<p>Ok, my school is pretty competitive and there are about 600 kids in my class. There are some kids in my school that take a lot of AP classes and so there rank is much better. I really enjoy science and there are classes like Anatomy and Physiology I can take but it's only an Honors course. So, should take an AP to help my rank or take a class enjoy and sacrafice my rank?</p>
<p>It is really your call. Some would tell you to go for what interests you without worrying about your class rank. Others would tell you that a rank is more important because you can always just take those classes in college if you are still interested.</p>
<p>If your goal is to get into the college that you want, I would advise the following:
Get a list of the schools that past graduates of your high school got into for the past three years. Complile the number of students that got in by school that you are interested in or could be interested in. Concentrate your applications to those schools.</p>
<p>Don’t know if your high school establishes rank using AP or honors in addition to GPA. Most schools use GPA alone. The goal is to have the highest possible GPA.</p>
<p>The common misconception (widely proclaimed) is that you should take the most honors and AP courses so you have a rigorous curriculum. That is wrong. Colleges rank high schools by the results of past graduates they have accepted. That is why the list of prior acceptances by University is so important.</p>
<p>You will increase your chances by
(1) Selecting Universities that took students from your high school in the near past.
(2) Having a higher GPA than those in your class that are applying to the same schools.</p>
<p>By all means take an AP course that you are interested in and can get an A or at the least a B+. If you don’t think that is possible, take easier courses that you can get an A in.</p>
<p>I would say the AP class (assuming you’ll do just as well in it). I know colleges stress the importance of “doing what you enjoy”, but when it comes to class rank and rigor or curriculum, you sometimes have to sacrifice. </p>
<p>Besides, the difference between Anatomy and any other AP class can’t be that bad. It’s not like you are giving up art to take AP Computer science.</p>
<p>Yeah, I can totally relate to the problem you’re facing. I think it depends on what your rank is and how much itwould change if you were to take honors instead of AP. For example, if you would only drop 1-2 places, it might be worth taking honors if you think you’d enjoy the class much more and it’s more related to your college major.</p>
<p>I would take the classes that interest you. Colleges aren’t just looking for a set of GPA numbers. They are looking for unique individuals who will add something to their campuses. Be who you are and you will come across as more genuine on your applications.</p>
<p>Take the AP classes. If your school offers APs and you don’t take advantage of them, you’ll be at a disadvantage. Schools don’t want drones, but they also don’t want students who aren’t interested in challenging themselves.</p>
<p>i would stay with the a.p. class., its looks better and more competitive and rank is important!</p>
<p>Check the AP credit policies of the colleges you want to go to. If they won’t even take credit for some of the AP classes you are thinking about, it’s not even worth it.</p>
<p>It sounds like your school is fairly competitive, so I assume you have a lot of APs to choose from. If you take a total of 5 or 6 APs (or more) throughout your high school career, you should be good for admissions. That is, unless you are looking into super-competitive schools (HYPS, etc, etc).</p>
<p>If you’re aiming for top colleges the fact is that rank matters. It’s unfortunate that kids have to play</p>
<p>Look, if you’re stacking the APs, you’re never going to win. How many other kids in your class are taking an all-AP schedule? Do you really want to compete against them and sacrifice the time you could be using to develop your ECs?</p>
<p>Like Redroses pointed out, rank and rigor of curriculum matters to top colleges. However, it is understandable if a science kid opts to take Anatomy over AP Art History. But if the choice you are making is between Anatomy and AP Physics, then Physics all the way.</p>
<p>Really, this is a subjective matter, but you should always make sure your schedule reflects your interests (to a certain degree) without seeming like you breezed through four years of slacker classes.</p>
<p>My daughter sacrificed her chance at valedictorian by choosing to continue with her fine arts concentration. While she is still near the top of her class, having taken 4 classes that where unweighted has definitely hurt her GPA and class rank. But she is an avid photographer and has won competitions and awards for her work. She loves her photo classes and would not change a thing. There is something to be said for following your passions, even if they are not APs.</p>
