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Is 7 AP Classes total enough?

200287791200287791 Registered User Posts: 26 Junior Member
in College Admissions
My school offers 11 AP classes, however I am planning on taking 7. The ones I will not be taking are AP French (no time in schedule, as I need art credit to graduate), AP Bio (not interested in it, taking regular physics instead), AP Calc BC (I will be in Calc AB my senior year, so I cant really take it), and AP USH (if Im being totally honest, all 3 apush teachers at my school are not good and no one comes out this class with a good grade or enjoying it).
So, will 7 be enough AP courses to get into a selective college (something like USC, NYU, Berkeley)?

If its not enough, should I take AP USH as well, even though I honestly have not heard one good thing about the class? (If I do decide to take it I would have 4 AP's junior year, including AP Chem which seems like a very heavy course load with a lot of homework)
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Replies to: Is 7 AP Classes total enough?

  • YarnweaverYarnweaver Registered User Posts: 203 Junior Member
    Hey, current junior here. I think it all depends on your school, but 7/11 is good! What do you want to major in? If you're thinking of going into STEM, then I recommend taking AP bio.

    Regarding APUSH, I'm currently in it and, as a person who dislikes history, the class is good (but I do have a good teacher). If you're not interested in history and the teachers aren't good, then skip it.

    And as for the number of APs, 4 is perfectly fine (unless you have outstanding time commitments for ECs).
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  • mohammadmohd18mohammadmohd18 Registered User Posts: 501 Member
    If you decide to take it, what would your schedule look like for junior year?
    • Precalc
    • AP Chem
    • APUSH
    • "Regular" Physics (Honors?)
    • Art credit?
    • Other things??
    APUSH is a drag on everyone. No one walks out of it saying "Oh golly, I wish I could take APUSH again!" It just doesn't happen. It is one of the harder APs. Someone will likely ardently disagree with me after I post this, but trust me: you might as well get APUSH over with.

    Good choice to not take two AP sciences next year. AP Chem, Phys 1, and USH would have slaughtered your GPA and your sanity.

    I would take APUSH. While the difference between 13 and 14 APs is minimal (if at all existent), the difference between 7 and 8 is a bit more pronounced. Picture a logistical curve in your head, with 8 APs being the point on the x-axis at which your ROI starts to drop off significantly.
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  • TooOld4CollegeTooOld4College Registered User Posts: 193 Junior Member
    I actually agree with @mohammadmohd18 in that you should take APUSH for those reasons. But here's another thing, when you go off to college you may have to take courses that are a drag or have a poor instructor, but have no choice in taking the class. Having the experience now in high school may give you an added advantage in dealing with situations like that which most likely will arise. And if you think you have a heavy load now... ??? ;)
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  • 200287791200287791 Registered User Posts: 26 Junior Member
    @mohammadmohd18 I was a little unclear about the science classes
    Junior year I would take:
    AP Chem
    AP Lang
    AP French
    Pre Calc Honors
    Art
    US History/APUSH?

    Then senior year would be:
    Physics (school does not offer a honors or AP physics course)
    AP Calc AB
    AP LIt
    AP Gov
    Not sure what two electives yet, probably nothing too difficult

    I am beginning to lean more towards APUSH. My only fear is that AP Chem, APUSH, and AP Lang are all very homework heavy courses.
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  • mohammadmohd18mohammadmohd18 Registered User Posts: 501 Member
    edited April 2017
    I have no experience with AP Chem. But oh boy. I assume that Chem has a lot of labs. I know for a fact that Lang has a lot of reading. I know for a fact that APUSH has a lot of reading and writing. And it's obvious that French has a lot of reading, writing, and speaking. That's a lot of homework every night. Your weekends might suffer, as might your cortisol levels.

    Be careful.
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  • TooOld4CollegeTooOld4College Registered User Posts: 193 Junior Member
    True, it's a lot of homework. But nobody knows better than yourself whether or not you can handle the load, except maybe your guidance counselor. But if you can handle it without suffering the grades, you would stand out more. Selective colleges should also recognize your efforts.
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  • ventana10ventana10 Registered User Posts: 28 New Member
    IMO an AP science would be a good idea for senior year. Check to see if your school participates in VHS (Virtual High School). They offer all AP courses. I am currently taking an honors elective that way. Our computer science teacher serves as the on-site proctor/teacher
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  • happy1happy1 Forum Champion Parents, Forum Champion Admissions Posts: 24,207 Forum Champion
    edited April 2017
    The person to ask if your guidance counselor. The top schools want to see that the guidance counselor checks off that you have taken the most rigorous schedule available at your HS in the recommendation (that doesn't mean you need to take every AP offered) -- so you need to ask your guidance counselor if your planned schedule would be sufficiently rigorous for him/her to check that box.
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  • marvin100marvin100 Registered User Posts: 9,804 Senior Member
    Enough for what?
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  • MYOS1634MYOS1634 Registered User Posts: 41,290 Senior Member
    7 AP's is good.
    Ask your guidance counselor if you register for push and realize it's too much, can you 'drop down't to honors ush?
    Are you instate for California?
    What's your parents ' budget?
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  • John123456789John123456789 Registered User Posts: 65 Junior Member
    4 junior year isn't bad. I took APUSH, AP lang, AP stats, and AP gov this year. The reading for APUSH honestly was not that bad, and I barely had any homework for AP lang.
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  • UndercrackersUndercrackers Registered User Posts: 845 Member
    We were told by the high school college counsellor that D would need to take 8-9 AP's to go into the next "tier" of rigor. She really debated on what the right number of AP classes would be balanced against maintaining her 4.0. Steered clear of classes that were a lot of work in subjects she wasn't as interested in (history) or that the teacher wasn't particularly good for (bio). Wound up taking Calc AB, Lang, and Chem junior year; Calc BC, Lit, and Environmental Science senior year. With her sports, EC's and job, 6 AP's were enough for her. Just finishing a successful freshman year at UC Berkeley as a STEM major (also got into USC and UCLA).

    My advise is to not load up on classes "just because" - if you can't handle them, you will tank your GPA. I think 7 is a good number - make sure you get the best ACT/SAT scores you can, put a lot of effort into your essays, and make sure your letters of rec are stellar.
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  • soontobecollegersoontobecolleger Registered User Posts: 588 Member
    Idk if you chose classes yet but, if not, please do not take APUSH if you do not like history. It's hard enough for people that do like history... you will just be miserable, and then if your only reason was to get into a certain school and you don't get into that school, you will regret it.

    7 out of 11 is absolutely fine. Just try to do well in those classes.

    Btw, I took 6 out of 9 APs at my school and will be attending Northwestern this Fall. I will never regret opting out of APUSH :)
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