Weighing my D’s choices for classes for Senior year. She has taken 1 AP each year Sophomore and Junior. Honors in other classes. With the chaos of college application season, the prescreen season and the travel for auditions, I was wondering if the third AP class is necessary for Senior year for academic acceptances, or better to be safe with the workload with everything else that happens to our kids while applying? As a reference, she will be applying to a wide variety of schools that offer MT from more to less academically challenging.
I think it depends on the AP class and your D. My D did AP Lit her Senior year - but passed on AP Calc - instead taking AP Micro/Macro Econ as an independent study. The key for us was picking classes that missed classroom time wouldn’t negatively affect the ability to keep up. For my D - those two AP choices were no trouble to keep up with even during the crazy audition season… but based on her sister’s experience in AP Calc - we were glad we passed on that one in the long run.
I would have had D take fewer AP classes senior year if we had to do it over again. Schedule was jam packed and it just added to the stress level.
Two has been a good decision for mine. Both are in friendly subjects.
My D took 3 Junior year (APUSH, Eng. Comp and Music Theory) and had scheduled 3 for this year (Eng. Lit, Psych and Stats) but dropped Stats the first week of school. Best decision EVER. It was definitely better to have a lighter load. She replaced it with a non-AP science that she is far more interested in and the workload has been way more manageable.
I am a fan of the APs. My D will be able to graduate a year early (if she chooses) which could add up to a big fat savings…
Plus she started with the vast majority of her gen eds out of the way- she won’t have to take a math or science class in college. Now that her freshman requirements are done- she will pretty much have electives and her theater classes for the rest of her time
You’re saying a third AP class as in, this will be her third total, right? She would only take one AP course in her senior year? If so, I would base it on whether or not it’s an area of genuine interest and strength. Don’t do it just to have that designation on the transcript, but DO take it if she’s deeply interested in the subject and wants that extra depth and rigor. It can be good to have something other than auditions to focus on during senior year!
On the other hand, if she already has other APs lined up for next year (which I think is how some folks are interpreting your post), then I’d agree it’s perhaps better to scale back.
@Times3 that’s correct. Thank you so far for the feedback. So to clarify, she is only considering 1 AP class or maybe none. She has done 1 per year for 2 years so far giving her only 2 AP classes. The rest are honors level. So from this feedback it looks like she should take at least the one maybe 2 since she is on the lighter side of AP total. I know she can do the work academically but she is only in school half day then leaves and attend a PA school in afternoon till 5. Making it a long day, but getting a balance of academics and performing arts. This is helpful though to know that she would be terribly light if she did none at all.
My D grumbled grumbled about ap english quite a bit her senior year, and has said thank you a dozen times this year for my “forcing” her to stick with it. Really helped with writing and tex analysis…
My daughter took 3 AP’s he senior year and looking back on things we probably should have done better research on which schools took which AP’s…where she is currently only took 1 out of the 7 she took.
As a high senior taking AP classes, I’d recommend to consider what kind of schools your D is most interested in. If she wants to go somewhere where many gen eds are still required, go for it! If she thinks she wants a heavy conservatory setting with barely any “normal” classes, don’t take it. Granted it might be early to know this, but just my two cents.
*And also consider how interesting the class is and how willing she’ll be to take it and keep up with work once audition season comes!
APs can waive them out of gen ed requirements at college and lighten the load and stress later on. But it depends where they end up. It’s a gamble. My D was only able to use one of her 3 AP classes at her college. And my son had 4 APs and 2 college classes and likewise he will only be able to use one. I am not sure all the time, work and money were worth it for us. Had they ended up at a couple other schools on their lists though, they would have been able to use several APs and racked up almost a semesters worth of classes. It’s hard to know. I’d try to go for a balance and hope for the best.
