I’ve read several times that the number of APs you should take is in the context of your high school. But what does this mean exactly? My public school offers 20+ AP classes. I took one AP class sophomore year (max allowed to to that point), 4 junior year (with self studying for an additional 2 exams to total 6) and plan on taking another 4 senior year. Is this a rigorous/comepetitve number of APs for ivy/elite schools in context of my high school of a few kids take 5+ APs senior year?
Why not take the number and topics you feel would benefit your education in the long run. If you were not worried about how colleges would judge you, which would you take. Which will help you learn as much as possible in the fields you are most likely to pursue? Make a list. Those are the ones you should probably take.
Possibly. Probably the most important factor is that your guidance counselor checks off the box “most difficult” schedule on the common app. You will need to verify with them if your schedule qualifies. They may request that you add or change a class.
No school cares about self-studied exams.
You need to be taking a rigorous courseload, where rigorous is relative to your classmates. But rigor isn’t defined by number of APs. Someone taking Lit, BC Calc, Chem, and a foreign language probably has a more rigorous schedule than someone taking Stats, Enviro, Psych, Human Geo, and CS Principles, even though the second person has more APs.
I plan on taking Lit, Calc AB, Spanish and US Gov, as these would suit a potential political science/economics major. My school offers going straight to AP Physics 1, but I want to take physics honors because it’s not like it suits my career path. Is this a good decision?
That sounds like a competitive amount of APs to me, especially considering that you took the maximum amount allowed through sophomore year. The # of APs offered at your school only matters up to a point, and taking that many APs is competitive in my eyes as long as you are taking mostly honors classes for the subjects you chose not to take AP coursework in. For schools in the T10, your courseload may become an issue, but your course rigor is strong enough that it would likely not be the reason you get denied from top schools.
The rigor of your courses seems fine. I remember hearing from a director of admissions at one of the most selective schools that over 80% of applicants are academically competitive. More often than not what determines whether you get admitted or not to an ivy league caliber school is whether you have tier one extra-curricular activities, long term commitment to those activities and whether you have been able to rise to leadership roles in those activities.
About the GC checking off “most rigorous”. Talk to your GC about how she or he views your selection, Explain the rationale for your choices. I’ve had a kid who decided against APUSH when all others were taking it. He explained the rationale for that choice. He had a plan that would allow him to take much more science than otherwise possible but only by now taking APUSH. The GC understood the plan and felt his plan represented a rigorous curriculum even though it was a different path than peers. His choice was not made to compete with peers or to mold himself to what he thought schools wanted. He was simply very interested in math and science. The GC felt his plan made sense and supported it fully. I’m not sure that would have happened had he not taken the time to explain his plans to the GC.
For admissions purposes, the law of diminishing returns kicks in once you hit 6-8. So while there may be valid reasons to take more, admissions is not one of them. The 20+ AP’s is reviewed in context. Likely several of them are foreign language, and it’s the rare student that takes more than 2, at most. Several others are likely the various studio art groupings, and again, few take more than 1.
As noted above, AOs don’t care about your self studying.