<p>alice, I think the point is that there are huge disparities among CA schools when it comes to the number of AP courses offered, period. Some publics (& privates) offer 20 or more; others offer 5 or fewer. Further, high school policies differ widely. Some allow freshman to take AP’s; others, only Jrs. & Srs. Some require a stepped sequence leading to that AP course; others are unregulated. This builds tremendous inequalities into the comparative data. Hence, the baseline.</p>
<p>Nevetheless, beyond that 8-semester level, your whole record is in fact looked at. And students who take many more than 8 semesters (but don’t make the ELC cut) often are eligible for ‘added points’ anyway, because the total number of a-g classes are always counted in as an extra qualifier, even though those won’t be ‘weighted’ for gpa. </p>
<p>Finally, they will look qualitatively at your record as one which included ‘tough/toughest’ courseload, versus those who barely have 8 semesters of Honors or AP’s</p>