As others have said, check the schools you plan to apply to. My S was able to take care of all English requirements except composition, total math requirement and even some social studies/history requirements at “minimally selective” school (as described on another thread). At “more/most selective” schools he applied to he would have received no credit benefit from his APs - only the learning gained in the classes. Some of which he actually liked. Looking back, he might say he wishes he had more time to devote to his MT skills w/o having to deal with pesky papers to write, tricky math problems to solve, tiresome dead language sagas to translate or la-dee-da books to read. His M and D, on the other hand, are grateful he got SOME higher level education before his blissful total immersion in conservatory-like program at minimally selective school.
Older d took AP Spanish and maybe got a 3 on it at best. So she did not get college credit for it from NYU. Based onthat, younger D decided to take college spanish which was considered an easier class. She was able to transfer in 6 credits to NYU and used them to meet her language requirement.
So I would look at the preliminary list of schools you have and see what requirements APs or college level classes may replace.
It is a crap shoot as to whether or not things will “count” - which has more to do with the colleges than the AP classes. It’s something I talk about with parents of the kids in my AP classes all the time, and there isn’t a right answer. My D was “lucky” - all of her AP classes will work- not always to remove classes (there is the dreaded freshman English requirement that nothing can save you from at her school) but at least as elective credits. But the most important thing I think the kid gained was the ability to handle challenging coursework on top of a busy schedule. Last year she was in 6 shows during the school year, took 4 AP classes, and had BFA auditions. It was madness- but it sure taught her time management skills! But most of the schools on D’s list were known for strong academics (including tippy top places like Northwestern and Brown)- and I wanted to be sure that she was prepared for that environment.
Bottom line- you and your kid should choose based on what feels right to you, and whether you think and additional AP will provide “bang for the buck” (either in credits or experience) at the schools where she is looking.
Also important to bear in mind that whether or not those classes “count” (as in provide credit or exemption from college requirements), colleges still like to see them on the high-school transcript.
If your school offers AP Music Theory you may want to consider that one as it is relevant to MT. And according to D, it has helped at the auditions where they do placement tests. Otherwise, if you consider a core subject, English Lit or Language is accepted almost everywhere. The goal/reward is getting a high score on the test to receive the college credit, so I think additional factors in choosing a class would be work load and a great teacher. A great teacher will make a big difference in getting the scores needed for college credit.
This may be an unpopular point of view, but I know that my kids didn’t choose their HS classes or the level of them with thought given to what would look best for college admissions. Rather, they took the most rigorous courses offered at their school because they prefer to be challenged, and needed to be placed in the most appropriate level of classes for them.
My general advice (and this is very general, because course selection would be something I would advise on a very individualized basis) is to take the most challenging course load that you can handle (obtaining a B or better). That is a general guideline to use.
Yes, the application/audition year is super busy and I wondered how my D could fit it all in between homework, extracurriculars every afternoon/evening/weekend, shows (some pretty far from home), applications, and audition prep, but somehow it all got done (paced out the application process). It helps to have all standardized testing done before the application year.
For what it’s worth, D skipped two quarters at Northwestern (could have skipped an entire year) largely based on credit received for AP classes, which represents a savings of ~$30k in tuition, so we consider those tests some of the best money we ever spent.
I absolutely agree that taking AP classes is not the best answer for everyone (I really think the kids need to decide), and also agree that many kids aren’t sure which college they’ll land at until late in their senior year.
Going through a similar situation here…D will have completed 3 AP classes at the end of this year (junior). Looking at next year’s schedule…she’s planning to take 2 more, but we are considering no math next year, as she will have already finished 4 math classes, including one past algebra 2. She also isn’t wanting to take chemistry, if another lab science will suffice-and definitely doesn’t want physics. She will get college credit for some of the AP classes, but not all. I’m more concerned with her application being as competitive as it may need to be, without a senior math or chemistry. I’d rather she have room in her schedule to do an independent study on guitar and piano and gain some proficiency on these instruments, along with some music theory. Things that will help her in MT. Thoughts? Especially based on past experiences? I’m contacting the admissions departments of college she’s interested in too. She’s not particularly strong in math or science, btw…thanks in advance!