How important are AP’s?

[Anonymous]

I have a DD who does well in a subject but has overall trouble managing a heavy workload. She has the option of taking AP English Lit junior year, but isn’t sure. Anyone have advice on how much an AP matters for college applications?
She has two APs already (one sophomore and one junior year not including English).
TIA

[Anonymous]

lmao DCUM is going to tell you that if your kid didn't do 15 APs then she's cooked.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on what sort of college she’s aiming for.

[Anonymous]

Rigor of the transcript is important. How important will depend on the college and what the high school offers.

If she will have 2-3 APs total, over four years, and the high school offers 20+ APs, then it is unlikely she is aiming for universities inside, say, the top 30.

[Anonymous]

Right. Target colleges and universities are generally in the 30-70 rank range (think Oberlin, Vassar, Bard, LMU).

[Anonymous]

I would say it's not necessary for the student you are describing. That particular class is a very heavy workload. Can her GPA weather a C? An unweighted C? Has she ever worried you with an interim grade of a D? Apart from the most competitive colleges, some OOS publics still care about the unweighted GPA. She will have no problem with college admissions the further down, near 100 ranking, she goes. We need more information. You would not want her attention to this AP to derail her efforts to successfully getting through her math and foreign language requirement, for example. Is there a risk of that?

Kids go to college without APs. A 4 year college. Kids go to college without Honors classes, even when many are offered at their HS. It's just a different admissions journey.

[Anonymous]

There are about 7-8 core AP courses. AP English Lit is one of them. If you are targeting T20 schools, it's a good idea for the unhooked to take them.

[Anonymous]

I would think that if she’s only going to take a few AP classes, taking the ones in English is the way to go.

[Anonymous]

Your DC wants to demonstrate that they can handle the academic demands of college by their selected courses and grades. So DC's course selections and the grades they get, should instill confidence in the AO reading their application.

If taking an AP means getting a C or B -, I don't think it's a great call. Showing rigor is good, but only if you can get at least a B or higher.

I'd consider some other APs that will play to DC's strengths and give confidence that DC will be able to handle college.

I don't think sheer # of APs is the most important thing, it depends more on what your kid is likely going to focus on studying at college (their likely major) and how selective the colleges are.

For a target college, I think 5-7 APs total including those in DC's field by end of senior year, should be good.

Fwiw, my DD had 7 APs total and is at Tufts. Her school offered over 25 APs in various subjects, but she focused on core subjects for her likely major. She did no APs in science. She is a social science major fyi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your DC wants to demonstrate that they can handle the academic demands of college by their selected courses and grades. So DC's course selections and the grades they get, should instill confidence in the AO reading their application.

If taking an AP means getting a C or B -, I don't think it's a great call. Showing rigor is good, but only if you can get at least a B or higher.

I'd consider some other APs that will play to DC's strengths and give confidence that DC will be able to handle college.

I don't think sheer # of APs is the most important thing, it depends more on what your kid is likely going to focus on studying at college (their likely major) and how selective the colleges are.

For a target college, I think 5-7 APs total including those in DC's field by end of senior year, should be good.

Fwiw, my DD had 7 APs total and is at Tufts. Her school offered over 25 APs in various subjects, but she focused on core subjects for her likely major. She did no APs in science. She is a social science major fyi.

And I meant to add that she got basically straight As in those AP classes (only one B+) because she didn't focus on those she thought she would not do well in (like lab science).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your DC wants to demonstrate that they can handle the academic demands of college by their selected courses and grades. So DC's course selections and the grades they get, should instill confidence in the AO reading their application.

If taking an AP means getting a C or B -, I don't think it's a great call. Showing rigor is good, but only if you can get at least a B or higher.

I'd consider some other APs that will play to DC's strengths and give confidence that DC will be able to handle college.

I don't think sheer # of APs is the most important thing, it depends more on what your kid is likely going to focus on studying at college (their likely major) and how selective the colleges are.

For a target college, I think 5-7 APs total including those in DC's field by end of senior year, should be good.

Fwiw, my DD had 7 APs total and is at Tufts. Her school offered over 25 APs in various subjects, but she focused on core subjects for her likely major. She did no APs in science. She is a social science major fyi.

+1

The 15+ APs is ridiculous and there's a probably a law of diminishing returns aspect from an admissions standpoint.

Enjoy your senior year in HS! It goes VERY quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right. Target colleges and universities are generally in the 30-70 rank range (think Oberlin, Vassar, Bard, LMU).

For the schools in the 30-50 range at least, she will need more APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a DD who does well in a subject but has overall trouble managing a heavy workload. She has the option of taking AP English Lit junior year, but isn’t sure. Anyone have advice on how much an AP matters for college applications?
She has two APs already (one sophomore and one junior year not including English).
TIA

So much of this is "it depends". Upthread responses have given some examples - it depends on the schools she's targeting, it depends on what her peers take (those are her first comparision points in the college admissions process), it depends what she can manage (don't take the AP and get a C), it depends what she might major in, etc., etc. There are schools in the DMV where taking 10-15 APs is considered relatively "normal" so if she was at one of those schools, yes, only taking 2-3 APs would put her in a different bucket than the 10-15 AP kids when it comes to college admissions.

So here's how I've tackled this as a parent, OP. I try to be knowledgeable about the options, but I parent the kid I have. I want to know if the high fliers are taking 10-15 APs, but wouldn't dream of pushing my kid into the same bucket because they wouldn't succeed there.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your/her objectives when it comes to the college application process, and more specifically, her target choices. High GPAs with course rigor are generally more highly regarded than High GPAs with little to no course rigor for more competitive schools, but it is only one of many considerations/factors. Two APs by senior year will not be considered as a rigorous course load by more competitive schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right. Target colleges and universities are generally in the 30-70 rank range (think Oberlin, Vassar, Bard, LMU).

For the schools in the 30-50 range at least, she will need more APs.

Not necessarily.

DC received acceptance to many and will attend one this fall in that 30-50 range with 7 APs. A few targeted to intended major.

Quality over quantity folks.