Currently planning to take 5 AP classes and 1 TA period my senior year:
AP Government and Politics/Regular Economics
AP Environmental Science
AP Lit
AP Computer Science A
AP Statistics
Not sure if taking a TA period would impact my college admissions chances (since I will be applying to top schools) as I’ve heard colleges expect you to still take a challenging and full courseload senior year, and TA, well, isn’t really a class. It’s just free time.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? If not taking a TA period I’d probably take Honors Physics instead, but I’d much rather have a TA period. I just don’t want it to impact my chances.
For context, I’ll have 7 AP courses done by the time I finish junior year and 8 AP exams (1 self study).
With 5 AP’s I would think a TA period would be fine. Do you have any duties with the TA period? Have you finished with history and foreign language? What math and sciences have you already done.
My question would be whether to do certain AP classes, like environmental science or statistics, versus honors classes for, say, physics or precalc. But I don’t really know.
Just my opinion, but I think taking a TA role, while not adding strength to your schedule adds another piece to your overall application. I presume this requires teacher recommendation/application which shows strength of subject matter, leadership and dependability. All really great to show!
Also depends on what major you’re going to apply to. If STEM, honors physics will strengthen your app, and if you still want to do the TA class maybe drop AP Lit.
My D22 has a teacher assistant period now and, to be honest, it has been a lifesaver in enabling her to keep her grades up while getting her college and scholarship applications done. And to help manage her stress. For those reasons, I believe it was the right approach even if a college were to consider it a negative.
We have not heard back yet from the most selective schools on her list, but so far she has received 7 acceptances with good merit aid.
I think she will probably not be admitted to the very highest ranked schools she applied to, but I don’t think she would be admitted if she were taking one more AP class, either — she’d just be more stressed out when the response arrived.
I don’t see one period of being a TA as an issue but:
–Have you taken a foreign language through level 4? If not you should continue foreign language.
–Have you taken biology, chemistry and physics already? If not you should finish this sequence before taking APES.
–Have you taken calculus already? If not you should consider taking calculus rather than AP Stat.
If you are aiming for elite colleges it is worth the time to talk to your guidance counselor and be sure you will be taking the most rigorous schedule available at your HS (which is not necessarily taking the most APs possible). For example, AP Stat is typically not considered as rigorous as calculus and APES is generally not considered as important as having at least HS level bio, chem and physics and is not considered as rigorous as AP Bio, Chem or Physics.
And FWIW college admission officers don’t typically care about self-study APs. They are interested in seeing how well a student does in a class, not how well one can cram for an exam.
Being a TA is a boost to your app, IMO. However, others have asked important questions about your other courses. Completing the expected curriculum that the most selective colleges usually want to see is more important than being a TA.
Make sure you’ve got the expected courses on your transcript. If so, being a TA is great.
I don’t see one TA course being a big issue either. But what does stand out is only 1 of those AP courses is on the rigorous scale which is important for those aiming for top 20 most selective colleges. (The other four are typical one semester courses in college.)
not a problem to be a TA. At my kids’ schools you basically have to TA. They don’t have enough classes and teachers to fill every kids 5 period schedule all three trimesters so you always have 1-2 empty every year. If it’s not period 1 or 5 you TA.
I think you shouldn’t obsess over rankings. “T10” “T20” are arbitrary pet schools rearranged by US News every year. You might as well be using the supermarket tabloids to compile your list. Instead, focus on the job skills you want to obtain in college and find an affordable school that can get you there. You’re the one choosing the school to gain those skills, not them.
I know “top” schools aren’t for everybody, and a lot of people consider it not worth going to-- and that’s perfectly fine, it’s what you want and if it’s best for you, go for it. But I’ve been working for the past few years for a dream and I would really like to achieve it
And here are the APs at school that are still available for me to take, outside of the ones I’ve already put on my schedule:
AP Psychology
AP Physics 1
AP Calculus BC
AP Seminar
AP Human Geography
I don’t really want to finish AP Calc BC at my school. Last semester, half (no exaggeration) of the BC students failed the class (D or F), and it’s not because they’re bad students - they work very hard. But that’s just how hard our teacher makes the course… and I really would not like to risk the GPA drop or deal with the stress. AP Calc AB with that teacher is already bad enough lol. Additionally, I feel like AP Stats would actually interest me more than Calc, and it seems to have better real-world applications. (I still want the AP test credit though, so I’ll self study for the exam in May 2023 - our calc teacher, because of his difficulty, makes the AP exam seem like a piece of cake and teaches some BC units in his AB class.)
As for AP Physics – I’ve been considering dropping APES for AP Physics 1. But I have my reservations because the Physics teacher is bad and the course is also very hard, which isn’t a good combo. I still need to consider this a lot. I’m applying to college as a science major so Physics would probably be better for me. But APES also seems more interesting to take…
And as for Psych, Seminar, and APHUG… they don’t really interest me. They’re totally off the table lol.
Thanks guys for all your input! Hope this info helps
I think this one is a no brainer. If you are able to self study for AP BC, as you mentioned, I don’t see why you couldn’t do well in Physics 1, even if you have to use some outside resources.
Mine was a TA for French 2/3 in her Junior year and now helping out her Precalc teacher and her AP CS teacher unofficially as a TA (though that is not captured in the application). Being a TA in French class enabled her to bag a 5 in her AP French and she made some lifelong friends as well. It also created a bond with her French teacher who’s one of her recommenders. Got into a T10 in EA if that would help you.
