Do all these APs really pay off/matter?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Aim for an AP in each core subject, plus a few more. You do not need all of them, nor does anyone need 12-18 APs to be admitted. Even at high schools offering lots of APs, if you take 8-10 rigorous ones, that's sufficient for most top schools. The less rigorous ones don't add value for admission.

The exception to this is that less rigorous APs nonetheless add a point for the weighted GPA, which can affect class rank or rank by decile or quartile.

Top college admission is not a race to the most APs. You need some, yes, and they should be rigorous ones. There is a rough - but not exact - minimum and that will vary by student. There is a balance. You do not need "the most possible," that is NOT how it works. Be careful what you read, because the general mentality of being "impressive," winning contests and awards, being the "most," is pervasive in this forum.

Is the African-American Studies AP exam considered one of the more rigorous ones?

It's not commonly offered, so no.

Is being an uncommon offering the definition of rigor? What definition are you applying to define rigor across different disciplines? Or do you just want to complain that there's an African-American studies AP exam in a not so subtly racist way?

I think you may be asking the PP who raised this example, but as it's not commonly offered, it's not generally expected for admissions, and so it is irrelevant for the purpose of this thread.

Not being expected for admissions has nothing to do with how rigorous a course is.

Sure. My apologies for being confusing. The thread is about what is required for a most rigorous designation. That course would not be involved in that designation because it just isn't there.

Rigorous social sciences would include APUSH and AP Euro, somewhat AP World and AP macro/micro. Not AP Human Geo or AP Psych.

If we are talking about what moves the needle for rigorous schedule, AP African American Studies isn't even in the discussion because most high schools do not offer that course. It's not going to hurt, but not relevant for the purpose of this thread.

Citation? This sounds more like your opinion of what constitutes a rigorous AP.

Ma'am, this is a Wendy's.

And your opinion is worth less than an order of french fries. You don't need to try to sell it as fact.

LOL. This is DCUM.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:2 AP classes in math, English, science, history. 1 AP in language. That is plenty and better than 1 in each core subject then a much of BS ones like psych, geography, economics, etc.

And your source for that is....your own useless opinion? There's nothing BS about psychology, geography or economics as subject areas.

DP. We are not talking about the subject areas as in majors. We are talking about AP courses. In particular, AP Human Geography and AP Psych have a reputation - among admissions officers at highly-selective schools - for being less rigorous APs compared to other ones.

And your source for this is what?

What's your deal?

Colleges don't share very much at all. It's all "holistic" so no you aren't going to get your cite

And AP HUG is one of the easier APs my STEM kid took

Your kid's opinion doesn't constitute a fact. Maybe your STEM kid can explain that to you.

You do have something going on don’t you?

I offered my kid's experience as anecdata

As I said in my post, no one has any "facts" for you. Do as you want, kid

[Anonymous]

It matters for admission

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:2 AP classes in math, English, science, history. 1 AP in language. That is plenty and better than 1 in each core subject then a much of BS ones like psych, geography, economics, etc.

And your source for that is....your own useless opinion? There's nothing BS about psychology, geography or economics as subject areas.

DP. We are not talking about the subject areas as in majors. We are talking about AP courses. In particular, AP Human Geography and AP Psych have a reputation - among admissions officers at highly-selective schools - for being less rigorous APs compared to other ones.

And your source for this is what?

What's your deal?

Colleges don't share very much at all. It's all "holistic" so no you aren't going to get your cite

And AP HUG is one of the easier APs my STEM kid took

Your kid's opinion doesn't constitute a fact. Maybe your STEM kid can explain that to you.

You do have something going on don’t you?

I offered my kid's experience as anecdata

As I said in my post, no one has any "facts" for you. Do as you want, kid

No one taught me what anecdata was in my statistics class. Is it the same as "alternative facts"?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Demonstate rigor for admissions, Applicable credits help graduate early, Saves on course tuition fee, etc

+1 If your child does well, that is. My friend complained that her kid did among the most APs in her HS (18 I think), but since she got a 3 on two of them (4s and 5s), she didn't get into as elite universities as another kid who did "only" 12 APs but got 4s/5s in all of them. My friend's kid still got into a great school though, just not the HYPS she was hoping for....

