How many APs did you top 20 admit have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero AP courses for my private school kid. Imo, the biggest perk and privlege of private school is the absence of the toxic expectation to take max AP courses. Many AP course curriculums are restrictive, fast paced and dont allow deeper dive into complex topics. Kids often have multiple test retakes which inflates grades. I don't think AP is a reasonable benchmark. We know so many public kids with 4.0 gpa and all AP. Lots of grade inflation so kids kill themselves to get top grades, but when so many have perfect grades, their value is diluted. All AP does not guarantee t20 college. The only AP curriculum winner is College Board that makes lots of $$$ selling the program and tests. Without AP mania, my kid took many advanced classes but not in every discipline. They were very focused and excelled in their academic area of interest both in school coursework and with their EC. My kid did very well with college acceptances, but top grades and rigor are only 1 part of the 'holistic' admission process these days

Same for mine. NYC privates don't do AP. Child was accepted to a top NYC SHSAT school and we opted for private. We are very privileged to have the means to pay for it. But I am so glad we did not deal with this.

The fact that kids are taking multiple APs as freshmen and getting straight fives says to me that they have been greatly diluted from the 90s when I took them. Are colleges really impressed by this? At some point I feel like it is gluttony.

Yet, you both expect them to be impressed by your fancy private school. Most of these posters don't have that privilege, OK? They have a different set of rules to follow.

Not the PP, but I don't think they were saying schools should be impressed by their private, but rather that they spared their child the AP rat race. My kid attends private as well and while there are APs, they are only offered in jr. and sr. year. It takes a lot of pressure off and a kid can take half the number of APs than a public school kid and be equally or more competitive.

APs are a standardized way to compare kids from diverse settings studying core subjects with grading that is independent of any school. Whenever I hear private school parents say their schools are too good for APs, I interpret this as their kid couldn't hack it at a public magnet or other school with rigorous coursework. But again, with the full-pay, and legacy benefits that many private school kids have, it all gets jumbled up anyway when you try to look at the "success" of their admissions.

I don't think they are saying they are too good lol. Maybe some couldn't hack it. I know mine wouldn't have had as rich a high school experience if she were craming for 12 APs. I am grateful we could afford a school without that level of pressure (honors instead of APs) and has stellar college matriculations with anywhere from 15-25 percent going to top 20 schools. My oldest took 6 APs and ended up at a top 20.

[Anonymous]

6 AP and accepted to UVA ED from rigorous private

[Anonymous]

It depends greatly on what APs. Self studied AP matter very little.

Some exams like Calculus AB and BC, or Physics 1&2, and C, Mechanics and electromagnetism.

Some APs are semester long (Economics) others full year (Chemistry).

Some are hard and count (Calculus BC), others are fillers (Human Geography, Psychology).

In the end the number doesn’t matter that much. More important is to do take the ones that are usually prerequisites for other classes.

If you took more than 10-12, likely you’re better off doing something else like extracurriculars, instead of cramming for APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero AP courses for my private school kid. Imo, the biggest perk and privlege of private school is the absence of the toxic expectation to take max AP courses. Many AP course curriculums are restrictive, fast paced and dont allow deeper dive into complex topics. Kids often have multiple test retakes which inflates grades. I don't think AP is a reasonable benchmark. We know so many public kids with 4.0 gpa and all AP. Lots of grade inflation so kids kill themselves to get top grades, but when so many have perfect grades, their value is diluted. All AP does not guarantee t20 college. The only AP curriculum winner is College Board that makes lots of $$$ selling the program and tests. Without AP mania, my kid took many advanced classes but not in every discipline. They were very focused and excelled in their academic area of interest both in school coursework and with their EC. My kid did very well with college acceptances, but top grades and rigor are only 1 part of the 'holistic' admission process these days

Same for mine. NYC privates don't do AP. Child was accepted to a top NYC SHSAT school and we opted for private. We are very privileged to have the means to pay for it. But I am so glad we did not deal with this.

The fact that kids are taking multiple APs as freshmen and getting straight fives says to me that they have been greatly diluted from the 90s when I took them. Are colleges really impressed by this? At some point I feel like it is gluttony.

Yet, you both expect them to be impressed by your fancy private school. Most of these posters don't have that privilege, OK? They have a different set of rules to follow.

