<p>Most students at my school (at least the very smart ones) take only like 3 or 4 Aps for all four years because that's kind of what they offer. Why does everyone else in other schools like like 15/11 stuff? Even Art majors on collegebord take AP Physics and AP Statistics... What's up with that?</p>
<p>Welcome to the largest collection of overachievers in the universe.</p>
<p>Ditto what cowtipper says....don't use cc as a representative sample of all college-bound students or you'll get depressed.</p>
<p>That said, at most public universities, you get credit and place out of entry-level classes with good grades on AP exams. We've calculated ahead and at one of my D's potential schools, she'll enter with approx 50 hours of college credit because of all her hard work in AP courses in high school. Not only will this keep her from many of the massive lecture classes as a freshman, it should also give her some priority earlier in the registration process once she's in school, and will either allow her to graduate much earlier, or take lighter course-loads each semester, or take classes that she really WANTS to take, in addition to what she'll need to graduate.</p>
<p>If you plan to attend a competitive school, you should plan to take the hardest classes that you can do well in. If you're at a school that offers lots of AP courses, take the ones that you think you can handle.</p>
<p>1) Would you rather pay $80 for an AP test, or $800 for a college class?
2) Prestige-whoring, competitiveness, etc.
3) The need to get into a good college.
4) Some kids have been on the academic "fast-track" for their whole lives, and need something to take after Honors Chem or whatever.
5) At some schools it's the norm for smart kids. Note: at SOME schools.
6) CollegeConfidential. USNews. Army recruiters.
7) Certain cultures will flog you if you don't take the highest courses available. Or might just confine themselves to condemning you to work at McDonalds.</p>
<p>Yeah....seriously, the "regular" classes at my school are a joke, and the honors classes are aps, (for example there is no honors english, history, etc after sophomore year)...i don't think reading one play and writing a creative essay about my favorite band (their actual essay! on a midterm, amazing) = challenging</p>
<p>Gosh, I wish I knew.</p>
<p>There's a girl in my AP English class that hates it, and she always moans when she studies really hard and does worse than those of us that didn't study at all. She's basically only taking the class to say that she took AP English... isn't even planning on taking the AP exam.</p>
<p>Why take an AP class if you're awful at the subject? I take AP english and AP psych because that's where my talents lie. I'd never, ever in a million years take AP Calc- why would I want to do that when I'm awful at math and hate the subject anyway?</p>
<p>So, in conclusion, some people take APs because they look good on a transcript and make them look good for college. Or because they want to be able to brag about the number of APs they are taking in one year.</p>
<p>I take AP classes in subjects I'm bad at to challenge myself. I hate English but I need to work on my writing to succeed in the real world, y'know. </p>
<p>And I hate stupid classmates, so getting away from them in the #1 priority.</p>
<p>i don't ever want to take math again in my entire life.</p>
<p>ap stat and bc calc will pretty much take care of that for me. </p>
<p>really, for me, it's pretty much about the college credit. </p>
<p>that, and because my parents are...umm...persuasive, i guess you could say. haha.</p>
<p>There's so many reasons people take so many AP's. Actually taking AP's gives you so many benefits that it's just good to take them. 1. You can be away from non smart classmates, 2. college credit, 3. Bragging Rights, 4, Challenge Yourself. Etc.</p>
<p>Three letters.</p>
<p>G.
P.
A.</p>
<p>I'm a hypocrit. I hate this kind of what I perceive to be misuse of the AP system, but I turn right around and do it myself.</p>
<p>I take AP's because I don't like being in a class full of people who don't want to learn (and at my school, even honors!).</p>
<p>Other classes are boring...AP is challenging.</p>
<p>psh im going to do my Aps because of the track I'm on lol</p>