Nonsense. This is not why the kid didn't get into the Ivies. Good grades and advanced courses are only a small portion of what top universities require. They want a "special factor", which is usually demonstrated in stellar ECs and tied together in the essays and letters of rec.

Unless you're the admissions officer for that kid's file, you don't know why the kid was rejected. Getting a 3 on two exams could certainly disqualify an applicant at a HYPS university, where other successful applicants get all 4s/5s.

But you don't need to report a 3.

If your transcript says AP XYZ and you are reporting all of your scores, except for the ones you did poorly in, the AOs are going to figure that out.

Or at least wonder why you took HS class AP XYZ and didn't take the exam or didn't report your score on the exam. There's no answer to that question that reflects positively on the applicant.

Could it be because the student could not afford the extra $100 or so to take the exam? Our school district only pays for a certain number of AP exams.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Demonstate rigor for admissions, Applicable credits help graduate early, Saves on course tuition fee, etc

+1 If your child does well, that is. My friend complained that her kid did among the most APs in her HS (18 I think), but since she got a 3 on two of them (4s and 5s), she didn't get into as elite universities as another kid who did "only" 12 APs but got 4s/5s in all of them. My friend's kid still got into a great school though, just not the HYPS she was hoping for....

Nonsense. This is not why the kid didn't get into the Ivies. Good grades and advanced courses are only a small portion of what top universities require. They want a "special factor", which is usually demonstrated in stellar ECs and tied together in the essays and letters of rec.

Unless you're the admissions officer for that kid's file, you don't know why the kid was rejected. Getting a 3 on two exams could certainly disqualify an applicant at a HYPS university, where other successful applicants get all 4s/5s.

But you don't need to report a 3.

If your transcript says AP XYZ and you are reporting all of your scores, except for the ones you did poorly in, the AOs are going to figure that out.

Or at least wonder why you took HS class AP XYZ and didn't take the exam or didn't report your score on the exam. There's no answer to that question that reflects positively on the applicant.

Could it be because the student could not afford the extra $100 or so to take the exam? Our school district only pays for a certain number of AP exams.

School districts differ, but in our school district there are fee waivers for students who can't pay. $100 usually isn't the impediment to taking a test for a kid applying to an elite college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Demonstate rigor for admissions, Applicable credits help graduate early, Saves on course tuition fee, etc

+1 If your child does well, that is. My friend complained that her kid did among the most APs in her HS (18 I think), but since she got a 3 on two of them (4s and 5s), she didn't get into as elite universities as another kid who did "only" 12 APs but got 4s/5s in all of them. My friend's kid still got into a great school though, just not the HYPS she was hoping for....

Nonsense. This is not why the kid didn't get into the Ivies. Good grades and advanced courses are only a small portion of what top universities require. They want a "special factor", which is usually demonstrated in stellar ECs and tied together in the essays and letters of rec.

Unless you're the admissions officer for that kid's file, you don't know why the kid was rejected. Getting a 3 on two exams could certainly disqualify an applicant at a HYPS university, where other successful applicants get all 4s/5s.

But you don't need to report a 3.

If your transcript says AP XYZ and you are reporting all of your scores, except for the ones you did poorly in, the AOs are going to figure that out.

Or at least wonder why you took HS class AP XYZ and didn't take the exam or didn't report your score on the exam. There's no answer to that question that reflects positively on the applicant.

Could it be because the student could not afford the extra $100 or so to take the exam? Our school district only pays for a certain number of AP exams.

School districts differ, but in our school district there are fee waivers for students who can't pay. $100 usually isn't the impediment to taking a test for a kid applying to an elite college.

DP. In my area, public schools do not pay for AP exams at all.

[Anonymous]

Our public school waives fee if student cannot afford. College Board themselves also provide discount codes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Demonstate rigor for admissions, Applicable credits help graduate early, Saves on course tuition fee, etc

+1 If your child does well, that is. My friend complained that her kid did among the most APs in her HS (18 I think), but since she got a 3 on two of them (4s and 5s), she didn't get into as elite universities as another kid who did "only" 12 APs but got 4s/5s in all of them. My friend's kid still got into a great school though, just not the HYPS she was hoping for....