Not the PP, but I don't think they were saying schools should be impressed by their private, but rather that they spared their child the AP rat race. My kid attends private as well and while there are APs, they are only offered in jr. and sr. year. It takes a lot of pressure off and a kid can take half the number of APs than a public school kid and be equally or more competitive.

APs are a standardized way to compare kids from diverse settings studying core subjects with grading that is independent of any school. Whenever I hear private school parents say their schools are too good for APs, I interpret this as their kid couldn't hack it at a public magnet or other school with rigorous coursework. But again, with the full-pay, and legacy benefits that many private school kids have, it all gets jumbled up anyway when you try to look at the "success" of their admissions.

I don't think they are saying they are too good lol. Maybe some couldn't hack it. I know mine wouldn't have had as rich a high school experience if she were craming for 12 APs. I am grateful we could afford a school without that level of pressure (honors instead of APs) and has stellar college matriculations with anywhere from 15-25 percent going to top 20 schools. My oldest took 6 APs and ended up at a top 20.

i think the lesson here is that the colleges are using private schools as a proxy as who can afford sticker price

It's one thing to claim the schools courses are as demanding or more as AP, it's another to brag that your kid took a lighter work load and still got into T20

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero AP courses for my private school kid. Imo, the biggest perk and privlege of private school is the absence of the toxic expectation to take max AP courses. Many AP course curriculums are restrictive, fast paced and dont allow deeper dive into complex topics. Kids often have multiple test retakes which inflates grades. I don't think AP is a reasonable benchmark. We know so many public kids with 4.0 gpa and all AP. Lots of grade inflation so kids kill themselves to get top grades, but when so many have perfect grades, their value is diluted. All AP does not guarantee t20 college. The only AP curriculum winner is College Board that makes lots of $$$ selling the program and tests. Without AP mania, my kid took many advanced classes but not in every discipline. They were very focused and excelled in their academic area of interest both in school coursework and with their EC. My kid did very well with college acceptances, but top grades and rigor are only 1 part of the 'holistic' admission process these days

Same for mine. NYC privates don't do AP. Child was accepted to a top NYC SHSAT school and we opted for private. We are very privileged to have the means to pay for it. But I am so glad we did not deal with this.

The fact that kids are taking multiple APs as freshmen and getting straight fives says to me that they have been greatly diluted from the 90s when I took them. Are colleges really impressed by this? At some point I feel like it is gluttony.

Yet, you both expect them to be impressed by your fancy private school. Most of these posters don't have that privilege, OK? They have a different set of rules to follow.

Not the PP, but I don't think they were saying schools should be impressed by their private, but rather that they spared their child the AP rat race. My kid attends private as well and while there are APs, they are only offered in jr. and sr. year. It takes a lot of pressure off and a kid can take half the number of APs than a public school kid and be equally or more competitive.

APs are a standardized way to compare kids from diverse settings studying core subjects with grading that is independent of any school. Whenever I hear private school parents say their schools are too good for APs, I interpret this as their kid couldn't hack it at a public magnet or other school with rigorous coursework. But again, with the full-pay, and legacy benefits that many private school kids have, it all gets jumbled up anyway when you try to look at the "success" of their admissions.

I don't think they are saying they are too good lol. Maybe some couldn't hack it. I know mine wouldn't have had as rich a high school experience if she were craming for 12 APs. I am grateful we could afford a school without that level of pressure (honors instead of APs) and has stellar college matriculations with anywhere from 15-25 percent going to top 20 schools. My oldest took 6 APs and ended up at a top 20.

i think the lesson here is that the colleges are using private schools as a proxy as who can afford sticker price

It's one thing to claim the schools courses are as demanding or more as AP, it's another to brag that your kid took a lighter work load and still got into T20

Nah. The public schools with all the APs actually have severe grade inflation. The colleges know this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero AP courses for my private school kid. Imo, the biggest perk and privlege of private school is the absence of the toxic expectation to take max AP courses. Many AP course curriculums are restrictive, fast paced and dont allow deeper dive into complex topics. Kids often have multiple test retakes which inflates grades. I don't think AP is a reasonable benchmark. We know so many public kids with 4.0 gpa and all AP. Lots of grade inflation so kids kill themselves to get top grades, but when so many have perfect grades, their value is diluted. All AP does not guarantee t20 college. The only AP curriculum winner is College Board that makes lots of $$$ selling the program and tests. Without AP mania, my kid took many advanced classes but not in every discipline. They were very focused and excelled in their academic area of interest both in school coursework and with their EC. My kid did very well with college acceptances, but top grades and rigor are only 1 part of the 'holistic' admission process these days

Same for mine. NYC privates don't do AP. Child was accepted to a top NYC SHSAT school and we opted for private. We are very privileged to have the means to pay for it. But I am so glad we did not deal with this.

