A few Questions about AP

eliane
Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:20:25 +0000

I don’t think there’s an “AP threshold” that top schools require. So what you heard about having a minimum of four AP credits is not true.

As long as you are making the most of what is available to you (which you seem to be doing well), adcoms will not consider your weakness as not taking enough AP’s. After all, it would not be fair to compare the academic achievements of a rich prep school student (who has unlimited access to SAT courses, tutoring, prep books, excellent teachers) to the achievements of an inner-city kid (who has neither the money nor the opportunity to pursue certainly fields as thoroughly).

The above poster also mentioned several self-study options, for which I agree is a reasonable course of action. In addition to the AP he suggested, I also recommend taking a look at Micro and Macro. The APEC courses tend to have the highest AP exam pass rate, which on its own may not be the most accurate indicator, but is relatively easy to self-study nonethless.

If you are a native language speaker, you could also consider the AP exam of your language (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, etc). Although Harvard has specifically discouraged native language test-takers, many other schools have yet to publish their opinions on native language testing. However, taking an exam in your native tongue will NOT be nearly as impressive as another AP. The same is still true for second-generation kids who were not necessarily born in their ethnically native country (e.g. Canadian-born-Chinese).

In any case, whichever option you wish to persue, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself! …Reasonably, of course.