<p>I read an article in a reliable newspaper and it said that while Stanford wants students to take few AP's but with depth, Yale wants students to take as many AP's as they can. </p>
<p>If this is true, how many AP's would be considered 'many' to Yale?</p>
<p>In my opinion, I think 10~12 AP's are enough. Seriously, people taking more than 14 AP's by their senior years and self-studying for even more AP's are just trying too hard.</p>
<p>I would start to question the reliability of that newspaper if it actually suggests that Yale is looking for 10-12 APs from their applicants. If the opportunity to take APs is available, then yes, students should take advantage of that and enroll in courses of higher education. But otherwise, you could do very well without having a single AP course to your name if they are not available to you. And I also doubt Stanford would downplay APs that much; they are good to take and in-depth at schools that know what they are doing.</p>
<p>I personally feel 10-12 might already be more than enough. I attend a school where a course for every test in existence is offered, and I cannot name with certainty any individuals who have already taken that many AP courses (although I do know some juniors who will be getting close by senior year).</p>
<p>Yes, yale does want you to take the most challenging courses at your school, and if those are APs, go for it. </p>
<p>Take however many is competitive for your school. My school only really offers you the opportunity to take 10 or 11 APs MAXIMUM in high school, and almost all of them are junior or senior courses. So for our school, 6-8 APs would be making good use of available resources.</p>
<p>They want you to take the most challenging courses that make sense for you. Taking a bunch of APs that you aren't interested doesn't show much interest in your subject. My school only offers only 5 or so APs, and it is hard to take them all because some are only offered one hour of the day. We had a kid get in EA to Harvard with only 1 AP Junior year and 2 this year. (He was a recruited athlete but still...)</p>
<p>I agree with ungst. I think taking a bunch of AP's has a negative effect on you. There has to be a connection between all the AP's you take, I think. Why take all 3 science AP's when you're not interested in majoring in med and other sciences? The newspaper didn't say the exact number of the AP's you have to take. It just said that Yale wants students to take as much AP's as they can.</p>
<p>My school only offers 6 APs at this point (and self-studying for the test for 2 more), and I'm the first one in 3 years to have tackled them all. Some people think I'm insane for doing it and that I must do a bunch of homework, but, actually, this year, with Calc, Bio, and Language + 3 other non APs, I have only had homework 3 times the whole year! (It's all about time management while I'm IN school) When people talk to me about how crazy it is to take 3 APs at a time, I simply tell them that there are actually like 30 AP courses (everybody at our school thinks there are only the ones we offer) and that many kids at better schools will take more than 5-6+ at a time.</p>
<p>Sure it shows dedication to self study, but all you end up with is a grade, that many schools won't give credit for which will probably not give you any more weight than a normal course would. I say do the most with what interests you that your school offers and spend your time doing something you like and be dedicated to it, like a sport or community service. I know someone who is taking 3APs this year that thinks it was a terrible decision.</p>
<p>Doesn't it depend on the high school?</p>
<p>We could only really take 6 APs by senior year, max, maybe 7.</p>
<p>The thinking about AP's is changing everywhere, daily. Junior year, the Yale admissions person visited our school and said that we would get "sophomore standing" if we successfully (5's) completed 9 AP courses among those listed on Yale's website. That offer or program doesn't exist anymore, from everything I see. Today, Yale offers some higher standing in some subjects based upon AP success, but it isn't universal. </p>
<p>But, to be honest, I was accepted EA and my local alum interviewer noted in her congratulatory note, that my AP success was a factor in the admissions process. And the admissions person at Stanford working with my school asked me (thru the college office) to send them an official AP score report.
We can't believe everything we read in newspapers I guess.</p>
<p>illinuit: how many APs did you take, and what were your scores? (if you don't mind sharing)</p>
<p>A Yale representative came to my school, and parent had a question:
"Is it better to get Bs in AP courses or As in Honors courses?"</p>
<p>The representative shook his head and said:
"As in AP courses."</p>
<p>And yes, at some schools, people do take 5-6 AP courses. For the top kids, that's pretty normal, if not standard.</p>
<p>yes i believe a good number of AP's is highly looked upon or if you are lucky enough to have the IB program offered this too is a highly esteemed degree which again is really good to have on your record. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Wish my school had both AP's and IB's. I don't understand why you can't take IB tests if your base school doesn't offer them...</p>
<p>For the IB tests IB students take pre-IB couses for 2 years, and 2 years of IB courses. You would fail on any IB test without these rigorous college preparatory classes. AP classes are not IB classes, close, but not that rigorous. Only IB students and their parents know what it means to finish with an IB diploma after 4 years of learning. Not much socializing and truly fun time!</p>
<p>People that are highly ranked at my high school can take like 15+ AP courses if they wanted.</p>
<p>that's crazy. we have a 7 period schedule and the most someone is taking right now is like 4. we don't even HAVE 15 AP's offered!</p>