My question is if it matters to colleges in what year I decide to take my AP classes? I am currently a junior taking my first two AP classes, AP Lit and AP Stats. I was afraid to take more than two because I haven’t taken any before junior year, so I wanted to play it safe. However, last semester was honestly the best semester I’ve ever had junior year in terms of academics, mainly because I had really good teachers.
In senior year I want to take, I want to major in CS if that matters
-AP Calculus BC
-AP Physics 1
-AP Computer Science A
-AP Computer Science Principles
-AP Studio Arts
-English 12 Honors
-Governments Honors
-Spanish III Honors
The difficulty of the courses is not going to be a problem, my senior friends tell me that those teachers are very chill, and I only need to do well semester 1. I’m also gonna begin working on my essays during the summer too.
I’m really upset I didn’t take more this year(junior year) because I know that colleges will only see the first semester of senior year. In that case, I was just wondering if it matters that most of my APs are taken in senior year, would it have looked better or the same if they were taken junior year?
You need to do well enough both semesters to avoid admission rescission (no D or F grades or a large GPA drop like 4.0 to 2.0) and be well prepared for AP tests and college.
@ucbalumnus yes I understand that. It’s just that I can afford to have 1 or even 2 Bs second semester, because by that time I will have already been accepted to colleges. I’m not required to send AP test scores to colleges though.
To answer your specific question as it pertains to your classes, no it doesn’t matter if you took it in 12th as opposed to 11th. Colleges will see that you’ve taken the classes regardless and that’s the important part, plus they’ll see all your grades eventually.
Unsolicited advice: I would find another class outside of AP CSP, as it basically is a lightweight beginner class that is more or less covered by AP Comp Sci A. Maybe you can replace that class with AP Eng Lang or AP US Govt?
CS principles should not be too difficult. It is mainly supposed to be an overview of what CS is about, suitable both for non CS majors and potential CS majors. Advanced placement is unlikely.
CS A is programming and data structures for CS majors, although differences in how college CS curricula are organized mean that it does not always result in advanced placement.
@ProfessorPlum168 I understand that they will see all my grades for the entirety of high school at some point. However, during the time when they are evaluating my application, they will only have access to my first semester of senior year, as opposed to if I took those classes junior year, they would see both semesters. So it won’t affect my admission chances regardless that those classes are taken senior year with 1 semester to show rather than junior year which could’ve had 2 semesters to show?
@ProfessorPlum168 neither of those classes is something that I want to study though. I was actually debating on taking Physics 2 instead of AP Principles though, but decided against it because I heard it might be too difficult of a course.
By subset I mean that it makes no sense to take Principles if you’re taking Comp Sci A.
For the classes you listed, it won’t matter whether you took them in 11th or 12th, what’s important is that it is on your record as having taken the class. And since it is on your record, your counselor should mark your curriculum as being “most rigorous” which is what matters also. Calc BC is often taken in 12th, and same with Comp Sci A. If you’re concerned that you missed out on gaining GPA points, that’s probably not going to make much difference.
In our school AP CSP is a prerequisite to AP CSA. DD is not finding it too difficult (she had some prior programming experience), but the homework is very time consuming. I would talk to kids who have taken the class. Each school seems to be different.
If your school ranks students, and if AP classes are weighted, it might be better to take more APs sooner. For my daughter’s school, ranking and GPA are done as of the end of junior year, and then mid-year senior year. Those taking more APs earlier have a significant advantage in GPA and therefore rank. The year-end junior year GPA and rank are what nearly all submit to colleges when applying.
@vamom4 wait if stats are done again mid year senior year, why won’t they submit those stats to colleges, instead of the stats at the end of junior year?
They do. But mid-year reports are not ready when applications are due. So they send what they have, and then send the update when ready.
But the reality is, for the student with fairly consistent grades, the rank (and BTW, half of US HSs don’t rank) and GPA (and not all HSs calculate a 4 year GPA) won’t change appreciably. One more AP course as a junior is unlikely to move the weighted GPA needle much.
In senior year I want to take, I want to major in CS if that matters
-AP Calculus BC
-AP Physics 1
-AP Computer Science A
-AP Computer Science Principles
-AP Studio Arts
-English 12 Honors
-Governments Honors
-Spanish III Honors
@bopper Not much at all. I would say half of the APs I have chosen are actually all independent work; most of the kids in the class receive As because the teacher is teaching another class while the AP class is doing their own work. This is why the course load itself isn’t what I’m asking about, I’m asking if it would’ve looked better if I took those APs junior year rather than senior year.