<p>Next year (junior year) is the first year that I will be able to take AP classes. Which year, junior or senior, is it better to take the majority of AP classes? I was going to take 4 junior year and 6 or 7 senior year.
So, basically, what I am asking is do colleges focus more on rigor of junior schedule or rigor of senior schedule?</p>
<p>Both schedules need to be rigorous, but I think colleges place the most emphasis on junior year. Also, keep in mind that your junior year GPA will factor into your GPA on your application, whereas your senior year GPA will not, so only take the amount of APs that you can handle while still maintaining As and Bs (straight As if you’re aiming high).</p>
<p>Thanks, I’m thinking I might take 5 next year (AP Physics C, AP English Lang, AP Calculus BC, APUSH, and possibly AP Macroeconomics) and senior year I will take 6 (AP Biology, AP English Lit, AP Stats, AP Psych or AP Euro, AP Gov, and AP Spanish).</p>
<p>At my school most students going the AP route take 3 or 4 APs their junior year and then like 6 their senior year. And there are no APs for underclassmen. I would look at what subjects you’re interested in taking your SAT IIs on, and make sure you take those your junior year. I really wish I would have done that be because most of the SAT IIs offered are APs that we are strongly encouraged to take as seniors rather than juniors at my school, so now I’m pretty much screwed. Colleges care about both years, but I think junior year is a little more important because you’ll have those grades as actual proof you did we’ll when your applying rather than just a “yeah I’m taking lots of APs currently” and they have no idea what your grades will come out to be.</p>
<p>You should be taking basically the hardest courses offered every year (so long as they’re not so hard that you don’t do well). That’s different from school to school. I had 1 AP last year, 4 APs this year (junior), and at least 4 next year, maybe more.</p>
<p>Yea my school offers a lot of AP classes once you are a junior, but don’t offer any for sophomores or freshmen. That is why I want to try to take as many as I think I can handle.</p>
<p>I had the same situation as you. There was only one AP class offered sophomore yr (us gov) and none freshman yr. I’m a junior now and I’m taking 5 APs, another 4 next yr, and one online this summer. In total, I will have taken 11 APs.
I’d say balance the courses you take junior and senior yr. Taking significantly more APs senior year causes colleges to think like you slacked until the last minute and taking significantly fewer APs senior year will make it look like you came down with senioritis.</p>
<p>At my school, in terms of “high achievers,” they generally tend to take 0 or 1 freshman year (AP world and AP languages are offered freshman year), with one girl I know who took 2 (AP World and AP Spanish) but no one else I know. Sophomores tend to take one or two, and a couple kids I know are taking 3 (one’s taking APUSH, AP Comp Sci, and AP Spanish, the other is taking AP Psych, AP Spanish, and AP Econ), juniors tend to take 3 or 4, and then seniors take 3, 4, or in one rare case 5, my friend is taking Multivariable Calc (weighted at my school), AP Physics C, AP English Lit, AP US Gov, and AP Econ, another girl who’s a junior has AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP English Lang, APUSH, and AP Spanish. At my school it’s very difficult to take more than four because AP sciences are two periods (even Enviro Sci), and we do block scheduling and we’re only allowed 7 classes. Not only that, but there are a lot of required classes at my school. People tend to take the most amount of AP’s senior year, me included.</p>
<p>Take 5 junior year, 5 senior year.</p>