For admission purposes, is there a difference between 7 APs with 7 AP classes and 7 APs with 5 AP classes and two setf-studied APs?
Also is AP Micro viewed less than lets say AP stats because one is a half year while the other is a full year course?
No I don’t think it makes much of a difference. High school should not be about collecting AP scores. If you plan to send scores though, for the sake of admissions 5s are good. If they are low, I’d not include them.
Self-study AP’s are generally looked worse than AP’s taken in schools because self-studying lacks the rigor of a classroom curriculum with tests, homework, essays, projects etc.
It also depends on your school. How many AP classes are your peers taking? If everyone else is taking 5, then you should be fine, but if everyone in your school is taking 10 AP Classes, then there is a big enough disparity to question your rigor.
If you took AP Micro first semester, what would you be taking second semester?
@rdeng2614 most of the top kids at my school are taking 4-5 AP classes. I am taking 4 AP classes but cannot take more due to orchestra and science research. Thus I am using my lunch period to self study AP Micro and AP macro economics (my school does not offer them) and I would like to major in economics
@rdeng2614 self studied look worse than the class even if they aren’t offered at my school? And if there still is a difference, is it a major or minor one?
Both classes, IMO, will be viewed comparably. In both cases, they are equivalent to a semester course in college. High schools are free to structure AP courses as they see fit as long as they follow the AP curriculum. Some HS’s offer these courses as year-long, some offer them as semester-long.
Are you a senior currently self studying? Then, no, it probably will not impress colleges since they will see no validation for your work before admissions decisions are made. That said, you dedication to econ is something that could potentially be used in an essay, and your preparation will certainly help you as an econ major. So, those are valid reasons to self study. But to impress admissions? They won’t be impressed.
@skieurope thanks for the response. I am currently self studying micro and macro during my junior year so hopefully it helps a bit with my prospective major.