The fact that kids are taking multiple APs as freshmen and getting straight fives says to me that they have been greatly diluted from the 90s when I took them. Are colleges really impressed by this? At some point I feel like it is gluttony.

Yet, you both expect them to be impressed by your fancy private school. Most of these posters don't have that privilege, OK? They have a different set of rules to follow.

Not the PP, but I don't think they were saying schools should be impressed by their private, but rather that they spared their child the AP rat race. My kid attends private as well and while there are APs, they are only offered in jr. and sr. year. It takes a lot of pressure off and a kid can take half the number of APs than a public school kid and be equally or more competitive.

APs are a standardized way to compare kids from diverse settings studying core subjects with grading that is independent of any school. Whenever I hear private school parents say their schools are too good for APs, I interpret this as their kid couldn't hack it at a public magnet or other school with rigorous coursework. But again, with the full-pay, and legacy benefits that many private school kids have, it all gets jumbled up anyway when you try to look at the "success" of their admissions.

I don't think they are saying they are too good lol. Maybe some couldn't hack it. I know mine wouldn't have had as rich a high school experience if she were craming for 12 APs. I am grateful we could afford a school without that level of pressure (honors instead of APs) and has stellar college matriculations with anywhere from 15-25 percent going to top 20 schools. My oldest took 6 APs and ended up at a top 20.

i think the lesson here is that the colleges are using private schools as a proxy as who can afford sticker price

It's one thing to claim the schools courses are as demanding or more as AP, it's another to brag that your kid took a lighter work load and still got into T20

Nah. The public schools with all the APs actually have severe grade inflation. The colleges know this.

Maybe at your school but not ours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero AP courses for my private school kid. Imo, the biggest perk and privlege of private school is the absence of the toxic expectation to take max AP courses. Many AP course curriculums are restrictive, fast paced and dont allow deeper dive into complex topics. Kids often have multiple test retakes which inflates grades. I don't think AP is a reasonable benchmark. We know so many public kids with 4.0 gpa and all AP. Lots of grade inflation so kids kill themselves to get top grades, but when so many have perfect grades, their value is diluted. All AP does not guarantee t20 college. The only AP curriculum winner is College Board that makes lots of $$$ selling the program and tests. Without AP mania, my kid took many advanced classes but not in every discipline. They were very focused and excelled in their academic area of interest both in school coursework and with their EC. My kid did very well with college acceptances, but top grades and rigor are only 1 part of the 'holistic' admission process these days

Same for mine. NYC privates don't do AP. Child was accepted to a top NYC SHSAT school and we opted for private. We are very privileged to have the means to pay for it. But I am so glad we did not deal with this.

The fact that kids are taking multiple APs as freshmen and getting straight fives says to me that they have been greatly diluted from the 90s when I took them. Are colleges really impressed by this? At some point I feel like it is gluttony.

Yet, you both expect them to be impressed by your fancy private school. Most of these posters don't have that privilege, OK? They have a different set of rules to follow.

Not the PP, but I don't think they were saying schools should be impressed by their private, but rather that they spared their child the AP rat race. My kid attends private as well and while there are APs, they are only offered in jr. and sr. year. It takes a lot of pressure off and a kid can take half the number of APs than a public school kid and be equally or more competitive.

APs are a standardized way to compare kids from diverse settings studying core subjects with grading that is independent of any school. Whenever I hear private school parents say their schools are too good for APs, I interpret this as their kid couldn't hack it at a public magnet or other school with rigorous coursework. But again, with the full-pay, and legacy benefits that many private school kids have, it all gets jumbled up anyway when you try to look at the "success" of their admissions.

I don't think they are saying they are too good lol. Maybe some couldn't hack it. I know mine wouldn't have had as rich a high school experience if she were craming for 12 APs. I am grateful we could afford a school without that level of pressure (honors instead of APs) and has stellar college matriculations with anywhere from 15-25 percent going to top 20 schools. My oldest took 6 APs and ended up at a top 20.

i think the lesson here is that the colleges are using private schools as a proxy as who can afford sticker price

It's one thing to claim the schools courses are as demanding or more as AP, it's another to brag that your kid took a lighter work load and still got into T20

Nah. The public schools with all the APs actually have severe grade inflation. The colleges know this.

