Woah, look at all of those AP courses!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>^ Just kidding.
I applied to Yale with ONE (1, 3-2, Five minus three plus two minus three, etc) AP course on my transcript. Why? Because that's all my school offered me. For some reason, my school likes Dual Credit more (courses taken as college credit in conjunction with the local community college system). And I had a total of ONE Dual Credit course on my transcript, because (again) that's all my school offered. The rest are just so-called "honors" courses.</p>

<p>How does Yale look at my situation? I see tons of people who've taken over four APs. Some people say having even two APs is a huge disadvantage, but is it in my case?</p>

2

<p>No, since your counselor states in the Secondary School Report how many APs your school offers…</p>

3

<p>I believe admissions will base your courses and workload on what your school has to offer you.</p>

4

<p>Could you give more info on the courses you’ve taken Junior/Senior year?</p>

<p>Despite what the above people have said, it might look bad on your record.
Not because they will think you chose to take “easier” classes. They will think that the rigor of your course load was much more simple compared to who you’re applying against. It will also make your school look bad, remember it is a major set back if your high school is bad. Getting first in your class and a 4.0 at some terrible school in Harlem isn’t going to impress admissions. </p>

<p>You’re applying against people with 5’s in AP Calc BC, and Physics and lots of others.
They’re not going to be impressed that you got an A in honors precalculus.</p>

5

<p>I only have 1 AP (and am taking 3 this year) but a number of people from my school have been admitted with similar courses (at my school:no APs unntil junior year, limited even then). As long as you challenged yourself and did well, you’ve done the most you can do. Yale wants to see potential based on your previous choices, not how much you know about a given topic already. </p>

<p>I wholeheartedly disagree with the above poster.</p>

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<p>There are so many things wrong with this statement. First, the assumption that all schools in Harlem are poor and easy is terribly incorrect and bigoted. Just because an area is known for not being nice doesn’t mean that all of it is automatically geared toward setting people up for a life on the streets. Secondly, if the person is at a financial/family-related/responsibility-related disadvantage, then a 4.0 is much more impressive to Yale than good grades at a private school where the student has been pampered all his life. </p>

<p>

Why will this student be at a disadvantage? (S)he did very well in the highest math course that the student had available. What more could Yale expect? They will see that (s)he is academically qualified and move on to the subjective parts of the app to make a decision.</p>

6

<p>You’re really missing the point.</p>

<p>YALE CONSIDERS THE QUALITY OF YOUR SCHOOL WHEN YOU APPLY. </p>

<p>If your school doesn’t offer rigorous and difficult college level classes, there is no way you can show them that you are ready for the level of difficulty you will encounter at Yale.</p>

7

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<p>Just playing the devil’s advocate here, but the student could</p>

<p>a) take courses at a local university or community college
b) take online courses (I think some online schools offer AP courses)
c) self study, and take the AP course themselves
d) self study, and do well in other exams/competitions (USABO, USAMO, etc)</p>

8

<p>I understand that Yale considers your school when you apply, but the point isnt that you need to go to school X to get admitted to get in. If a student excels in an underprivileged public high school, Yale will consider that student very attractive in admissions. Similarly, someone who gets a 4.0 at the top prep school in the country is also very attractive (considerably more so) in admissions, because that is a near-impossible thing to do. </p>

<p>People on this site are very academically-minded and seem to think that the more APs you self-study, the better your chances of admission. Most schools hardly consider AP scores in admission and would rather see you spending your time elsewhere.</p>

9

<p>what if the student can’t afford those courses at the community college or university. What will Yale do then?</p>

10

<p>“If a student excels in an underprivileged public high school, Yale will consider that student very attractive in admissions”</p>

<p>No, actually they won’t. Stop speaking like you know what you’re talking about.</p>

11

<p>Owlehn:</p>

<p>If you ask an admissions officer, they will tell you that Yale considers your transcript in context. If your school has only one AP course to offer, they will make note of that and not hold it against you. They are aware that students have inequitable access to advanced courses, especially if they are in rural or impoverished school districts. Indeed this is one of the reasons why standardized tests play a role in college admissions: how else would one compare a graduate from your school against a graduate from a school which offers 20 AP classes?</p>

<p>I have no reason to doubt this because (1) there are admits who come from schools such as yours and (2) the limited data I have on the issue shows no correlation between number of AP classes taken and admission chances. (AP scores, on the other hand, do seem to matter). However it is probably true that you have an added “burden of proof” to establish your qualifications. High test scores can help with this as can academic accomplishments outside of school (through competitions, external classes, or independent research) and letters of recommendation which cite specific strong examples of your potential.</p>

12

<p>To clarify:</p>

<p>My school is not a bad school–it’s a private, religiously-affiliated school that’s supposedly more difficult than surrounding schools. Only two people in my class of 80 have received all As in all advanced courses available (I’m one of them). Having said that, the school only allows students to take AP courses Junior and Senior year. The only AP courses I’ll have taken by the time I graduate are: AP Lang, AP Lit, AP Gov, and AP CalcAB. </p>