Nonsense. This is not why the kid didn't get into the Ivies. Good grades and advanced courses are only a small portion of what top universities require. They want a "special factor", which is usually demonstrated in stellar ECs and tied together in the essays and letters of rec.

Unless you're the admissions officer for that kid's file, you don't know why the kid was rejected. Getting a 3 on two exams could certainly disqualify an applicant at a HYPS university, where other successful applicants get all 4s/5s.

But you don't need to report a 3.

If your transcript says AP XYZ and you are reporting all of your scores, except for the ones you did poorly in, the AOs are going to figure that out.

Or at least wonder why you took HS class AP XYZ and didn't take the exam or didn't report your score on the exam. There's no answer to that question that reflects positively on the applicant.

Could it be because the student could not afford the extra $100 or so to take the exam? Our school district only pays for a certain number of AP exams.

School districts differ, but in our school district there are fee waivers for students who can't pay. $100 usually isn't the impediment to taking a test for a kid applying to an elite college.

DP. In my area, public schools do not pay for AP exams at all.

MCPS pays all AP exam fees as long as you register by November of the academic year. Fairfax public schools will pay for the first 6 AP exam fees regardless of income, and then waives the fees for anyone registered as being free-reduced price lunch status.

[Anonymous]

The best teachers in our high school teach the AP classes. The best students are in the AP classes. This is a win-win for bright students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Demonstate rigor for admissions, Applicable credits help graduate early, Saves on course tuition fee, etc

+1 If your child does well, that is. My friend complained that her kid did among the most APs in her HS (18 I think), but since she got a 3 on two of them (4s and 5s), she didn't get into as elite universities as another kid who did "only" 12 APs but got 4s/5s in all of them. My friend's kid still got into a great school though, just not the HYPS she was hoping for....

Nonsense. This is not why the kid didn't get into the Ivies. Good grades and advanced courses are only a small portion of what top universities require. They want a "special factor", which is usually demonstrated in stellar ECs and tied together in the essays and letters of rec.

Unless you're the admissions officer for that kid's file, you don't know why the kid was rejected. Getting a 3 on two exams could certainly disqualify an applicant at a HYPS university, where other successful applicants get all 4s/5s.

But you don't need to report a 3.

If your transcript says AP XYZ and you are reporting all of your scores, except for the ones you did poorly in, the AOs are going to figure that out.

Or at least wonder why you took HS class AP XYZ and didn't take the exam or didn't report your score on the exam. There's no answer to that question that reflects positively on the applicant.

Could it be because the student could not afford the extra $100 or so to take the exam? Our school district only pays for a certain number of AP exams.

School districts differ, but in our school district there are fee waivers for students who can't pay. $100 usually isn't the impediment to taking a test for a kid applying to an elite college.

DP. In my area, public schools do not pay for AP exams at all.

MCPS pays all AP exam fees as long as you register by November of the academic year. Fairfax public schools will pay for the first 6 AP exam fees regardless of income, and then waives the fees for anyone registered as being free-reduced price lunch status.

DCPS also covers all AP exam fees. The College Board offers a $37 fee reduction for eligible students nationwide. When AOs see that no student AP scores were submitted, despite being enrolled in an AP course, most of the time, they're not going to think that the exam fee was the reason.

[Anonymous]

Some social studies APs are better regarded because they’re generally considered equivalent to two college semesters. These include APUSH, AP Euro, AP World, and both Econs together. Most of the others like Human Geography and Psych and the Govs are generally considered equivalent to one college semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMO, APs are becoming the standardized national exams. It allows colleges to compare apples to apples. It's think they are becoming table stakes for the more rigorous colleges.

Wow that's good to know. No wonder someone from school is taking like 20 APs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was just working on an honors college application (ASU Barrett) that wanted to know all the AP courses she had taken and for each one, whether she had taken the exam, and if so her score, and if not why not.

Honors college is fairly worthless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid was just working on an honors college application (ASU Barrett) that wanted to know all the AP courses she had taken and for each one, whether she had taken the exam, and if so her score, and if not why not.

Honors college is fairly worthless.

As is your opinion. Honors Colleges are a great opportunity for smart kids at public universities.