<p>I took 9 AP classes and 11 AP exams this year (physics C self-study). Similarly, I took 7 classes/8 exams as a junior, 4/4 as a sophomore, and 1/1 as a freshman. Why did I put myself through this?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I would have been bored in honors classes. From what my friends told me about honors history, plus what I remember about honors English and honors math, the amount which is asked of and expected of students is very low. Furthermore, the class discussions aren’t always as intellectual; while top students will have intellectual conversations for the joy of it, teachers must coax such discussion out of other students, and since my school doesn’t have a great selection of non-AP teachers, you’ll find that these conversations don’t happen much at all in non-AP classes.</p></li>
<li><p>I really did learn a lot, although most of this was due to independent research. However, although I do love self-studying, the fact that I was taking AP Bio in the first place gave me a huge motivation to read every page of Campbell’s. Also, going along with the first point, being in classes of students who love learning allowed me to engage in some great interdisciplinary conversations that certainly expanded my mind.</p></li>
<li><p>It was a challenge. No individual class, besides self-studying physics C, was a challenge for me, and that’s simply because high school isn’t all that difficult in the first place. However, having to balance everything - all these APs, music, extracurriculars, and maintaining a pretty good social life - that’s a challenge.</p></li>
<li><p>It prevented me from getting senioritis. With such a large workload pressing uoon my back, I really had no choice. I don’t say this in an effort to garner sympathy; when friends told me that I was insane for taking 11 AP exams, I just said, “I don’t want any sympathy. I brought it upon myself fully knowing what I was getting myself into, and plus, it’s really prevented me from getting senioritis.”</p></li>
<li><p>My mom can’t nag me about useless things because she knows I’m always doing work.</p></li>
<li><p>Assuming I passed all of my exams this year, there’s a decent chance that I’ll get State AP Scholar for Florida. That’s pretty cool.</p></li>
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<p>^Does you school schedule have enough time available for 9 classes in a day?</p>
<p>No, it does not. It has enough room for 7 classes a day, 2 of which must be art-area classes (I go to a magnet arts school). I took six APs in school (five academic plus AP Music Theory) and three through my state’s free online school that either my brick and mortar school didn’t offer (enviro / comp sci) or that I couldn’t fit into my schedule (stats).</p>
<p>^So you self-studied the other 15 exams?</p>
<p>Why I chose my senior schedule:
AP Lit- Eng 12 is literally full of the mentally incapacitated… There’s no honors option</p>
<p>AP Comp Gov- The AP US gov teacher doesnt prepare her students well, normal gov class (see eng 12 above)</p>
<p>AP Environmental- AP Physics would be too hard for me, dont have space for AP Chem/AP Bio because they require two class blocks for the lab component. My sister’s also majoring in this, so it’ll be cool to talk to her.</p>
<p>AP Euro- I’ve always excelled in history, especially in AP World/APUSH (but even back in 6th/7th grade) and love writing the essays and the teacher seems awesome and explained her unique curriculum to me, which got me interested. First year my school will offer this class. Not sure how prepared I’ll be… my future teacher’s just barely finshing up her euro degree right now.</p>
<p>AP Calc BC- The AB teacher (my current precalc teacher) doesn’t prepare kids well enough for exam. Meanwhile every student who’s had the BC teacher has said hands down that she’s the best teacher in the school. She apparently finishes the AB material in record speed but still teaches it well.</p>
<p>AP Latin Vergil- Latin’s my subject, teacher is one of the best latinists in the state, what more is there to say?</p>
<p>So basically, I took AP classes:
-To look better for admissions
-To learn material I’d be interested in
-To be taught by the best/most interesting teachers in my schools…</p>
<p>Sounds conceited but I just couldnt be able to handle a regular class…</p>
<p>I go with most of the answers above plus we get a grade point bump for AP classes. It kills your gpa if you don’t take AP.</p>
<p>You can get soooooo much scholarship money if you have a strong transcript with APs and high grades.</p>
<p>Lol I feel slightly sad that our school doesn’t pay for our exams/give us a grade boost for Self Studies.</p>
<p>You actually learn something as opposed to honors/reg classes</p>
<p>Counts big for college apps and credits</p>
<p>Less morons/slackers in ap classes</p>
<p>For me, the biggest reason is to learn more than the stupid stuff I’ve already learned in Regular/Honors classes.</p>
<p>The 2nd reason is: To save money in college. I would rather not spend thousands of dollars taking remedial/1st year college courses. I would rather spend only $90 taking the AP Exam. So… nuff said</p>
<p>3rd reason: Looks good on college apps</p>
<p>I’m Asian thats why :D</p>
<p>mainly because i have to if i want a chance at getting into any of my top schools.</p>
<p>ap classes at my school also have some of the best teachers. we take 8 classes at a time so the workload can be brutal due to sheer quantity, but i really do love most of my teachers. plus i’m not friends with too many people in regular courses anddd i’d probably be bored out of my mind.</p>
<p>I am taking so many AP tests because I am a good test taker, and my grades are very average, so if I want to have a shot at top colleges and/or scholarships, I have to have some good test scores on my resume to show that I am more intelligent than my grades would otherwise indicate.</p>
<p>@ APChemistry</p>
<p>The test scores don’t mean that much do they? I always thought the scores were mainly for the college credit… and the class was the impressive thing. I know you can get some good scholarships but… </p>
<p>But if you don’t have really good grades, you can depend on other stuff, like extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Although if YOu aced the SAT ad subject tests, that would be awesome.</p>
<p>A few reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Taking many APs and doing well in them will look good to colleges. It shows that you can challenge yourself and succeed at a higher level of learning than many of your classmates.</p></li>
<li><p>Raises your weighted GPA</p></li>
<li><p>Depending on your college’s requirements, scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on an AP exam could allow you to skip introductory levels of courses. That would reduce the amount of credits you’d need to get your degree, as well as giving you space in your schedule to study a greater variety of subjects in more detail.</p></li>
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<p>It just feels good knowing that you’re ahead. AP classes are quite stressful (except AP Lang), but the tests are usually fine.</p>