What should I do about APs? Am I pushing just right, not enough?

I see kids on here taking 4-5 APs a year like it’s nothing. For those of you that do, are you the only ones in your grade in that class? For example, all the “high honors” people (including myself) are taking Geometry ACC at this year as a sophomore. There is ONE a girl in my grade that it taking Pre-Calc this year, and plans to take AP Calc BC junior year, whereas everyone else will senior year. This year I just took AP Stats. Most people that took APs this year took either that or AP Environmental Science Next year I plan to take APUSH, AP Lang+Comp, and AP Physics 1; it’s the path that most other high honorees are doing. Senior year I plan to take AP Lit, AP Physics 2, AP Calc BC, AP Spanish, and maybe AP Chem.

Here is my rough schedule plan:

10th (this is a verbatim schedule)
Chem L1
Geom ACC
Us 1 ACC
Pre AP Eng
AP Stats
Gym/Study
Spanish 2 ACC

11th:
Pre-Calc ACC
AP Phys 1
AP Lang+Comp
AP US Hist
Spanish 3 ACC
Trigonometry
Gym/study

12th
AP Calc BC
AP Chem
AP Phys 2
AP Lit
AP Spanish
(Elective)
Study

Relative to this site, I’m on par if not under par of what people are doing. Relative to my school, I’m doing above par, seeing as how hardly any kids in my grade plan to take 5 APs senior year. I’m not too sure about the AP Chem yet, and I planned to take it for junior year but my teacher INSISTED I take Trig before AP Calc, so I’m kind of screwed there. I don’t know what to do. I want to look Ivy in terms of my classes, but it baffles me how differently schools run and how their expectations and how the students of those schools vary their expectations as well. Should I try to fit more APs in? I can handle it I’m pretty sure, I’m 9th in my class and slowly rising every quarter thus far. I don’t know what to do at this point.

You’re fine. The kids on this website don’t represent the majority.

But how large is the majority? If I want to join an Ivy college, I can’t be in the majority. Do I need to supercede the majority at my school and essentially become the <1%? How far do I need to push this?

First off, taking 14+ ap exams is great and all, but you’re going to be sacrificing things like extracurriculars and other things you could be achieving that colleges could actually care about more (like your sanity intact). Obviously, to get into an ivy league school you’re going to have to take many aps, but looking at your schedule I think you have enough. Maybe you can handle more, but having 14 aps and average extracurriculars doesn’t make a great candidate for an ivy. I would talk to your guidance counselor, or people that you know that have gone to top colleges (if you don’t know anyone, look around the class of ___ result threads and check out how many some ppl have taken).

If you want to apply to an Ivy League college, you should be aware that more AP’s does not equal better. College admissions is not an arms race where the one with the most AP’s wins.

A boatload of AP’s will not offset an application with weak essays, so-so recs, mediocre EC’s, etc. On the flip a strong application with 14 AP’s will not guarantee admissions, either.