Public schools kids often have way more APs on their record than private school kids. It's doesn't equate to a better education or a more rigorous course load.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on the high school. Different schools have different class offerings. Also, your kid wants to take a sufficient number to be, for example, in the top 10% of the class.

As an aside, I think is daunting to look at admissions numbers and see that the average admitted student to UVa or UMCP from Fairfax or Montgomery county has something like a 4.5 weighted GPA, and then work backwards to see how many APs that requires.

OP here. My kid is at Langley. It feels like everyone takes at least 10 AP so that would not be considered rigorous. I hate that my kid is at this pressure cooker school.

The seniors parents I know or the ones who had kids graduate seemed stressed about even getting into UVA with perfect grades. These kids all have 4.5+ GPAs.

That’s the problem, when a school gives out too many As, every one has the same gpa and it becomes arbitrary as to who gets in and who doesn’t .

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on the high school. Different schools have different class offerings. Also, your kid wants to take a sufficient number to be, for example, in the top 10% of the class.

As an aside, I think is daunting to look at admissions numbers and see that the average admitted student to UVa or UMCP from Fairfax or Montgomery county has something like a 4.5 weighted GPA, and then work backwards to see how many APs that requires.

OP here. My kid is at Langley. It feels like everyone takes at least 10 AP so that would not be considered rigorous. I hate that my kid is at this pressure cooker school.

The seniors parents I know or the ones who had kids graduate seemed stressed about even getting into UVA with perfect grades. These kids all have 4.5+ GPAs.

It really depends on the high school. Different schools have different class offerings. Also, your kid wants to take a sufficient number to be, for example, in the top 10% of the class.

As an aside, I think is daunting to look at admissions numbers and see that the average admitted student to UVa or UMCP from Fairfax or Montgomery county has something like a 4.5 weighted GPA, and then work backwards to see how many APs that requires.

7-8 APs in core subjects (e/g.. calc, one of physics/chem/bio, social studies, english, foreign lang)

Anonymous wrote:Are kids who are taking 12+ APs attending high schools that offer AP only in 11th & 12th grades?

I think mine took 13 APs but started on 8th grade at BASIS DC.

Are kids who are taking 12+ APs attending high schools that offer AP only in 11th & 12th grades?

Anonymous wrote:What’s DE?

Dual Enrollment

What’s DE?

My counselor said DC got the most rigorous check mark. She had 13 APs (plus a lab) and 2 DEs.

Rigor depends on the offerings at your school.

You will get different answers.

DC has 11 APs and 2 DEs.
I did ask DC's counselor if this qualifies for checking the most rigorous box on common app.
The counselor said yes.

Look at the average gpas of the admitted students from your school, for the colleges you want. That will give you an idea of the number of APs.

Generally, what schools want to see is an increase in rigor. Kid got an A in bio GE in 9th? They should take honors science in 10th, and some kind of AP (or two) science in 11th.

Progression in core classes.

Does your school have a ton of AP offerings? Then they want to see kid taking advantage of them. The colleges not only get your kids transcripts, but also a doc from the school showing all available classes. Some school don’t have many APs, and so it’s not a disadvantage if they don’t have many. But if your school offers them, and the kid is getting As in GE and Honors in 9th (and 10th)…

Your child should decide, in conjunction with their teachers and GC, what is the appropriate course load for them, balancing their goals, abilities, and health. There is no magic number.

I have been hearing lots of kids take 13-15 AP courses.

Is this the norm for any student shooting for a top 25 school or even too 50 school?