<p>My school may offer Bio AP every other year or something, but even if it did, there wouldn’t be room in my schedule to take it. My school used to have Chem AP and AP UsHistory, but they’ve since changed those to Dual Credit courses. </p>

<p>I took Spanish II freshman year and Spanish III sophomore year, but then they didn’t have any teachers to teach Spanish IV or V. Likewise, I would have taken chemistry DC my junior year had I not been (forced) to take Physics Pre-AP (for some reason, students at my school are required to take Physics Pre-AP their Junior year if they want to graduate with honors or something…). I could have taken Physics AP online this year through some online college system, but I honestly didn’t want to because I don’t like physics at all. I’d rather spend my time doing something I enjoy that’s still productive.</p>

<p>In addition, my school requires students to take religion courses every year. These courses could not be considered honors my freshman - junior years, but this year, the pastor at my school randomly decided to have honors religion, so now I’m taking that. </p>

<p>As for USABO, USAMO… what the heck are they? Lol. I’ve never heard of anything like that. My school has something called Academic Team, and that’s about it in the realm of academics.
And if it means anything, I took a course in writing this past summer at a college out-of-state…</p>

<p>I’ve done everything I can, not including online courses that I have no interest in–in part because of the subject matter, and in part because I prefer never to take courses online.</p>

<p>And just to let you guys know, my school has had one student go to an Ivy League: five years ago, to Yale. And then there was a student who went to Johns Hopkins. Other than those two, nobody’s matriculated to a highly competitive school in my high school’s history.</p>

13

<p>^Your AP courses are not going to hurt you. I’m sure many have less than 4 at some schools. </p>

<p>The only problem I see might be that Yale is unfamiliar with your school, since a kid hasn’t gone there in 5 years. That shouldn’t be held against you, but it also means they probably have less info on your school.</p>

14

<p>I concur with everything Descartesz says. I’ll add that students from smaller, lesser known and even start-up high schools do get into top schools. When it comes to such high schools, an informative high school profile will help Yale see the applicant in context.</p>

15

<p>ok, yes you will be considered in context, true, if the context is bad, it won’t help you much…
that aside though, other aspects of your application also matter and I have to ask where you’re from bc I’ve only heard the term “Academic Team” used in ther region where I live :slight_smile: but that aside, if you’ve already applied, there’s not much you can do about it, take a breath and let it go until you get notified.</p>

<p>and on another note, don’t worry too much about the lack of people going to top scvhools from your HS, no one in my counselor’s memory (6+ years) got into Yale from my HS until last year, it doesn’t help, but in the end, it isn’t killer.</p>

16

<p>GOPTexas, Yale is not going to hold what high school you attended against you. If you were born to a family that makes about 20,000 a year and has three kids and go to the worst public high school in the nation, Yale isn’t going to look at your app and say, “why weren’t you born to some wealthy couple and go to a posh private school? REJECT!”. These factors are beyond the scope of control the student has over his/her life and it would be distinctly unfair for Yale to reject solely based on that. Let’s say the kid takes the most difficult classes AVAILABLE and then works hard outside of school and excels at the SAT, well then he/she is going to be in the running alongside all those private school/magnet school kids. It’s incorrect to say that this student is not prepared for college level courses because he/she was not given the opportunity to demonstrate this. He/she made the best use of his/her resources and that’s all Yale can ask for.</p>

17

<p>^^
I live in Texas! :D</p>

18

<p>“Yale is not going to hold what high school you attended against you.”</p>

<p>Holy Christ on the cross. </p>

<p>Why is this such a hard concept for you people.</p>

<p>YES, YES THEY WILL HOLD THAT AGAINST YOU. </p>

<p>If you go to the worst school in the country YOU WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED unless you have some sort of AMAZING achievement. I’m talking like being a NYtimes best selling author or curing cancer. </p>

<p>If they didn’t care about the quality of your high school there wouldn’t be a secondary school report. Everyone I met at school went to great high schools, it doesn’t have to be Dalton, but no one went to some F school in South Central I can guarantee that.</p>

19

<p>ok, so yes, if you are clearly unfit for college/Yale level course work, then yes, you won’t get in. On the other hand, just because you didn’t go to a school on the top 50 list doesn’t mean you will get rejected. I went to a school that most people outside(or even inside) my home state have ever heard of. It won’t kill you if you have something else to show (even if that something else isn’t cure cancer…).
and sadly, I’m not from Texas, so I’m happy to hear Academic Team exists elsewhere :)</p>

20

<p>Last year, a girl from the worst school in our area (I’m talking run-down school, fights everyday, occasional weapon threats, most kids don’t even go on to attend college, etc.) was accepted to Princeton (Which obviously isn’t Yale but still…). And no, she was not an URM. </p>

<p>But she really stood out in the context of her school: she was a really good ballerina, actually tried and did fairly well in school, and was a very nice person. </p>

<p>Nobody from my school (one of the better schools in our area) was accepted to HYPS that year. </p>

<p>Just saying…</p>