Homeschooled Junior here. (about to start Senior year)
Me being the idiot that I am, I have neglected to take any AP courses, SAT subject tests, or CLEP tests. I am taking the New Sat + Essay this June. I want to major in computer science, so I think I should take AP Calculus AB, AP Physics, and AP Comp Sci. Thoughts?
From what I have been researching, AP exams are in May. But most college application deadlines are in January… So most colleges won’t even know the results of AP exams? Any advice on my options in this situation would be greatly appreciated. I believe I am very capable of getting at least 4’s on all of these AP exams.
Colleges really don’t care much about AP courses except that you do them and do well on them. They’re important, but won’t be your deal breaker.
Plenty of colleges don’t even care about AP that much. AP courses are really more there to (supposedly) benefit the student, rather than the university.
Trust me, we’re actually often annoyed by overly AP’d students. They often think they’ve already experienced college curricula. They haven’t, and we have to spend considerable time undoing some bad habits AP courses instill in their victims.
Take AP coursework if, and only if, it interests you sufficiently that you don’t think high-school coverage is enough for YOU. Otherwise, skip it and simply do well on your SATs.
There is another school of thought regarding where you apply AP credits. Use AP (or CLEPs) for your general education requirements, rather than for subjects within your major. I know of a HS valedictorian who AP’d a class in his major (the equivalent of the ‘intro’ class on the subject) got to college and failed the next level up on the subject and had to go back and take the intro class that the AP was supposed to cover. So, time wasted and setbacks for him. You’ll want to be rock solid on your major, so think about ‘test out’ options for other subjects. And, some colleges accept '3’s on APs, so check with your school to see what your requirement would be. BTW, it isn’t too late for CLEP, you can test nearly anytime and have the credit applied when you pass, there are no ‘set and scheduled’ times for CLEPs. Good Luck!