APs count more in first 3 years of high school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My junior’s counselor stressed her out this week by saying the classes she was planning on taking next year weren’t rigorous enough so now she’s trying to find a way to cram more APs in. So mad — we don’t play the AP collecting here and her the counselor had no issues with the rigor of her first three years.

Would you name the school or school system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My junior’s counselor stressed her out this week by saying the classes she was planning on taking next year weren’t rigorous enough so now she’s trying to find a way to cram more APs in. So mad — we don’t play the AP collecting here and her the counselor had no issues with the rigor of her first three years.

That is annoying. It would seem that by senior year, the kids have largely made their beds. I would seriously advise your daughter against making senior year extra tough. It won’t be easy to stay focused in the spring.

No, I think it's good advice. My DC received the same last year and rearranged senior schedule because of it. Don't take APs for the sake of APs, but do make sure the senior year schedule looks like a culminating experience, not a gap year. The schools won't necessarily see the grades, and certainly not the test scores, but they expect a senior year schedule to look as strong or stronger than a junior year schedule. This is someone who is hitting there stride and chomping at the bit to go to college.

[Anonymous]

Agree that it is good advice, likewise agree it came later than it should have.

[Anonymous]

Disagree that kids in public school need to frontload their AP's. this is the myth. Counselors at those schools try to dispel it. People are so nervous that they will look bad.

My very smart child delayed AP's until junior year (believe me, that took me talking her down from her fear of being outpaced by her peers). That year she took two that made sense for her interest/anticipated major, and did well. So, yes, she skipped the "easy" ones that most kids start with. She took more her senior year. She got into 7/8 schools she applied to. She was pleasantly surprised, since her peers had her convinced this approach was radically sane.

Colleges are no longer impressed by crazy high numbers of APs. It says more about the kid/family' being driven or insecure than their potential.

GPA counts more, then endless hour spent on courses that have no relevance to what the child wants to pursue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree that kids in public school need to frontload their AP's. this is the myth. Counselors at those schools try to dispel it. People are so nervous that they will look bad.

My very smart child delayed AP's until junior year (believe me, that took me talking her down from her fear of being outpaced by her peers). That year she took two that made sense for her interest/anticipated major, and did well. So, yes, she skipped the "easy" ones that most kids start with. She took more her senior year. She got into 7/8 schools she applied to. She was pleasantly surprised, since her peers had her convinced this approach was radically sane.

Colleges are no longer impressed by crazy high numbers of APs. It says more about the kid/family' being driven or insecure than their potential.

GPA counts more, then endless hour spent on courses that have no relevance to what the child wants to pursue.

It's fine to not front load APs in a school that offers lots of them (public schools), as long as you are not planning to apply to a top 20 school. I am sorry, but in our MCPS public, kids have taken upwards of 6 and more APs by end of junior year. This who you are going up against. Also Colleges ARE impressed by rigor (at least the top 20 are). So if you want to go to one of the elite schools, you will need to be competitive within your school with course rigor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My junior’s counselor stressed her out this week by saying the classes she was planning on taking next year weren’t rigorous enough so now she’s trying to find a way to cram more APs in. So mad — we don’t play the AP collecting here and her the counselor had no issues with the rigor of her first three years.

That is annoying. It would seem that by senior year, the kids have largely made their beds. I would seriously advise your daughter against making senior year extra tough. It won’t be easy to stay focused in the spring.

No, I think it's good advice. My DC received the same last year and rearranged senior schedule because of it. Don't take APs for the sake of APs, but do make sure the senior year schedule looks like a culminating experience, not a gap year. The schools won't necessarily see the grades, and certainly not the test scores, but they expect a senior year schedule to look as strong or stronger than a junior year schedule. This is someone who is hitting there stride and chomping at the bit to go to college.

Agree with this and think it makes sense that you are at this point focusing APs on your clear area of interest. DS is focused on math/computer science/data science and plans back off to a regular social studies class and maybe regular English but take AP Calculus BC, AP Stats and AP Computer Science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg, stop. This line of thinking is bananas. Admissions counselors know what the course load and rigor is at a specific high school. They will know for example how unique it is for a student to be in AP Calc BC in Junior year or at some schools, not unique at all.

Relax. It will be all fine. Don’t burn out and kid and make them hate high school because you insist on having them take 12 APs before Senior year.

+1 Your AP scores don't matter as they are not required as part of your application. Don't try to cram AP's into grades 9-11. Our DD is heading to an Ivy in the fall and had completed only 1 AP prior to senior year.

How many AP’s did her school offer? Did most top students take more than one AP? Did the school also offer honors classes or was it just regular and AP?

[Anonymous]

Again, you can listen to people who feel it is NOT optional before the early years. They are jsut repeating what they have heard and therefore believe. IT IS NOT true.

For them to consider that now though, means their child had miserable teenage years unnecessarily. And no sleep, and coffee, and stress.

Our school offered a ton of AP's. My child put off taking them until junior year. Took all honors classes prior to that (and was 2 years ahead in math, which is why AP math then become the logical next step). We weren't trying to compete or impress. She got into all but one of the schools she applied to . It takes a lot of strength, but resist the tidal wave of pressure that permeates this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of schools don't even offer many APs to 9th and 10th grade students. Plus, if you pile on 12APs during the first three years, your kid will look like they're slacking off if they only take one or two senior year. I think it's better to build the rigor progressively.

