<p>I've been looking this forever, need help on it. Also, is it frowned upon to have self studied AP's?</p>
<p>Not sure, but why do you think that it’s frowned upon to self-study APs? The ability to teach yourself/learn by yourself is valued.</p>
<p>I talked to an admissions officer from one of the Ivies (not Harvard) and he said that they don’t really consider self-studied APs a plus, because they like to see that you went through the class for the entire year, experienced the full curriculum, etc. I don’t think they’re “frowned upon” per se, though.</p>
<p>And I don’t think there’s an “average” of AP classes for Harvard (or any school, for that matter), since applicants come from schools which offer drastically different courses. Some may not have any APs at all, while others may have dozens.</p>
<p>Your goal isn’t to meet or surpass some “average”. Your goal is to demonstrate to Harvard that you’re truly a hungry learner. Does that mean taking 9 out of 10 APs offered at your school? Maybe. Does that mean taking 4 out of 4 at your school plus some Saturday classes? Maybe.</p>
<p>I think it’s frowned upon to have self-studied so many APs that that becomes your main extracurricular: that, I have heard, is a definite no-no. Studying is not an EC. I myself self-studied two, which was fine. I’m not sure it mattered much, though. </p>
<p>That advice does not include taking AP tests for subjects you’re taking a class on but that your school doesn’t offer at an AP level, like taking AP Euro (which covers the Renaissance to today) if you’re in “History of the European Continent Fall of Rome-Present” or something. I think that’s never a bad thing, again, as long as it doesn’t crowd out actual ECs.</p>
<p>Except for the Foreign Language Requirement, Harvard DOES NOT grant credit for AP’s tests (self studied or not). See: [Advanced</a> Standing Advising Programs Office](<a href=“http://apo.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k73580&pageid=icb.page388448&pageContentId=icb.pagecontent823379&view=view.do&viewParam_name=asgeninfo.html#a_icb_pagecontent823379_a_icb_pagecontent825552_apexams]Advanced”>http://apo.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k73580&pageid=icb.page388448&pageContentId=icb.pagecontent823379&view=view.do&viewParam_name=asgeninfo.html#a_icb_pagecontent823379_a_icb_pagecontent825552_apexams)</p>
<p>“Credit toward graduation is granted for Advanced Placement examinations only if the student activates Advanced Standing, but advanced placement work is acknowledged in a variety of other ways. For example, a score of 5 on an AP exam often satisfies the prerequisite for middle- or upper-level departmental courses, permitting a student to begin advanced work early in his or her college career. Whether or not a student accepts Advanced Standing, a score of 5 on the German, French (language or literature), Italian, Spanish (language or literature), or Latin (either Latin Literature or Latin: Vergil) Advanced Placement tests may be used to fulfill the language requirement.”</p>
<p>The important factor is NOT the number of APs, but the proportion that you took of the ones that were available to you.</p>
<p>For example, at my HS all APs were year-long, and the maximum any student could take, except in extreme and unusual circumstances, was 5 in senior year and 1 or 2 in junior year. In other schools, it is common for the top students to take 10 or more classes. Some schools don’t even offer AP classes, including many top-tier schools.</p>
<p>I recommend you take as many APs as your school offers. In particular, any time your HS offers a choice between an AP class and a regular version, you should take the AP class. But there isn’t much of a benefit to stuffing your schedule with self-taught APs just to get the number up.</p>