I’m currently planning on thirteen AP courses total, with five and seven in my 11th and 12th grade, one scattered in 10th. But if the level of homework comes to drown me, at what point do I weigh my ec’s over my ap’s? Is taking thirteen insane?
Some help would be majorly appreciated. I’m aiming for a bs/md programming, or ba/md.
At the point where your AP’s infringe upon your EC’s.
Yes. Once you get to 6-8 AP’s, the law of diminishing returns kicks in, and each additional AP will not add appreciably to your GPA. If you’re planning on applying to colleges that practice holistic admissions, they are not looking to fill their class with academic drones.
You realize that any science AP’s will likely not count for MD prerequisites, right? So if the 13 include all of Bio/Chem/Physics, at least one of those can probably be knocked off the list.
Taking 13 APs is not insane. Not everyone can do it, but there are some kids that can manage 15 APs and also varsity sports and other ECs. You can judge your own abilities better than anyone else, but talking to your parents, siblings, guidance counselor, and other kids in your school may be helpful.
13 APs is over the top and unnecessary. I have seen MANY top CC posters say that beyond about 7 or 8, there are diminishing returns for taking ridiculous amounts of AP classes. Do you want to have any kind of life? Don’t take so many, and surely you are not actually interested in every single AP you plan to take. Colleges will just see it as “here’s another kid who is stacking up the APs to a ridiculous extent.” Oh, I see skieurope has just said the same. Do you want to drive yourself to an early grave? Take 13 APs.
I’ve taken 12 (one 10th, four 11th, six 12th, one being Macro-Micro Econ) It’s definitely doable, and I don’t feel that I am drowning in homework (although somedays I have to prioritize doing work for classes, and determining what really must be done). Now if you’re only do it just for colleges or GPA then no, it won’t really help. But for me, I’ve taken the classes because I enjoy learning at an advanced level (And I’ve done better in AP classes than in others).
Taking more AP classes beyond a certain point in the belief that it will impress colleges generally isn’t a good strategy. Taking AP classes to the point where you are overloaded and it interferes with your ECs (or your college applications, which will take up a lot of time next fall) is also a bad approach. But there is no fixed number of AP courses that is “insane” - it differs between students. If you can handle the workload and are taking the courses out of genuine interest, that’s fine; but otherwise you might consider cutting back a bit.
Thank you everyone! I think I know what to do now, you’ve all been a great help.
It’s OK to take a lot of APs!!! You’re not crazy for doing so. There are a lot of circumstances in which 13 APs is completely appropriate. Just don’t expect it to help much in the college admissions game. At my school, AP classes are the pipeline to good teachers and advanced curriculum. If you like the challenge and are interested in many different subjects, there’s nothing wrong with exploring your interests at a higher level. Seven AP classes as a senior seems pretty excessive in my opinion, unless they are mostly “fluff” APs. However, I don’t see any reason not to take advantage of having a great variety of AP courses offered if you’re excited about it and prepared to do well in all of them.
Admission to a competitive college isn’t a horse race to see who can take the most APs. Consider this. If you were not going to report the APs in your college application would you still take so many? Besides looking good to colleges, what do you intend to accomplish by taking these APs? Take only courses you would take even if colleges did not care what you took. And wow, I’ve recommended this a lot but read this even if you have no interest in that particular school. It is very relevant to you: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
I agree with Nedcone. My son did all the normal HS activities, played a varsity sport on a championship team, and will graduate in 4 years from college with a Chemical Eng. Masters because all of his AP courses gave him sophomore standing as a freshman. But he did NOT do it to impress colleges, and he did not work himself into an early grave - but he would have been bored without the AP courses. Sometimes kids are just talented in sports and academics.