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.

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....

Good point, and it brings in the three (3) actual AP factors which must be met:

1) enroll in the AP,
2) earn at least an A grade in the class, and
3) earn a 5 or at least a 4 on the AP Exam.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is so much competition about taking max APs. Does it really matter?

Elite colleges want to see kids take the most rigorous classes. My kids would have been bored without them and liked the classes.

True.

We toured UVA last year and they put it bluntly: UVA expects applicants to take “the most rigorous course load available at your HS.”

If APs and DEs are offered, then your child had better take them. But merely taking them is not enough.

At our NOVA public, the Naviance scattergram showed a minimum average GPA required for UVA is 4.40 on a scale from 0 to 4 (the boost comes only from AP or DE).

UVA is a T30 school, and number 4 among public universities.

If your child is not gunning for a T30 school (and there are tons of great schools outside the T30), they can skip many APs and will likely be just fine.

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.

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.

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....

Your friend was misguided. AP scores are self reported, not required, and a low score can be canceled if needed.

High school with nearly all APs is the only way for my kids not to be bored to death. So that's the primary motivation.

Competition to get into good colleges is fierce these days. If you can't show you took at least some of the most rigorous classes offered by your school, it will be difficult to get into a decent school, unless you have a hook or geographic diversity.

A good score on the AP exams can place you out of introductory classes, which is great for staving off boredom, and could possibly lower the number of credits you need to graduate college... but the two are different. Being able to jump into higher classes doesn't necessarily mean that you need fewer credits total. Every college makes their own rules.

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....

If your DC attends a HS where the strongest students take a heavy load of APs, they will need to do the same and perform well if they want to be considered for selective schools. Many privates have moved away from APs so students at those schools demonstrate academic rigor in other ways.

Anonymous wrote:There is so much competition about taking max APs. Does it really matter?

Elite colleges want to see kids take the most rigorous classes. My kids would have been bored without them and liked the classes.

Yes. Achieving 4s or 5s on AP exams can place you out of introductory courses and/or result in college credit, depending on the institution. If anything, the cost benefit of doing well on AP exams is understated.

If your child is interested in stem, getting 5s on the hardest math and science courses is a very good indicator that they can handle hard stem classes in college.

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

There is so much competition about taking max APs. Does it really matter?