How many AP classes does a "typical, academically advanced" student take in MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Having a lot of AP worked out well for my kid from college credit and merit scholarship standpoint. I don't know why some people have anti-AP attitude. If your kid is ready and willing, go for it. It won't hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a lot of AP worked out well for my kid from college credit and merit scholarship standpoint. I don't know why some people have anti-AP attitude. If your kid is ready and willing, go for it. It won't hurt.

PP, very helpful. Can you say how many AP? What approx size merit scholarship? What kind of school (large state uni, small lib arts, etc.) Did your child have any other significant hooks (sport or other significant interest, race, first from family to uni, non-native English speaker, etc.) also what percentile range were SAT/ACT?

Thanks for sharing. It can be very hard to assess what the real impact of many APs from some of these other factors. The reality is that they probably all work together.

[Anonymous]

My DD and I attended a Stanford info session not long ago, and the presenter (who is the admission rep for MD and DE) talked about the role of APs in the admissions process.

She started by asking if anyone was from Thomas Jefferson HS in NOVA, then asked if they knew how many APs their school offered. She said the total was 27 or 28, and then she said they absolutely, emphatically did not want to see kids killing themselves to take anywhere near that number. She noted that you can't really have much of the sort of an outside life that interests admissions directors if all you do is take APs. But she also said that they do care about rigor, and they like to see kids challenging themselves and exploring at least some of the of high-level classes offered at their school. She didn't offer anything more definitive, but I was at least happy to hear they don't look with favor on the kids who try to rack up the highest number of APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having a lot of AP worked out well for my kid from college credit and merit scholarship standpoint. I don't know why some people have anti-AP attitude. If your kid is ready and willing, go for it. It won't hurt.

PP, very helpful. Can you say how many AP? What approx size merit scholarship? What kind of school (large state uni, small lib arts, etc.) Did your child have any other significant hooks (sport or other significant interest, race, first from family to uni, non-native English speaker, etc.) also what percentile range were SAT/ACT?

Thanks for sharing. It can be very hard to assess what the real impact of many APs from some of these other factors. The reality is that they probably all work together.

I don't want to give you specific stats but just to give some general idea.

- how many? ~ close to 15
- what size merit? full ride, full tuition, and 25k-35K/year from a few schools (not qualify for FA/didn't do FAFSA) - HHI 300k
- hooks? No hooks
- SAT/ACT range - 99%tile
- college credit? ~ 60 credits. Pursuing dual degrees (two BS degrees).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a magnet kid and the plan is 2 in 10th (NSL and Comp. Sci.) , 2 in 11th (Eng. Lang and World History) 2 in 12th (Eng. Literature and French). 6 might not sound like a lot for an advanced kid but he is in a demanding program and I don't want to add to the stress.

Same here. Technical magnet.
Plan is 1 in 9th (NSL)
2 in 10th (Geography, Econ)
2 in 11 (Chemistry, Calc)
2 in 12th (Physics, English)

The problem is that for technical kid there is nothing else that university would count. No need to overload with Psychology, History, Biology, etc. No need in so many Humanities for Engineering major.
Child would take different Foreign in college (not available in school), CS and Statistics are not counted by universities.
So really in our case 7 is max.

It could get him out of general education requirements at some schools, though this likely depends on the policies of the specific universities likely to be on his list.

General education are 2 English (only one can be done in school), Government + Geography (or History but not both) +2 Econ + Foreign. There are no more general things, none.
All other courses just waste of time and energy for nothing...

His prospective college doesn't have any general education requirements other than that? At most universities, regardless of a student's major they must take some history, psychology, etc.

Required history and psychology for Engineer? If there would be so much GE classes, students would never get to majors .
Electives are also better to take in your field, instead of history, dancing or golfing.

[Anonymous]

The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

You can take the class and skip the exams. Or take them but never report the exam grades to colleges if you don't wish to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

You can take the class and skip the exams. Or take them but never report the exam grades to colleges if you don't wish to.

That sounds nice but do colleges hold it against a student who took the AP class but did not take the exam or did not report the grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

You can take the class and skip the exams. Or take them but never report the exam grades to colleges if you don't wish to.

That sounds nice but do colleges hold it against a student who took the AP class but did not take the exam or did not report the grade?

No - the only AP test scores you need to report to a school are those which you are seeking to get college credits for. Those are typically submitted in the summer after senior year -- long after admissions decisions and scholarships or merit aid is decided.

You can certainly report outstanding scores early, but it isn't required at all and isn't something that even goes to the admissions department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

You can take the class and skip the exams. Or take them but never report the exam grades to colleges if you don't wish to.

That sounds nice but do colleges hold it against a student who took the AP class but did not take the exam or did not report the grade?

No - the only AP test scores you need to report to a school are those which you are seeking to get college credits for. Those are typically submitted in the summer after senior year -- long after admissions decisions and scholarships or merit aid is decided.

You can certainly report outstanding scores early, but it isn't required at all and isn't something that even goes to the admissions department.

[b]

Thank you! This is useful information. So if the 'best' class my child's HS (Blair SMAC) offers in English or History is an AP class, I can encourage him to take it without worrying about adding to his stress levels in May. Presumably all the college would notice is his MCPS grade on his high school transcript for the AP class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

You can take the class and skip the exams. Or take them but never report the exam grades to colleges if you don't wish to.

That sounds nice but do colleges hold it against a student who took the AP class but did not take the exam or did not report the grade?

Yes, they see it on your transcript and realized you didn't submit it for college credit = parents forcing an over-achiever who is struggling and will likely bomb in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

But many of those schools have kids taking tons of AP tests so it's really no different than public schools with the AP label. Do you know that the curriculum is somehow dramatically different? I had one kid in private and one in public and the curriculum seemed the same and the kids were under the same pressure and took the same AP test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

You can take the class and skip the exams. Or take them but never report the exam grades to colleges if you don't wish to.

That sounds nice but do colleges hold it against a student who took the AP class but did not take the exam or did not report the grade?

Yes, they see it on your transcript and realized you didn't submit it for college credit = parents forcing an over-achiever who is struggling and will likely bomb in college.

But is anything done? Sounds like it then becomes the student's issue to make it through college, not theirs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The irony is the top private schools in this area offer very little AP's because they stand by their normal and honors classes being rigorous. None of them seem to have any issue getting kids into colleges.

I would assume this would be true for a kid in a magnet program too although I know a lot of kids take a bunch of AP exams anyway. I am going to encourage my magnet HS kid to limit AP exams as I don't want HS to be anymore stressful than it already is. I just hope colleges will recognize the rigor of the classes taken in the magnet program.

You can take the class and skip the exams. Or take them but never report the exam grades to colleges if you don't wish to.

That sounds nice but do colleges hold it against a student who took the AP class but did not take the exam or did not report the grade?

Yes, they see it on your transcript and realized you didn't submit it for college credit = parents forcing an over-achiever who is struggling and will likely bomb in college.

Not sure I agree with this. If kid is doing well in a very rigorous magnet program (and therefore presumably will not "bomb" college) why make them study for a bunch of AP exams. At a school like Blair you might want them to take a (non-science) AP class because you know it will be rigorous and they will have a strong peer group but you don't necessarily want them to go through the stress of studying for and sitting for a board exam? I know there are a bunch of kids at Blair and at RMIB who take tons of AP exams but I am wondering if there is a saner path through these very demanding programs.