<p>Conventional wisdom says to take as many APs as possible to up your chances of admission into a top school. But say you want to major in a humanities major would you need to take something like AP physics? Or even Business, if someone majors in business would they need AP Physics?</p>
<p>I’m trying to give my little brother some advice (for whom I have VERY high hopes maybe HYPS??? hope so!!) but I was never the hard working student, I took the lazy road and floated just above mediocrity, so I don’t know alot about the competitive selection process of the top schools.</p>
<p>So back to the question; would it be better for him to not take something like Physics or even Calc BC and focus on the classes that would benefit him in his major, whatever it may be. And would this apply the other way around? As in, if he were to take an interest in engineering, would he need the AP Lit? </p>
<p>And maybe instead of loading up on a class that isn’t interesting to him/wouldn’t affect his major, he take up more intensive/more admissions appealing ECs. And by only taking classes he enjoys, it’s more likely he’d get a 4.0 right? I mean I fall asleep in Calc but I’m wide awake in Lit. </p>
<p>And of course, I’d welcome any other advice to pass on to my brother.</p>
<p>I would advise that he take the highest course load of AP’s that he can possibly handle - atleast that was what I did. People change their majors all the time - no reason to avoid learning important skills/gaining critical knowledge in other fields - these colleges also want kids who are passionate about learning in general, regardless of the area of study. Besides, to be honest, I’ve had alot of experience with competing with other kids and I’ve seen what it takes to be successful. If he desires to attend a top school then he really needs to do it “all” - they tend to expect a heavy AP course load as well as dedication/passion in a few key ECs. The odds of him attending a uber-prestigious university are very slim without strong academics in the most rigorous courses available - focusing solely on appealing EC’s generally doesn’t cut it, esp in this super competitive admissions era. Top colleges want balanced individuals and this often involves doing something you hate or is useless to you personally (ie: calc BC in your example with the humanities focus) in order to get accepted and do something you love.</p>
<p>I would have elaborated more but since I saw this and noticed no one else has offered advice I just gave some basic info since I’m off to sleep. I typed this up rather quickly, but I hope it has been rather helpful. </p>
<p>Note: I am one of those academically competitive individuals and have taken the “full AP/honors courses” path.</p>
<p>I’m not a college student yet (will be 8D) but at some colleges having AP credit (if you do well on the tests) allows you to take less college courses. Supposedly taking hard courses your senior year is helpful in admissions but there really isn’t a way to corroborate that. </p>
<p>I would say that if your brother enjoys a challenge, then he should definitely go for as many AP’s as he can handle. I think most colleges require you to take some kind of general core curriculum so if he’s already previewed it in high school it would give him an advantage. </p>
<p>And i guess most people end up majoring/being employed in a field they never thought before (supposedly) so I guess extra knowledge is always useful :]</p>
<p>He should definitely take APs and challenge himself in courses that will prep him for his major, but HYPS probably want to see a versatile student who excels in other areas. ECs that pertain to his major i.e. volunteering at a hospital for pre-med would look really good, but a lot of petty clubs and side activities probably would be overshadowed. </p>
<p>I know personally, I chose AP stats over AP calc because stats is more relevant to my major, but I tried to challenge myself all around. If you have high hopes for him, I’d assume that he’s one of the talented students who is brilliant in every subject (a lot of my friends are like that) so I don’t see a reason why he shouldn’t take other APs unless his schedule can’t fit them or there’s a conflict of interest.</p>
<p>It seems to me that students who are going into humanistic areas (lit, arts, history, politics, philosohy, etc.) are still expected by top colleges to excel in advanced high school science and math. On the other hand, the science-mathy kids who are aiming for top technical programs are somewhat less expected to excel in literature and such. Just an impression I’ve gotten on College Confidential… not sure if it’s actually true.</p>
<p>But, yeah, I agree with everyone else. Hit the science and math sequence for all-round high achievers, along with the subjects for which your brother has more passion. A couple significant ECs related somehow to those areas of passion is also a great asset… as well as being, more importantly, very satisfying for him just in their own right.</p>
<p>Calc, yes, since its required for business. Calc is also required for humanities/social science majors at certain colleges (see psychology, sociology, econ, etc). But, an otherwise super strong candidate might be able to get by with an honors lab science class instead of AP…</p>