<p>So my senior schedule-
AP Physics, AP Extended Physics [Lab], AP Microeconomics, AP Calculus, Honors World Lit, Honors Italian, Honors Horticulture.</p>
<p>The valedictorian [#1] is taking 7 APs… I’m top 1% of my class as well and only am taking 4.</p>
<p>Not willing to switch to AP Lit because I SUCK at English. I am still in shock after getting a 3 on the AP Lang exam while only completing 2/3 essays. The AP Lit teachers are very challenging and not worth my time since I am not majoring in anything relating to English. </p>
<p>Honors Horticulture && Italian are nice breathers but I am willing to switch Italian for AP Government.</p>
<p>The problem with that is that its SO much BS work. I do enjoy the subject but 1-2 hours of reading/notes might not be worth it.</p>
<p>I need to get a job and have ECs to almost 6-7 every day senior year. </p>
<p>Will it give me more of an advantage or not?
I plan to apply ED so my midterm grades wouldn’t be sent, although I am fairly confident I could get straight As since my school just changed to a 10 point grading scale.</p>
<p>That being said I know a boy who took only 3 APs [English Junior year and 2 blowoff senior (Psychology and Human Geography)] and got in.</p>
<p>It’s hard to assess your chances - and how much of a difference the possible curriculum change would make - without knowing anything about test scores, GPA and ECs.</p>
<p>“Not willing to switch to AP Lit because I SUCK at English. I am still in shock after getting a 3 on the AP Lang exam while only completing 2/3 essays. The AP Lit teachers are very challenging and not worth my time since I am not majoring in anything relating to English.”</p>
<p>This is the point of AP, to challenge yourself. To say that you aren’t going to take it because it’s actually a challenging environment and b/c you aren’t phenomenal at it is not a good start. I am a chem/biology double major and maybe half of my AP courses in high school were social science, history, and English. I never said “oh my god, I might make a 3” or “oh my god, they are so challenging”. All of them were challenging. That’s the reason I took them. They were generally more stimulating than comparable honors courses and demanded more (and I never took my prospective major into account, that’s just silly). I got over it and just worked hard. Also, you assume NU doesn’t have gen. ed requirements like a writing course, in which case another stab at the AP (getting a 4 may exempt you) or more experience can really help. Also, AP government is awesome. I recommend the course (it was rigorous, but good. I took both comparative and US)</p>
<p>My senior year, I also worked like 25 hours during the school week and almost 50hours/week once you throw in the long shifts I took on weekends. This is when I had 6 APs and a hellish honors and engineering/design course. I did it despite any risks of getting a 3 (of my 6, I received 1 3, and I’m okay w/it) on the stupid exam (by the way, hardly no university takes this into account, they want to see that you took these courses and challenged yourself, stepped out of your comfort zone. They don’t expect everyone to get 5s on everything. Those are for placement purposes. They may really only look at SAT IIs for competency). That person “got” in. That was the past. Given that schools like NU are getting more competitive each year, I would not measure chance of admission against someone who got in previously, especially if they had a low caliber schedule. Do what you need to do, even if it involves taking a risk. Northwestern, like other elites, is rigorous. Being afraid of rigor/being outside of comfort zone won’t make you a great match, especially if you are going into the sciences/engineering. I promise, even for a person good at science/math, challenges will be unavoidable. </p>
<p>Anyway, I don’t know your chances. I just no that dodging rigor certainly can’t help. You’ll need other compensating factors, and even those may not be enough as top 20 admissions is so sketchy now-a-days.</p>
<p>My guess is that 4 AP and 3 honors classes should be fine.</p>
<p>Thinking back on my D’s Senior Year Schedule – 1 AP., 1 Post-AP, 2-3 AP Equivalent (Course where there is no AP, but the school teaches at an AP level), and 2 Honors (including Physics)</p>
<p>Was accepted by McCormick and other E schools with an equivalent or higher ranking. (4.4 weighted GPA and 34 ACT)</p>
<p>zephr15- It sounds like your d’s school may have had less APs (from what you said, your d essentially had 4 APs and 1 that was higher than AP. This=5.5 when you look at the level of rigor). The OP’s has much more from what he mentioned about the valedictorian (I think they try and assess how many APs are offered vs. those taken). Also, your D had a 34 ACT. Surely that helped a lot. Also, I wonder if females have an advantage in engineering admissions especially when they have high stats. I think it applies to public schools, but I don’t know about privates. However, w/a 34 ACT and post-APs, she probably would have gotten in anyway.</p>
<p>I really only pounced the OP b/c of the reasoning behind not taking the additional AP. It just doesn’t make much sense to me. I’m guessing that having physics and calc. helps.</p>
<p>Ummmm … I think we may offer 16 AP courses. It’s also a public school that’s fairly well known, which ties into the point below (i.e., discussions with admissions officers)</p>
<p>In her Junior year, when she was planning her schedule, she spoke with admissions officers at various schools we visited (including NU and peer institutions). She was universally told that the rigor of her schedule was fine – even though it only included 1 AP soph year, and two in junior year.</p>
