<p>Do colleges differentiate between those who load up on APs in their junior year and those who spread them out over three/four years. Like if you were going to take, lets say, 8 APs, does it look "better" to have them all in junior year or spread out (like 2 in sophomore year, 3 in junior, 3 in senior)?
(This is assuming your school doesn't restrict what grades/how many APs you can take in a given year).</p>
<p>I don’t imagine it would look good to take a million AP classes in your junior year and then not take any college-level courses in your senior year. If you were successful in the AP classes, they would wonder why you didn’t continue to challenge yourself the next year.</p>
<p>IMO you should take the most challenging possible schedule every year…if your school allows sophomores to take AP classes, you should be taking them.</p>
<p>In that case, I might end up having one more AP sophomore year than junior year (mainly because I’ll be taking a college math class: multivariable).</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about the AP designation specifically…just take the most challenging courses possible every year.</p>
<p>Do colleges know what classes were required? Like I have to take a really boring class called content reading and study skills - a name that makes it sound easier than it already is.</p>
<p>Not specifically, but I’m sure colleges are aware that most high schools have random required classes. Your competition will have those too.</p>