<p>
Absolutely take the Anatomy and Physiology. Other than the very top schools, good grades with AP vs good grades with honors won’t make a difference. You have to balance working toward the future with living in the present. And even (especially) for the very top schools, passion will matter.</p>
<p>Follow your passions, do what you love. Don’t make the college selection process about getting in, make it about becoming the person you want to be. Let that happen, and worse case scenario, you get rejected, but you had fun doing it, and you’re still doing what you love.</p>
<p>If you make your choice trying to be somebody who fits the college and you get a thin envelope, then you risk losing something else, too.</p>
<p>Blabbermouth,</p>
<p>My advice is a bit complex. I’m assuming that you’re planning on applying to selective colleges, but not necessarily to the tippy-top places like HYPMS. For most highly selective, but not ridiculously selective, places, a difference of a few places in rank and the difference between n and *n+2[/n] APs is probably not going to be a make-or-break difference in the decision on whether to admit the applicant or not.</p>
<p>So ask yourself the following questions:</p>
<p>1) Honestly how much will your rank be affected by taking what you want? If your class has 600 students in it, then the top 10% is the top 60 students, and the top 25% is the top 150 students. If taking the honors classes you want is not likely to cause you to drop out of the top 10% (if you’re currently there) or top 25% (if you’re here, but not in the top 10%), then I would not let “drop in class rank” determine what you sign up for.</p>
<p>2) Honestly ask yourself what the AP alternatives to the honors science courses you want are. If you’ve already taken or signed up for AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, and AP Calculus, then additional AP’s that you are less interested in, probably won’t help your application as a potential science major as much as taking the honors science courses that interest you.</p>
<p>3) Check the websites of the colleges you plan to apply to. While most highly competitive colleges give credit for AP scores of 4 and 5 in the most common subjects, many do have restrictive policies. Restrictions can include which AP courses they accept for college credit, whether credit is given only for 5’s (in all or some subjects), whether AP credit can be used to satisfy general education requirements, and a maximum on the number of AP credits allowed to count toward graduation requirements, etc. After you know the policies for awarding college credit at the colleges you plan to apply to, then ask yourself: Will additional AP’s actually help me in any way once I get to college? If not, then there’s more reason to follow your heart and take the honors level science classes.</p>
<p>4) Of the AP’s that you have not yet taken, do any of them actually seriously interest you? If not, then again, I’d recommend following your heart and taking the honors science courses instead.</p>
<p>I think there are simple facts that need to be understood.</p>
<p>Number one is that at ivies/peers, being just top '10% is highly unlikely to get an unhooked candidate in. So if it’s the difference between being top 7% and top 9%, take whatever you like.</p>
<p>Number two is that being Val or sal makes a huge difference in acceptance at these schools. At mid tier ivies over 40% of accepted students are vas and sals. This is the majority of unhooked accepted candidates.</p>
<p>Being Val or sal also makes a huge difference in outside scholarships available to you.</p>
<p>So bottom Line is that if you’re hoping for very top colleges and can keep yourself top 2 in class, it may well be worth the effort. You can take whatever you want in college.</p>
<p>Redroses, the OP wrote:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So there is good reason to assume that he/she is NOT a candidate for V or S anyway.</p>
<p>There’s also nothing in the OP’s postings on this thread that indicate the OP is planning on shooting for HYPSM or the other ivies.</p>
<p>Good points, then it probably doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Somehow on CC I start to answer the others responding and lose track of the OP! Hopefully the discussions also help others with similar questions.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore signing up for junior classes soon. Juniors are required to take US History, and I plan on taking AP. However, I’m considering taking Anthropology as a Social Studies elective in addition to US. I want to major in Anthropology/Archaeology in college, so I think it will be really worthwhile to take Anthro in high school, even if it is only a regular level class. Not sure if this helps, but good luck blabbermouth!</p>
<p>And I realize that this reply is much later than when you needed an answer… I hope everything worked out!</p>