<p>Now, this is a one-year-old story, and the world may have changed in the last year, but basically we were told (at NU and other peers) that so long as the vast majority of your core courses are honors or AP, you’re ok.</p>
<p>I guess my point is that after your schedule has a certain degree of rigor, I’m not sure that there’s much of an admissions advantage to taking APs for the sake of AP. </p>
<p>I bet someone could write a great essay about choosing not to take a specific AP course, because of intellectual curiosity about the subject matter of a non-AP course.</p>
<p>Re OP – Probably shouldn’t give that reason for dropping AP in an Application, but at least it’s honest. As I say, my (uneducated) guess is that the schedule will be fine from a rigor standpoint.</p>
<p>That could work for an essay, but hopefully they would write about something else. Anyway, I think I’m just used to seeing students who have taken at least 10 APs by the end of senior year, w/many taking 5 senior year for example. I have no idea if it improves admissions chances greatly, but from a preparation point of view, it is probably useful. When I took APs, I honestly tried to just go w/the best teachers (I would also take a diverse array of subjects). Most of them taught honors level, which was good (and I probably took at least one of their honors classes prior to AP), but the APs turned out much better. Anyway, I question whether someone is choosing based upon intellectual curiosity when they say that, “I enjoy/am interested in the topic, but it’s too much work.”</p>
<p>I’ll revise my opinion and say that 4 is enough (I just haven’t seen it in a long time. Or perhaps my peers are more intense than average, even among an intense student body). Also, ED makes for good chances. I really love how some schools grade generously (courses are hard, but grading is not. So working hard guarantees an A at such schools. If only college science courses worked like this, sigh.) enough so that students are pretty sure they’ll make straight As on a 10 point scale in 4 APs. Not even our valedictorian thought that way (she would get a few Bs as well. She’s at Yale now). Generally most at my school could expect a B or C (even after weighting) in the class and a 4-5 on the exam. Not many A grades in APs. Getting straight As was an awesome aspiration though, and those who had it, would avoid C grades. Different rules for different schools I guess.</p>
<p>The most important thing, though, is to talk to the admissions officers at the schools you’re interested before planning a schedule.</p>
<p>I’m not saying I’m not willing to challenge myself, because I am, with Physics and Calculus. English is not my thing. I am not challenging myself but simply stuck in a class my brain is not programmed to understand.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. I go to a big school in Chicago and we have virtually every AP possible.</p>
<p>Your brain doesn’t have to be “programmed” in a particular way. W/courses that aren’t our strengths, more experience makes us better Seriously, here, that’s why they make you take 3 additional writing intensive courses beyond freshman year. Needless to say, most will be in areas that we science oriented minds aren’t “programmed” for. I would be an inadequate writer just as many other STEM majors if I didn’t take them. I find that some courses in the sciences, even as a science major, go against the grain of how I normally learn. But the more courses I take like that, the better I get. I thus strengthen my weaknesses and become strong at several different types of thinking. The brain can be programmed to a certain degree, but also has a high degree of plasticity as we know.<br>
Anyway, your schedule is fine. I would just hope, for your sake, that any engineering school (are you going for this? I can’t tell) you matriculate to doesn’t require English or writing intensive courses, because you may find them more annoying in college (often stimulating, but if you are the type to fret about grades, these courses are less predictable. Luckily you have the language courses. Hopefully those will be writing intensive though I can only wonder their level of depth in HS (do they touch on cultural issues, make you write about “deep” prompts? I don’t know how your school handles it).</p>
<p>Biology major as of now, or some other science.(: As my AP Lang teacher told me, I’m good at “scientific” or argumentative writing. List the facts in an orderly fashion and prove your point. When it came to anything creative at all or rhetorical analysis, I cannot stress enough how I could not at all figure out the points of the writing or devices used. The essay I did not complete for the AP Lang test was the rhetorical one and I bet if I did do it I would still have scored a 3.</p>
<p>Maybe, it’s because how some teachers approach teaching science at Emory (since NU is a top school ranked higher than us, I expect them to have several prof’s w/similar philosophy), but surprisingly, many of them try to integrate creativity into the design and often try to integrate real life into the curriculum and this may involve writing assignments similar to those in English. For example, one professor who teaches a case based intro. course in biology sometimes integrates questions of bio and research ethics into his case studies on top of the biological stuff. Also, even his more science based questions were kind of open ended. They only needed to make sense in context of what you learned (often you are told to prove connection of two loosely connected concepts which you have never even seen in class. You have to use what you learned and extrapolate a lot). This prof. also runs his Cell Biology course this way (and there are several other profs. with a more inquiry and problem based approach). I know at least 2 organic chemistry professors that use an approach requiring creativity and extrapolation as well.
