tigerton

Quick question: Does Yale place any weight on certain AP classes over others? Such as AP Chemistry compared to Psychology, or Calculus compared to English? I know it's dependent on your intended major, but does difficulty of a class mean anything?

christiansoldier

I think they're pretty aware that someone taking AP Physics B or AP Calculus BC is in a more rigorous class than AP Human Geography or AP Psychology. But then again, I'm not sure.

Also, don't underestimate AP English (Language or Literature). They are pretty intense if you plan on getting 5's, unless you're naturally an exceptional writer.

whitecadillac

@ OP, how can you say which is more difficult, though? it varies from individual to individual. i know a ton of people who took both ap english and ap calc last year who thought ap eng was more difficult.

i don't get why people underestimate the difficulty of and intellect needed for english. it boggles my mind. most people find math easier, actually. you'd be more hard pressed to find "english geniuses" who can ace every essay, every multiple choice analysis of literature, and understand every high-level novel thrown at them in ap classes. just look at average sat scores. the most frequent high scores are in math; the most frequent low scores are in writing. and yet people still seem to think math geniuses are smarter than english geniuses...so weird.

tigerton

I'm not saying one is harder than the other, what I mean is, in general, is there any weight.

WannaBYalie

I know not everything Whitecadillac said was relevant, but I sooo agree

As far as the original question, I wouldn't think so. It really has no meaning unless it relates to your major. What I mean by that, is any AP that doesn't relate to your intended major is seen mainly as your drive. At least this is how a lot of people view it.

vicariousparent

If you have taken AP Hum Geography, AP Psych, AP Econ, AP Stat, AP Art history but have skipped "core" APs like AP Eng Lang/Lit, APUSH, AP Calc, AP in a science, or AP in your foreign language then they might wonder whether you have challenged yourself enough.

whitecadillac

^what if it's a mix? mine comprise 3 cores (apush, ap lit, and ap lang) and 2 "others" (econ and gov). with honors math + science classes. (no honors foreign lang at my school but 1 foreign lang ap.)