Hello! I’m currently building my junior year schedule with my guidance counselor and was wondering something. Do colleges care more about how many APs you are taking each year or simply seeing progress in the rigor of courses you are taking? Currently, in sophomore year I am taking 2 APs(APWH/APAH) and next year I plan to take 3 (lang, APUSH, stat OR psych). Is it more important that I take 4 APs which will potentially lower my GPA, or that I simply increase the amount of APs each year? I’ll also begin taking an honors math and an honors Spanish(in my school you can’t take honors spanish until junior year). I was also wondering if colleges will see my senior year APs and my grades in them? If this question is unclear, let me know. I’d be happy to answer😊 Thanks!
Each college is different. Some/many, maybe even most, don’t care about APs at all.
I suggest you tahe the appropriate schedule for you, where you can keep up with learning and grades. In the end, high school is stressful. No reason to overstress.
They will know your senior schedule but most not your grades. Some with later deadlines or that defer you may ask for fall grades. But they will evaluate what you are taking.
Good luck.
Ps - if you share your desired list the answer might change. But at this point, you likely don’t have a list.
List of colleges I hope to apply to?
In other words, if you are applying to Harvard, it’s different than Arizona / State where you can eschew all APs if you really wanted.
In the end, there’s a zillion great and affordable colleges - even OOS.
So do what’s comfortable. A strain but not a stress if that makes sense.
3 is plenty. my student took four and it was a rough year. 2 or 3 senior year. She got into strong schools like W&L, UF, and the top two Honors programs UGA and U of SC.
You don’t need to crush yourself.
Alright, thank you so much!
Most colleges ask you to list your planned senior classes (for example it’s part of the Common App).
Some colleges will ask for a January grade update. A few (generally very selective colleges) may even call your counselor for an informal update if they have concerns and you’re on the fence of being admitted.
An offer of admission is always conditional. It may include requirements to complete all the courses you listed in your app and have rules on GPA (for example UCLA says a 3.0 unweighted GPA for Senior year, no more than 2 C’s and no D’s or F’s.) And colleges require you to send your final HS transcript. So in that sense every college ‘sees’ your senior grades and classes.
The more selective colleges will want to see that you chose the most demanding/rigorous/advanced options available to you (and earn A grades in them).
But for moderately and less selective colleges, that rigor level tends to matter less in admission.
However, doing well in more demanding/rigorous/advanced courses in high school will help you do well in college, regardless of which college you attend.
I would recommend that you take the classes that are right for you, without thinking about university admissions. Then look for colleges and universities that are a good fit for what you have done and what you want to do.
There are at most a tiny handful of highly ranked universities that are going to care whether you take 3 or 4 APs next year. They are all reaches for nearly all students, and they are the ones that expect you to get A’s and A+'s in AP classes. This tiny handful of highly ranked universities are also a good fit for only a tiny handful of students, way fewer than there are who think that they want to apply to highly ranked universities, and they are specifically a fit only for a tiny handful of the strongest and most competitive applicants. Even for these students, you should follow the approach recommended by the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site. As I understand it, this recommends that you do what is right for you, whatever you do, do it very well, and treat people fairly.
And 3 AP classes junior year is a lot. Remember that junior year you are likely to also be starting to think about which universities to apply to, possibly starting to do university visits, and might also be studying for the SAT or ACT test.
By the way, I do not think that anyone in my family took AP US History. However, one daughter described AP European History as “the hardest A- that I ever had”. This was before she went off to university, and ran into Organic Chemistry (which was even harder and a B-), and then ran into various graduate level classes. However, AP History classes will involve a huge amount of reading, with the expectation that you remember a lot of names and dates while simultaneously understanding some of the reasons why history played out the way that it did.
And there is a bit of a challenge to try to find the sweet spot between taking too many hard classes and overloading yourself versus taking too easy a course load. Each student needs to figure out what is right for them. However, the point is to look for what is right for you, and not what is right for any particular college or university. There are lots and lots of very good colleges and universities, and most of them would be okay with you taking no AP classes at all.
And this is very true.
Thank you so much for this. Yeah, my concern is that if I choose to take 4 instead of 3 it could tank my GPA. Is it a good choice to choose 3 APs and manage a high GPA or take 4 and let the GPA only go down a small amount? I’m concerned that my GPA could fall since I’ll also be taking an increased amount of honors courses that year.
3 or 4 - no matter.
Focus less on your GPA and more on can you keep up and keep your sanity.
And all APs aren’t the same level of difficulty.
What do you think you might want to study ? What’s the highest level of math you expect to take?