Basically, point is, unlike in HS, you may see some of the things you don’t like about your English course creeping into some science courses. It’ll make them more challenging (as it puts linear thinking on a level playing field w/creativity. Something many aren’t used to seeing in a science course), but more worthwhile as you learn to think like and communicate more effectively as a scientist as opposed to merely putting together or regurgitating formulas and facts. You won’t be able to understand how this makes sense now, but trust me, professors who make courses like this are among the best (they are usually more closely engaged w/students b/c they demand more than normal. Meaning that more effort is needed on both ends to ensure success of students). It’s a very effective and holistic approach to teaching science I have found. After a while, typical science lecture courses get old, and you perhaps forget info. right afterwards and don’t develop as much problem solving skills as anticipated (the types I mention seem more effective at retention of info. and sharpening of skills)</p>
<p>Also: I did some research. Since you seem as if you’ll be in Weinberg, the 2 frosh seminars you take are apparently going to be writing intensive (and perhaps not science related): [Writing</a> Proficiency - Undergraduate Advising – Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.weinberg.northwestern.edu/advising/degree/writing.html]Writing”>http://www.weinberg.northwestern.edu/advising/degree/writing.html)</p>
<p>There are other distribution requirements that may involve it (Overall, it seems like our GERs are much more intense than NU for some reason. Lucky you). Just choose your courses wisely. I have a good feeling, you’ll get in. Get ready to push yourself and successfully step outside of your comfort zone (trust me, by the end of NU, your writing ability will get better and diversify). But of course, enjoy it. It’s a great, vibrant campus. Good luck!</p>
<p>top 1%… sounds good to me</p>
<p>bernie12: Thanks for all the info! And the teacher you just explained sounds A LOT like my AP Bio teacher who would make us draw concept maps relating two wayyy different units or ask us about ethics. I know it won’t be easy and I have no clue how to get better at writing and reading comprehension before college.<br>
NervusBreakdown: Hehe yeah top 1% isn’t THAT impressive when there are 900 people in your class.(:</p>
<p>Wow! The midwest and northeast have some giant schools. My school at one point was overcrowded and only had 320-350 people per class. It is still impressive because it means you’re in the top 10 of a 900 person class. Be proud.</p>
<p>Oh, and I don’t know any profs. who’ll do concept maps in college. Again, this dude just gave students caseloads and a disease of the week assignment to work on (which of course stress several topics at once and in great detail). It was left to the student to determine what was important and what vague ideas to connect, if any. Often they had to propose novel solutions to new problems (as opposed to a problem that has already been thoroughly addressed in academia. Basically, students can’t just find an answer in some research paper). It’s a pretty intense general biology course, especially for frosh pre-meds worried about their grades, but great prep. for upperlevel courses. If NU has such a prof. for gen. bio (1 or 2, I’m guessing AP credit will help you some), I highly recommend it. It’s good for you. Hopefully NU’s frosh biology sections aren’t so large that no room is left for experimentation in pedagogy (many schools standardize across all sections and all profs. teach almost the same thing in the standard lecture format).</p>
<p>Chicago? Oh yeah. Average schools have 1,000 kids, neighborhood schools [ones you don’t have to apply to] have 2,000 and mine has 4,000. Haha sounds like a fun class, not one I’d be good at though. That’s IF I get into NU which I doubt.</p>
<p>Have some confidence.</p>