How many AP classes is considered rigorous?

[Anonymous]

Seems like they are just tacking AP onto more and more subjects so College Board could get more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid had 14 APs and 7 post-APs and that is considered the most rigorous for this high school.

Can you list these classes? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around what this schedule would have looked like over 4 years.

It has been several years and I am going off my memory so I may have left out 1 or 2 courses but:

APs: AP Comp Sci, AP Cal BC, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Spanish, AP Physics M/EM, AP Econ Micro, AP Econ Macro, AP US Hist, AP English, AP Spanish Lit, AP US Govt.

Post APs: Linear Algebra, Multi, Diffy (DE), Complex Variables, DNA Science I, DNA Science II, Orgo, Machine Learning (ML) I, ML II, Artificial Intelligence (AI) I, AI II.

I would consider that to be rigorous.

Super rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC took 10 at Langley and was not considered “most rigorous”.

Similar for my son at Chantilly HS. He took 11 APs:
- AP Comp Sci A (plus a post-AP computer class)
- AP Calculus BC (plus multi variable calc)
- AP Lang
- AP Lit
- AP Psychology
- AP Physics C
- AP Physics E&M
- AP Chemistry
- AP Spanish
- AP Government
- AP Statistics

But since he did not take AP World History nor APUSH during his sophomore and junior years, he does not get the "most rigorous" box checked off. Which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC took 10 at Langley and was not considered “most rigorous”.

Similar for my son at Chantilly HS. He took 11 APs:
- AP Comp Sci A (plus a post-AP computer class)
- AP Calculus BC (plus multi variable calc)
- AP Lang
- AP Lit
- AP Psychology
- AP Physics C
- AP Physics E&M
- AP Chemistry
- AP Spanish
- AP Government
- AP Statistics

But since he did not take AP World History nor APUSH during his sophomore and junior years, he does not get the "most rigorous" box checked off. Which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

Is this just speculation or did your counselor tell you? My FCPS counselor dodged the question whenever I inquired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC took 10 at Langley and was not considered “most rigorous”.

Similar for my son at Chantilly HS. He took 11 APs:
- AP Comp Sci A (plus a post-AP computer class)
- AP Calculus BC (plus multi variable calc)
- AP Lang
- AP Lit
- AP Psychology
- AP Physics C
- AP Physics E&M
- AP Chemistry
- AP Spanish
- AP Government
- AP Statistics

But since he did not take AP World History nor APUSH during his sophomore and junior years, he does not get the "most rigorous" box checked off. Which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

WTF? How could this not be considered most rigorous?

Are you certain the school did not check off most rigorous? Is this enough to be top 10% of your class?

Curious if most rigorous would be different at Annandale vs Chantilly vs McLean. All in the same fcps system.

I used to think you would have an edge coming from a lower ranked school but my friend’s daughter got rejected across the board from Edison. I guess I’m wondering if my child took 10-12 APs in McLean or if he was at Annandale and took the same 10 AP classes, would my child be at a disadvantage because he may not get most rigorous but at Annandale, he may get the most rigorous check.

[Anonymous]

Was it Dean J or someone else who said they don’t rely on that box? That they review the transcripts themselves and don’t need to depend on that box?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC took 10 at Langley and was not considered “most rigorous”.

Similar for my son at Chantilly HS. He took 11 APs:
- AP Comp Sci A (plus a post-AP computer class)
- AP Calculus BC (plus multi variable calc)
- AP Lang
- AP Lit
- AP Psychology
- AP Physics C
- AP Physics E&M
- AP Chemistry
- AP Spanish
- AP Government
- AP Statistics

But since he did not take AP World History nor APUSH during his sophomore and junior years, he does not get the "most rigorous" box checked off. Which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

Is this just speculation or did your counselor tell you? My FCPS counselor dodged the question whenever I inquired.

He asked, and she told. Crazy, right? He is definitely at the top of his class with all As, 2 A-, and 1 B+. He's hoping to get into either UVA or VT for computer science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was it Dean J or someone else who said they don’t rely on that box? That they review the transcripts themselves and don’t need to depend on that box?

Hopefully this is the case for most schools. Since it seems pretty arbitrary as to whether or not the counselor "checks the box."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid had 14 APs and 7 post-APs and that is considered the most rigorous for this high school.

Can you list these classes? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around what this schedule would have looked like over 4 years.

It has been several years and I am going off my memory so I may have left out 1 or 2 courses but:

APs: AP Comp Sci, AP Cal BC, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Spanish, AP Physics M/EM, AP Econ Micro, AP Econ Macro, AP US Hist, AP English, AP Spanish Lit, AP US Govt.

Post APs: Linear Algebra, Multi, Diffy (DE), Complex Variables, DNA Science I, DNA Science II, Orgo, Machine Learning (ML) I, ML II, Artificial Intelligence (AI) I, AI II.

How is this even possible? What math did your kid take as a freshman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC took 10 at Langley and was not considered “most rigorous”.

Similar for my son at Chantilly HS. He took 11 APs:
- AP Comp Sci A (plus a post-AP computer class)
- AP Calculus BC (plus multi variable calc)
- AP Lang
- AP Lit
- AP Psychology
- AP Physics C
- AP Physics E&M
- AP Chemistry
- AP Spanish
- AP Government
- AP Statistics

But since he did not take AP World History nor APUSH during his sophomore and junior years, he does not get the "most rigorous" box checked off. Which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

WTF? How could this not be considered most rigorous?

