Anonymous wrote:What was the motivation for taking 17 AP classes?

Tiger Mom

What was the motivation for taking 17 AP classes?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP exam scores are not a factor in college admissions, not even at public flagships. They are only a factor in college credits. My kids never submitted or revealed a single score on an AP exam to the colleges that they applied to, and they all got into top ones.

AP scores are not a factor but some use weighting formulas that would lead to an impressive GPA as the result of 17 AP classes. And public flagships pay more attention to GPAs.

You misread what I said. I know AP classes are weighed higher in many high schools and affect the high school GPA. But AP exam scores don't count for anything regardless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD coming out of RMIB also had 17 aps (plus 6 IB exams) but I don’t think it helped her much from college admission standpoint. But she got the best HS education possible.

Same here. Child's friend at Sidwell got into better schools with zero AP's. It doesn't matter as most boarding schools and private schools don't even offer that many AP's. Sometimes none at all. Many are doing away with them.

That may be, but recent Sidwell grads I know took 6-7 AP tests, even though the class wasn’t labeled AP.

Anonymous wrote:5 or 4 on all of them.

. It depends on which APs. Will he have taken both Physics C exams, AP Chem and AP BC Calculus?

Taking seventeen is impressive. Adding an extra certificate isn't any different just because of the gold star

FWIW, most school cap the number of credits to be used for graduation at about a years worth. Both my children took 7-8 APs and hit that max.

If the kid went to public school, he had to take more APs than typical private school kid. Why? Because they are available and he/she is compete against other kids taking tons of APs. It is horrible and schools should limit number of APs available to take in freshman and sophomore year.

OP, I am sure your kid is brilliant and will have a shot at many great schools. It is hard to judge, however, in a vacuum. If you want to share his other stats, such as SAT/ACT scores, ECs, any leadership roles, and hooks, we could give you a better idea. If your kid is strictly a musician that took 17 APs, that is impressive, but with schools doing holistic admissions, there will be others with lesser GPA that stand out over him because they may have done something to help save the world.

Anonymous wrote:DD coming out of RMIB also had 17 aps (plus 6 IB exams) but I don’t think it helped her much from college admission standpoint. But she got the best HS education possible.

Same here. Child's friend at Sidwell got into better schools with zero AP's. It doesn't matter as most boarding schools and private schools don't even offer that many AP's. Sometimes none at all. Many are doing away with them.

Just FYI, we also never reported (nor were asked) our DC's AP test scores. We had no desire to skip courses in college, since (he is a science major) we actually thought the reiview at the college level would help cement his foundational knowledge AND help his GPA. So, I am not sure that high school AP numbers matter as much as everyone around here thinks it does.

Having said that, your child is clearly very smart and tests well. Congrats to him for his hard work. I hope he is healthy in other ways as well (such as socially, emotionally, etc).

I am super impressed. He will go far regardless of the college that is smart enough to take him.

I'm exhausted just reading this. Hopefully, he wont burn out.

DD coming out of RMIB also had 17 aps (plus 6 IB exams) but I don’t think it helped her much from college admission standpoint. But she got the best HS education possible.

Anonymous wrote:AP exam scores are not a factor in college admissions, not even at public flagships. They are only a factor in college credits. My kids never submitted or revealed a single score on an AP exam to the colleges that they applied to, and they all got into top ones.

AP scores are not a factor but some use weighting formulas that would lead to an impressive GPA as the result of 17 AP classes. And public flagships pay more attention to GPAs.

Will your DC be the State AP Scholar? It is awarded to the one male and one female student in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia with scores of 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP Exams, and then the highest average score (at least 3.5) on all AP Exams taken