One of my son's friends took 7 APs junior year. He went to school, came home, slept until 9 or 10 pm, and then did homework until it was time for school again. Don't let your child do this. College students don't take 7 classes at one time.

My senior is doing fine with college admissions with two APs junior year and four APs senior year. Most schools want to see mid-year reports senior year, so the senior year classes and grades do matter. AP exam scores do not.

What schools has he been admitted to and what school district are you in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the school. If in an MCPS public, yes, your DC will need to take lots of APS by junior year in order to be competitive for college applications. That is because the school offers so many APs starting in freshman year. My son's public school friends were all taking APs starting freshman year and by end of junior year had six or more APs completed. If in a private school that offers limited APs, then no. It really all depends on what the school offers.

Like the PP, my son who attended a Catholic HS only took 2 APs prior to senior year. He got into his first choice school, a top 20, and many others.

I thought the College Board determined when AP classed could be offered? At our school the only AP offered prior to JR year is AP World History.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disagree that kids in public school need to frontload their AP's. this is the myth. Counselors at those schools try to dispel it. People are so nervous that they will look bad.

My very smart child delayed AP's until junior year (believe me, that took me talking her down from her fear of being outpaced by her peers). That year she took two that made sense for her interest/anticipated major, and did well. So, yes, she skipped the "easy" ones that most kids start with. She took more her senior year. She got into 7/8 schools she applied to. She was pleasantly surprised, since her peers had her convinced this approach was radically sane.

Colleges are no longer impressed by crazy high numbers of APs. It says more about the kid/family' being driven or insecure than their potential.

GPA counts more, then endless hour spent on courses that have no relevance to what the child wants to pursue.

Without saying what these schools are this is meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg, stop. This line of thinking is bananas. Admissions counselors know what the course load and rigor is at a specific high school. They will know for example how unique it is for a student to be in AP Calc BC in Junior year or at some schools, not unique at all.

Relax. It will be all fine. Don’t burn out and kid and make them hate high school because you insist on having them take 12 APs before Senior year.

+1 Your AP scores don't matter as they are not required as part of your application. Don't try to cram AP's into grades 9-11. Our DD is heading to an Ivy in the fall and had completed only 1 AP prior to senior year.

How many AP’s did her school offer? Did most top students take more than one AP? Did the school also offer honors classes or was it just regular and AP?

Her school offers 20 different AP courses. Most top students take more than 1 AP prior to senior year. Yes Honors courses are offered and her non-AP classes were generally (but not all) Honors level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg, stop. This line of thinking is bananas. Admissions counselors know what the course load and rigor is at a specific high school. They will know for example how unique it is for a student to be in AP Calc BC in Junior year or at some schools, not unique at all.

Relax. It will be all fine. Don’t burn out and kid and make them hate high school because you insist on having them take 12 APs before Senior year.

+1 Your AP scores don't matter as they are not required as part of your application. Don't try to cram AP's into grades 9-11. Our DD is heading to an Ivy in the fall and had completed only 1 AP prior to senior year.

How many AP’s did her school offer? Did most top students take more than one AP? Did the school also offer honors classes or was it just regular and AP?

Her school offers 20 different AP courses. Most top students take more than 1 AP prior to senior year. Yes Honors courses are offered and her non-AP classes were generally (but not all) Honors level.

Something more to this story. Kids don’t normally get into ivies by taking easier classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg, stop. This line of thinking is bananas. Admissions counselors know what the course load and rigor is at a specific high school. They will know for example how unique it is for a student to be in AP Calc BC in Junior year or at some schools, not unique at all.

Relax. It will be all fine. Don’t burn out and kid and make them hate high school because you insist on having them take 12 APs before Senior year.

+1 Your AP scores don't matter as they are not required as part of your application. Don't try to cram AP's into grades 9-11. Our DD is heading to an Ivy in the fall and had completed only 1 AP prior to senior year.

How many AP’s did her school offer? Did most top students take more than one AP? Did the school also offer honors classes or was it just regular and AP?

Her school offers 20 different AP courses. Most top students take more than 1 AP prior to senior year. Yes Honors courses are offered and her non-AP classes were generally (but not all) Honors level.

Something more to this story. Kids don’t normally get into ivies by taking easier classes.

Mix in top 1% SAT, good GPA, ED application, strong ECs and demonstrated interest. Yes, it is very doable without a pile of APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg, stop. This line of thinking is bananas. Admissions counselors know what the course load and rigor is at a specific high school. They will know for example how unique it is for a student to be in AP Calc BC in Junior year or at some schools, not unique at all.

Relax. It will be all fine. Don’t burn out and kid and make them hate high school because you insist on having them take 12 APs before Senior year.

+1 Your AP scores don't matter as they are not required as part of your application. Don't try to cram AP's into grades 9-11. Our DD is heading to an Ivy in the fall and had completed only 1 AP prior to senior year.

How many AP’s did her school offer? Did most top students take more than one AP? Did the school also offer honors classes or was it just regular and AP?

Her school offers 20 different AP courses. Most top students take more than 1 AP prior to senior year. Yes Honors courses are offered and her non-AP classes were generally (but not all) Honors level.

Something more to this story. Kids don’t normally get into ivies by taking easier classes.

+1. Rigor is most important in every published Ivy CDS (but Harvard, which weirdly lists nothing as important or very important).