Compared to private schools where the administration doesn’t want to piss off the parents who paid 40k for the privilege of their kid to be there? What’s your evidence for that?

The only thing college admissions can compare with certainty are the scores of the AP exams. Does the kid gets a 4 or 5 or do you want to roll the dice that some T20 school is going to appreciate the “rigor” of your “highly unique and customized” private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero AP courses for my private school kid. Imo, the biggest perk and privlege of private school is the absence of the toxic expectation to take max AP courses. Many AP course curriculums are restrictive, fast paced and dont allow deeper dive into complex topics. Kids often have multiple test retakes which inflates grades. I don't think AP is a reasonable benchmark. We know so many public kids with 4.0 gpa and all AP. Lots of grade inflation so kids kill themselves to get top grades, but when so many have perfect grades, their value is diluted. All AP does not guarantee t20 college. The only AP curriculum winner is College Board that makes lots of $$$ selling the program and tests. Without AP mania, my kid took many advanced classes but not in every discipline. They were very focused and excelled in their academic area of interest both in school coursework and with their EC. My kid did very well with college acceptances, but top grades and rigor are only 1 part of the 'holistic' admission process these days

Same for mine. NYC privates don't do AP. Child was accepted to a top NYC SHSAT school and we opted for private. We are very privileged to have the means to pay for it. But I am so glad we did not deal with this.

The fact that kids are taking multiple APs as freshmen and getting straight fives says to me that they have been greatly diluted from the 90s when I took them. Are colleges really impressed by this? At some point I feel like it is gluttony.

Yet, you both expect them to be impressed by your fancy private school. Most of these posters don't have that privilege, OK? They have a different set of rules to follow.

Not the PP, but I don't think they were saying schools should be impressed by their private, but rather that they spared their child the AP rat race. My kid attends private as well and while there are APs, they are only offered in jr. and sr. year. It takes a lot of pressure off and a kid can take half the number of APs than a public school kid and be equally or more competitive.

APs are a standardized way to compare kids from diverse settings studying core subjects with grading that is independent of any school. Whenever I hear private school parents say their schools are too good for APs, I interpret this as their kid couldn't hack it at a public magnet or other school with rigorous coursework. But again, with the full-pay, and legacy benefits that many private school kids have, it all gets jumbled up anyway when you try to look at the "success" of their admissions.

I don't think they are saying they are too good lol. Maybe some couldn't hack it. I know mine wouldn't have had as rich a high school experience if she were craming for 12 APs. I am grateful we could afford a school without that level of pressure (honors instead of APs) and has stellar college matriculations with anywhere from 15-25 percent going to top 20 schools. My oldest took 6 APs and ended up at a top 20.

i think the lesson here is that the colleges are using private schools as a proxy as who can afford sticker price

It's one thing to claim the schools courses are as demanding or more as AP, it's another to brag that your kid took a lighter work load and still got into T20

Nah. The public schools with all the APs actually have severe grade inflation. The colleges know this.

Maybe at your school but not ours.

Some of the private school folks just don’t let up. They apparently know all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zero AP courses for my private school kid. Imo, the biggest perk and privlege of private school is the absence of the toxic expectation to take max AP courses. Many AP course curriculums are restrictive, fast paced and dont allow deeper dive into complex topics. Kids often have multiple test retakes which inflates grades. I don't think AP is a reasonable benchmark. We know so many public kids with 4.0 gpa and all AP. Lots of grade inflation so kids kill themselves to get top grades, but when so many have perfect grades, their value is diluted. All AP does not guarantee t20 college. The only AP curriculum winner is College Board that makes lots of $$$ selling the program and tests. Without AP mania, my kid took many advanced classes but not in every discipline. They were very focused and excelled in their academic area of interest both in school coursework and with their EC. My kid did very well with college acceptances, but top grades and rigor are only 1 part of the 'holistic' admission process these days

Same for mine. NYC privates don't do AP. Child was accepted to a top NYC SHSAT school and we opted for private. We are very privileged to have the means to pay for it. But I am so glad we did not deal with this.

The fact that kids are taking multiple APs as freshmen and getting straight fives says to me that they have been greatly diluted from the 90s when I took them. Are colleges really impressed by this? At some point I feel like it is gluttony.

