<p>All hypothetical:</p>
<p>Case 1 - You take 2 AP classes each year and end with a 4.0</p>
<p>Case 2 - You take 5 AP classes each year and end with a 3.5</p>
<p>Case 3 - You take 3 AP classes each year and end with a 3.8</p>
<p>Edit: If the school offers 25+ AP classes</p>
<p>I would go with case 2</p>
<p>I’d personally go with Case 3. It seems like the best balance between course rigor and GPA.</p>
<p>They’re all good</p>
<p>Case 1… And now there’s all the different answers.</p>
<p>I feel that it depends on a little more than that. If your school offers 8 science/math APs, and that’s all you take (and take all of them), and you apply to engineering schools, that’s better than taking 20 APs with most of them being unrelated to what you are going to study in college.</p>
<p>I think Case 3 is the best. 3 APs is already a very rigorous course load, and you don’t want to sacrifice your GPA too much (also remember that overburdening yourself will make it less likely to pass your exams come May).</p>
<p>However, if you can take 5 APs and get that 4.0 by going that extra mile in studying, go for it.</p>
<p>They have 25 AP classes!! Have I been living in a part of the country not known for creating competitive students???</p>
<p>If you have some idea of the college you might want to attend or the scholarship you might want to earn, study this carefully. For instance, my son is considering Purdue University for engineering. Originally we looked at the automatic scholarship qualifications and thought, 3.8 GPA, 30 ACT: no problem. Then we looked more closely at the GPA qualifications. It turned out to be an unweighted GPA based solely on core classes ie. English, math, science, social studies and foreign language. In this case his AP classes (and honors classes) don’t necessarily help him if it doesn’t calculate into a 3.8/4.0. It’s kind of a pain. If they count his 8th grade algebra grades, he might not qualify. As it is, he can only afford to get 3 A- semester grades this year and still get discounted $8K per year for a $32K total. So while 5 AP classes would seem the most challenging, if the university doesn’t consider weighted grades and that is too much for you to do well, I’d reconsider. JMHO</p>
<p>My favorite was case 3, but I was looking through the chance threads and saw many people who had taken just 2 AP’s throughout all of highschool, ending with 4.0s, and then people saying they’ll get into their reach schools.</p>
<p>Case 3, 3 APS is not bad at all.</p>
<p>I would probably go with case 1. Honestly, I find case 2 and 3 a little below average if you’re looking to attend one of the elite universities.</p>
<p>It’s not like taking 2 AP courses will look bad.</p>
<p>case 2 obviously
gpa obtained without rigor is meaningless</p>
<p>I would say case 3, 3.5 is too low but 3.8 is okay</p>
<p>The best option is 5 APs each year and a 4.0. Good luck getting 5 APs your freshman and sophomore years, though!</p>