Are you certain the school did not check off most rigorous? Is this enough to be top 10% of your class?

Curious if most rigorous would be different at Annandale vs Chantilly vs McLean. All in the same fcps system.

I used to think you would have an edge coming from a lower ranked school but my friend’s daughter got rejected across the board from Edison. I guess I’m wondering if my child took 10-12 APs in McLean or if he was at Annandale and took the same 10 AP classes, would my child be at a disadvantage because he may not get most rigorous but at Annandale, he may get the most rigorous check.

Most rigorous would definitely be different at Annandale because it is an IB school. At an IB school, you have to pursue the full IB diploma to be considered most rigorous, unless, possibly, there is a separate special program like a STEM academy offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid had 14 APs and 7 post-APs and that is considered the most rigorous for this high school.

Can you list these classes? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around what this schedule would have looked like over 4 years.

It has been several years and I am going off my memory so I may have left out 1 or 2 courses but:

APs: AP Comp Sci, AP Cal BC, AP Stat, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Spanish, AP Physics M/EM, AP Econ Micro, AP Econ Macro, AP US Hist, AP English, AP Spanish Lit, AP US Govt.

Post APs: Linear Algebra, Multi, Diffy (DE), Complex Variables, DNA Science I, DNA Science II, Orgo, Machine Learning (ML) I, ML II, Artificial Intelligence (AI) I, AI II.

How is this even possible? What math did your kid take as a freshman?

He took AP Cal BC and the post APs are semester courses. He actually took 'Parallel Computing' I & II as opposed to 'ML' I & II.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC took 10 at Langley and was not considered “most rigorous”.

Similar for my son at Chantilly HS. He took 11 APs:
- AP Comp Sci A (plus a post-AP computer class)
- AP Calculus BC (plus multi variable calc)
- AP Lang
- AP Lit
- AP Psychology
- AP Physics C
- AP Physics E&M
- AP Chemistry
- AP Spanish
- AP Government
- AP Statistics

But since he did not take AP World History nor APUSH during his sophomore and junior years, he does not get the "most rigorous" box checked off. Which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

WTF? How could this not be considered most rigorous?

Are you certain the school did not check off most rigorous? Is this enough to be top 10% of your class?

Curious if most rigorous would be different at Annandale vs Chantilly vs McLean. All in the same fcps system.

I used to think you would have an edge coming from a lower ranked school but my friend’s daughter got rejected across the board from Edison. I guess I’m wondering if my child took 10-12 APs in McLean or if he was at Annandale and took the same 10 AP classes, would my child be at a disadvantage because he may not get most rigorous but at Annandale, he may get the most rigorous check.

Most rigorous would definitely be different at Annandale because it is an IB school. At an IB school, you have to pursue the full IB diploma to be considered most rigorous, unless, possibly, there is a separate special program like a STEM academy offered.

Annandale was a bad example. What if it were Mt Vernon or Hayfield?

If my kid took the same 10 APs at McLean vs Mt Vernon, he may have most rigorous at Mt Vernon but not at McLean.

I guess we will never know until we apply in a couple years. McLean has excellent college admissions for top students. Wonder if my kids will be even considered a top student.

[Anonymous]

DS took AP NSL, APUSH, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, AP Env Sci, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Spanish, AP World. 4 years of foreign language. I would call that most rigorous at our HS.

DD took AP NSL, APUSH, AP Psych, AP Lit, AP Lang, AP World plus DE Abnormal Psych. I would call that rigorous.


Very few students are going to get into the Ivys, Stanford etc. Merely “Rigorous” is going to be enough to get into many fine universities. You have to have balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS took AP NSL, APUSH, AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Calc AB, AP Stats, AP Env Sci, AP Macro, AP Micro, AP Spanish, AP World. 4 years of foreign language. I would call that most rigorous at our HS.

DD took AP NSL, APUSH, AP Psych, AP Lit, AP Lang, AP World plus DE Abnormal Psych. I would call that rigorous.


Very few students are going to get into the Ivys, Stanford etc. Merely “Rigorous” is going to be enough to get into many fine universities. You have to have balance.

How could you consider your DS to be "most rigorous"? It looks like he chose to not take AP Lit and AP Lang and instead (I presume) take Honors English 11 and Honors English 12. That is a clear cut case of not the most rigorous, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC took 10 at Langley and was not considered “most rigorous”.

Similar for my son at Chantilly HS. He took 11 APs:
- AP Comp Sci A (plus a post-AP computer class)
- AP Calculus BC (plus multi variable calc)
- AP Lang
- AP Lit
- AP Psychology
- AP Physics C
- AP Physics E&M
- AP Chemistry
- AP Spanish
- AP Government
- AP Statistics

But since he did not take AP World History nor APUSH during his sophomore and junior years, he does not get the "most rigorous" box checked off. Which is pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

Look, it is unfair, but I assume your DC had to take Honors or Grade Level equivalents of AP World History and APUSH...in which case, what is listed above is not the most rigorous. AP Psych is an elective that I am not sure any college really cares about. AP Stat is also considered an elective AP vs. a core class AP. I realize your DC may have maxed out their Math with AP Calc BC and Multviarble and AP Stat was the only thing remaining...in which case it probably would have made more sense to take AP World and APUSH instead.