In the end, GPA matters. Not sure you’ll rank based on one more class but if that’s a concern, then do three.
Btw my kid had non ap classes they found as hard or harder than AP.
Each student is different.
You haven’t laid out what you seek college wise but based on how you’re describing the concern, three is plenty.
3 APs are still a lot.
To me it sounds like you are saying that 3 would be a better fit for you. In that case, take 3 (or maybe 2).
And keeping your sanity is more important.
And there will still be lots and lots of universities that are a very good fit for you and that will be happy to have you.
Hey, majority of the schools I plan to apply to are between 20-50 percent acceptance(Fordham, Macalester, Trinity, George Washington). I believe 3 is enough.
Yep and there’s safety subs for each.
Make sure your family can and is willing to afford them. For example gw will be over $90k per year by the time you enroll. Mac similar - over $83k this year. And they are need aware so full pay likely does better. Very different type schools btw.
Many choose without factoring in budget but having that parent chat at some point is a must But I’ll say no matter what you pick focus on gpa and having the core areas covered - three years science, language if possible and Calc AB if possible. At least pre calc
You’ll be fine though - if not those schools, there will be like schools avail.
Best of luck.
Do feel that 3 APs junior yr would hurt my chances at schools such as this? Do you feel that they may be looking for more APs?
I think you are fine. Your gpa is most important.
And there are many like schools.
Some kids will be there with no APs. Others 12.
3 in a year is plenty. They are looking for many things - good students. Parents who pay full, certain geographies, maybe certain majors or musical instruments played. You can only control you, not them.
Which three APs are you thinking ?
What level math will you get to ?
Have you visited any colleges ? Often time what you think is right on paper changes.
Work with your counselor on your schedule.
Od don’t forget - you’re a kid. Be the best you and plenty of colleges, perhaps these three, will be there for you. But don’t overdo it.
Get involved outside of school - sports, band, activities, jobs.
Btw Fordham is religious/Jesuit. Is that ok?
Three very different schools you named.
Hey! I plan on taking APUSH, Lang, and either Psych or Stat(whichever one is available). My highest level math is AP Calc AB. I’ve visited many colleges by now, I liked all 3 for their locations and merit aid. I visited Fordham only a few months ago and loved the campus and majors offerings. No problem with a Jesuit education.
Ok.
Fordham has some aggressive programs. The other two have merit but I wouldn’t say substantial although that depends on your needs.
Talk to your folks about budget. Diesnt need to be today.
Can they afford or want to afford $90k? $70k?
$40k. Will you qualify for need.
If Max is $70k after merit, is it a go ?
The budget matters - not who has merit. There are like schools that will have much lower cost - either in actual cost or their merit goes deeper.
Unless your parents have 400k, you need a budget b4 picking any school. That a school has merit means little without having a budget.
Mac gives merit to less than 40% of kids at $19k so if their budget is $50k and you don’t qualify for need aid, it won’t be close.
That’s why budget matters. It’s the most important item.
But forgetting all that, wil you have any AP science ? It’d be better vs stats. But three is fine. And those three work. Some kids don’t excel in science - like mine who took AP Env Science.
What’s good to know is you seem to like small to midsize and either Uber urban or at least in city.
That will help to determine schools once you have a budget - and hopefully these make that budget cut.
I will not an AP science this year since they aren’t offered until senior year at my school. I’ll likely take environmental science or biology.
And have 3 years science !!
All good - I think you’ll be fine but during the summer if not soon, you do need to settle on a budget.
Nothing worse than kids getting in somewhere and the family can’t afford it.
Good luck.
I agree with everyone here. Depends on the college and depends on you. Look at the school’s CDS to see what’s important to that school. Is it rigor? Scores and GPA? In general, I would recommend taking rigorous courses without sacrificing your grades or your health. Really only you, your family and your school can advise you on that. It doesn’t help you if you are getting poor grades but taking highly rigorous classes. Likewise, it’s not healthy if you’re doing well in rigorous courses but sacrificing your wellbeing, getting stressed out without sleep. Finally, it’s also not beneficial to cruise by taking easy classes that don’t challenge you and getting all As. It sounds like you are increasing your course load from 2 to 3 APs and feel you can be successful, yet if you add that 4th AP your grades may decline. Sounds like you’re right at the perfect limit. If you feel like you will suffer with 4 APs take 3. But if you believe you can succeed with 4 without sacrificing much in the way of your health, maybe consider doing it. But first compare if it’s worth it for the schools you are applying to since it may not matter too much.