Yet, you both expect them to be impressed by your fancy private school. Most of these posters don't have that privilege, OK? They have a different set of rules to follow.

Not the PP, but I don't think they were saying schools should be impressed by their private, but rather that they spared their child the AP rat race. My kid attends private as well and while there are APs, they are only offered in jr. and sr. year. It takes a lot of pressure off and a kid can take half the number of APs than a public school kid and be equally or more competitive.

APs are a standardized way to compare kids from diverse settings studying core subjects with grading that is independent of any school. Whenever I hear private school parents say their schools are too good for APs, I interpret this as their kid couldn't hack it at a public magnet or other school with rigorous coursework. But again, with the full-pay, and legacy benefits that many private school kids have, it all gets jumbled up anyway when you try to look at the "success" of their admissions.

I don't think they are saying they are too good lol. Maybe some couldn't hack it. I know mine wouldn't have had as rich a high school experience if she were craming for 12 APs. I am grateful we could afford a school without that level of pressure (honors instead of APs) and has stellar college matriculations with anywhere from 15-25 percent going to top 20 schools. My oldest took 6 APs and ended up at a top 20.

i think the lesson here is that the colleges are using private schools as a proxy as who can afford sticker price

It's one thing to claim the schools courses are as demanding or more as AP, it's another to brag that your kid took a lighter work load and still got into T20

Nah. The public schools with all the APs actually have severe grade inflation. The colleges know this.

Maybe at your school but not ours.

Some of the private school folks just don’t let up. They apparently know all!

They get all fussed when people suggest that the premium product that they pay so much money for could be available for…free.

[Anonymous]

There is a point of diminishing marginal returns on APs. 12 vs. 14 vs. 16 really doesn't matter. I agree with other posters that at some point I would prefer the kid used the periods for band, art, PE, relaxing with friends, or whatever else and weren't spending their whole spring semesters studying for APs.

Also, in the northeast where schools often start after Labor Day, the timing of APs is tough - several fewer weeks of class to prepare. So the kids have to do even more cramming.

Finally, for those with fewer financial resources, APs are incredible if they let you spend less time in college and save money. However, for those who can, I think you are better off taking the classes at college. Particularly at smaller schools, intro classes are actually great. Thirty years later I regret placing out of an intro class where the professor was one of the best professors at the school.

[Anonymous]

Ivy, Pomona, Hopkins admit—8. HS had honors first. Had a ton of honors too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ivy, Pomona, Hopkins admit—8. HS had honors first. Had a ton of honors too

^ did report all 5s on all exams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In at HYPS, took 2+3+8+5 = 18 throughout high school. An additional 2 were self studied, for 20 in total.

Impressive. Fewer than 250 students a year graduate with taking 20 or more AP exams.

There are about 4 million US high school seniors graduating per year, plus hundreds of thousands of international students.

Your incredible child is in the .005555555 percentile.

So taking 20 AP's will at least set you apart from other applicants. This is assuming you get all 5's on each AP, which if you are taking 20 AP's is a must. 5 per school year is doable, or may only take 16 in during each of the freshman, sophomore, junior, senior years and self-study two during sophomore and junior year summer. That doesn't sound too bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS taking 4 as a sophomore, which feels like a lot but it just sort of turned out that way with each of his current teachers in three core subjects highly recommending he take the AP in their subject and then an AP elective he just really wants to take and not sure when else he will fit it in. Anyway, my thought would be 4 each year in 10-12 for a total of 12, which sounds like plenty, but he feels like he should show increasing rigor each year, or at least from 10th to 11th (so, 4, 5, 5 or 4, 5, 6).

12 APs plus post-AP math (MV Calc). Accepted to 4 top 20 engineering schools (Georgia Tech, Purdue, UMD, VT) and 2 waitlisted (Northwestern, U Michigan)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not confined to Top 20, but for the overall population:

By 2024,
46,316 students had taken 9 AP Exams
31,055 had 10 exams
20,506 had 11 exams
12,978 had 12 exams
8,131 had 13 exams
4,843 had 14 exams
2,838 had 15 exams
1,574 had16 exams
873 had 17 exams
477 had 18 exams
223 had 19 exams
125 had 20 exams
61 had 21 exams
34 had 22 exams
11 had 23 exams
7 had 24 exams,
9had 25 exams
1 had 29 exams
1 Student had 30 exams or more

Wouldn't be wild if 90% of these numbers came from DMV?