people are bragging about their 6 APs they are taking Senior Year, but in my school that is unheard of. I mean.. I remember last year... I studied almost 4 hours or more a night to get an A in APUSH. Same story with AP English. Sometimes I started essays afterschool, and didn't finish till 10 pm... Again.. this was to get an A in it. How the heck do people manage 6? Photographic memory? I took 3 last year, and I SHOULD at least take 2 this year...</p>
<p>My choices are...now limited because AP science cannot work out with JROTC. </p>
<p>AP Government
Drop AP Lit for AP Art History</p>
<p>(ARAH teacher is the same as my APUSH teacher. I got a five on the exam and an A in the class...)</p>
<p>My school only offers 10 AP classes... if I take at least half of them during my high school years.. im sure it'll turn out okay.. I hope.</p>
<p>"people are bragging about their 6 APs they are taking Senior Year"
No, not bragging - you asked for a typical course loads for LOA recipients and we gave you our experience. There isn't much else that we can do. None of us have access to all of the application files to give you the data you are looking for.</p>
<p>Sorry, I didn't mean to say it that way. I'm just awed that people can be so talented.</p>
<p>:) It is often more about time management than talent - much like WP. Good luck with your application. Shogun gave you great advice.</p>
<p>Mr. Sinister: Ann is right. My plebe is now taking English Literature. You may not be doing yourself any favors by dropping it for AP Art History. From what I heard from my daughter's friends AP Art History is every bit as tough. Also, if you take AP Eng. Lit., you may be able to validate out of the Eng. Lit. class at WP. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that just because classes are worth 6.0, that doesn't mean that all the students can earn straight A's. My daughter earned mostly B's, with a few A's and C's while in the IB program. As in most everything else, there are always going to be people with better grades and worse grades than you. </p>
<p>And Ann was totally dead-on right - it is all about time management.</p>
<p>Just a note: Most colleges take the unweighted grade of each Eng., history, math, science, and foreign language class and then apply a formula. At Univ. of FL (Go, Gators!) it is 1/2 point for honors classes and 1 point for AP/IB classes. Each university has their own formula, so you need to ask when comparing colleges.</p>
<p>Mister Sinister - </p>
<p>My suggestion is that you concentrate on what is good about Mister sinister - don't worry about others.
Shogun's, Ann's and WPSon2010's kids all got LOA's - they are not the average appointed candidate to West Point. Remember few who get appointments get LOA's.
Do well in the curricula that is available to you. Don't worry that you can't take 6 AP classes or that IB classes aren't available.
Concentrate on YOURSELF and what YOU have to offer.</p>
<p>One of the "hazards" of this forum is when candidates start comparing themselves to others. Just because kids got appointment who took 6 AP classes doesn't mean you have to take 6 AP classes to get an appointment.</p>
<p>West Point likes to see candidates working at the highest level of work their school offers. Do you best this year - good luck.</p>
<p>I wouldn't mind taking Literature in College, but AP Literature doesn't seem as appealing since its not a required course. AP Art History was more appealing to me since it has a lot about architecture and other archaeological fields of interests I have. I did drop the AP lit class today. I'm pretty sure that I will enjoy the art history but I hope USMA or USMAPS doesn't look at me unfavorably. I'm just worried about the fact that they will put me on the secondary list for not having an AP science class (I can't do those anyway since JROTC takes up seminar time...It could've been possible to do both, but not with success) I would die just to get an appointment at usmaps or a prepatory scholarship.</p>
<p>Also... is the academy strictly mathematics, science, and engineering? I heard that was traditional. Has it become more modern and included an arts program.. including english, philosophy, social sciences, the arts, and history?</p>
<p>yes and no. There are a variety of majors - encluding those in the humanities - BUT - every cadet must complete a core program which consists of Chemistry, Physics, Math - including Calculus II and Engineering.</p>
<p>So you should show a strong math/science schedule and ability.</p>
<p>The Core:
<a href="http://www.dean.usma.edu/images/academicprogram.gif%5B/url%5D">http://www.dean.usma.edu/images/academicprogram.gif</a></p>
