Reply to For top 20 college, what did your AP/rigor look like from typical suburban high school?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Based on the College Board data, at least from 2018, about 125,000 students took 10 AP's or more.

This lends credence to the thesis that you need that many to be "in the door" to Top 20's.[/quote]

Check the 2018 data again …

1. Barely 90,000 with 10 or more.

2. Posters in this thread have consistently referenced “15 or more” AP tests anyway, which brings the 2018 number below 3,000.

3. Posters have also indicated other conditions like (A) a wall of 5s only on 15 or more AP tests, with no scores below 5, (B) a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and (C) a perfect, one-and-done standardized test score …

Of the 3,000 or fewer who met the “15 or more” APs in 2018, fewer than 300 per year met all three add’l conditions.

Adjusting for 2024 data, that number is 500 or fewer per year.

For the last time:

1550 IS NOT the same as a 1600.

A superscored or multi-attempt 1600 IS NOT the same as a one-and-done 1600.

When taking 15 AP tests, 12x 5, 2x 4, and 1x 3 IS NOT the same as 15x 5.

And a 3.96 IS NOT the same as a 4.0.[/quote]

DP. You may think these differences aren't the same, but they are the same tier for AOs. People who double down on this often end up buyer, misled and spouting nonsense.[/quote]
+1. Admissions is not a race to the most APs/highest GPA/highest score. These academic stats all matter, certainly, but once above some general threshold area, other things matter more, particularly essays and recommendations.

(Oh my goodness, there is a PP who thinks 1600 one-and-done matters more than 1600 superscore? Sorry if that's your kid, but nope, it doesn't matter for most top colleges.[/quote]

Admissions may not be a race to the most AP's, highest GPA, highest SAT score, but the unfortunate reality is that if you come from a high school that offers AP's in history, english, math, science, and you aspire to go to a top 20 college, each and every one of those colleges will assess your academic record in the context of your high school.

I have never heard an admission's officer state that they don't expect their applicant to have NOT taken advantage of the high school's academic offerings.  There definitely is leeway in not taking all AP World, AP Euro, APUSH and AP Gov for a stem candidate.  But at the same token, that STEM candidate better have taken AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Calc, AP Physics if offered.  And all AO's expect at least one of the English AP's.

So when you are said and done,no matter a humanities major or a STEM major, you will be at 10 AP's for most high schools JUST TO BE COMPETITIVE.[/quote]
PP. My kid is a freshman at a T10 with 7 APs plus DE multivariable calc (so, 8 weighted courses total), 4.0 uw/1550. No AP English, no fourth year of foreign language. Suburban high school offering >20 APs. Did not have a high rank for weighted GPA.  Yes, he had high stats in general, but no, he absolutely did not maximize his stats (don't get me started, he objected, and basically refused, to game the GPA).

My opinion: [i]maximum possible[/i] APs is not the answer. The student should take what makes sense for them. Sure, one can have a goal of a rigorous AP in each core subject area as a rule of thumb, as colleges often recommend, but in the admissions review, 8 vs 10 doesn't make a difference. There isn't a bright line rule. 6 or 7, vs 10? Depends on the rest of the app - like everything else.[/quote]

What were the AP's?  How large a high school?  What were the outcomes of his classmates?  Were AP's offered freshman year?  What did the average top 5-10% student profile from that high school look like?  [/quote]

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