I have two kids at T20s - from public schools. Be wise with the APs. The good public high schools will have a thousand AP classes. You don't need to take all of them. For the top schools, time management in sophomore, junior, and senior year is going to be necessary. There is so much to do. While class rigor is extremely important, if they're not a STEM kid, they don't need to take Multivariable. The engineers do, but the liberal arts students are good with Calculus AB. Similarly, the STEM kids do not need to take AP French. Four years yes, but they don't need to spend three hours a night reading Moliere. The good colleges are looking for students who are passionate about their interests, not hoop jumpers.

For the top 20 colleges, there is a baseline of academic accomplishment - and it will be very high. As long as you cross it, it's the rest of it that really matters - ECs, leadership, jobs, meaningful essays, stellar recommendations, and so on. 20 APs, a 4.0, and a 1600 doesn't get you into Stanford. It gets you a look. It's the rest of it that matters.

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

OMG this is too many. My older kid is at Cornell and only had 8 APs. They should follow their actual interest, not just check boxes to impress college AOs.

First, there is a big difference between t20 and t10. Second, the issue is not how many APs, it's taking the maximum number of highest level courses available at a given school, including foreign language. From there you need to have at least one standout EC and some good recs and essays, to differentiate yourself from peers you are competing with from your school.
Top 5 percent of class whatever that is stats-wise, 1550, and then something that makes you different than stem code who codes and has a fake nonprofit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

15 AP classes with a 4.00 unweighted GPA and a perfect wall of 5s on all 15 AP tests immediately puts your kid in a group of maybe 1,000 seniors across the entire country. Add in a perfect ACT or SAT and they’re in a select group of maybe 300 seniors.

Walk that tightrope and they’re going to get a lot more than “looked at” …

This is actually disinformation. It’s setting up disappointment in a kid who worked their ass off, did everything right, and will still probably get rejected. It is not what they do in high school that gets them into T20. Once you figure that out, you understand who gets into Ivies.

Are you illiterate or did you just refuse to read what was written?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

15 AP classes with a 4.00 unweighted GPA and a perfect wall of 5s on all 15 AP tests immediately puts your kid in a group of maybe 1,000 seniors across the entire country. Add in a perfect ACT or SAT and they’re in a select group of maybe 300 seniors.

Walk that tightrope and they’re going to get a lot more than “looked at” …

This does not seem accurate. There are hundreds of posts here, and on other college information type websites, with posters who have the requisite perfect 4.0 UW GPA, 15+ AP's, including Calc BC/Multivariable, the other STEM AP's, etc., and 1550+ SAT. That seems to be the normal student applying to T20's and even T50's.

I’ll stick with what I wrote … there are 300 or fewer kids each year who have an unblemished 4.00 unweighted (by far the easiest of the conditions), 15 or more AP classes with an unblemished wall of 5s ONLY on 15+ AP exams, and a one-and-done 36/1600. Those last two conditions are EXTREMELY rare accomplishments, especially when coupled.

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

Dime a dozen. Might have a decent shot at VaTech, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

15 AP classes with a 4.00 unweighted GPA and a perfect wall of 5s on all 15 AP tests immediately puts your kid in a group of maybe 1,000 seniors across the entire country. Add in a perfect ACT or SAT and they’re in a select group of maybe 300 seniors.

Walk that tightrope and they’re going to get a lot more than “looked at” …

This is actually disinformation. It’s setting up disappointment in a kid who worked their ass off, did everything right, and will still probably get rejected. It is not what they do in high school that gets them into T20. Once you figure that out, you understand who gets into Ivies.

Correct. The floor for a student to even be considered at T20 attending a middle class/upper middle class suburban high school is roughly 15 AP's, perfect or near perfect UW GPA, 1550 on the SAT. All this does is make you candidate for admission. Expect to be rejected by all 20.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

15 AP classes with a 4.00 unweighted GPA and a perfect wall of 5s on all 15 AP tests immediately puts your kid in a group of maybe 1,000 seniors across the entire country. Add in a perfect ACT or SAT and they’re in a select group of maybe 300 seniors.

Walk that tightrope and they’re going to get a lot more than “looked at” …

This is actually disinformation. It’s setting up disappointment in a kid who worked their ass off, did everything right, and will still probably get rejected. It is not what they do in high school that gets them into T20. Once you figure that out, you understand who gets into Ivies.

This. If the incorrect poster was correct, no one would ever get in from schools that don’t offer many APs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

15 AP classes with a 4.00 unweighted GPA and a perfect wall of 5s on all 15 AP tests immediately puts your kid in a group of maybe 1,000 seniors across the entire country. Add in a perfect ACT or SAT and they’re in a select group of maybe 300 seniors.

Walk that tightrope and they’re going to get a lot more than “looked at” …

This is actually disinformation. It’s setting up disappointment in a kid who worked their ass off, did everything right, and will still probably get rejected. It is not what they do in high school that gets them into T20. Once you figure that out, you understand who gets into Ivies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can your kid take just BC? Most kids don’t do AB then BC.

Our school has a sequence where they encourage students to take AB first then take BC. There are some students who definitely do not take both, however.

Lesson #1 for T20 admission: Ignore everything the school "encourages" the avarage student to do. Do you think all the students following that advice will get into T20? No, it's mathematically impossible.

I would think if you take Calc AB as a freshman and Calc BC as a sophomore you then have more scheduling opportunities for taking multivariable calc and linear equations/diff equations as a junior or senior.

But if you are a junior deciding between Calc AB or BC, then take BC because you won't get to multivariable.

This also depends on the school. But the majority of middle class/UMC schools will offer Calc BC to freshmen/sophomores, and there are probably tens of thousands of sophomores completing Calc BC, if not a hundred thousand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can your kid take just BC? Most kids don’t do AB then BC.

Our school has a sequence where they encourage students to take AB first then take BC. There are some students who definitely do not take both, however.

Lesson #1 for T20 admission: Ignore everything the school "encourages" the avarage student to do. Do you think all the students following that advice will get into T20? No, it's mathematically impossible.

One observation from a top school: There is a lot of regional disparity.

Kids from the DMV have had to jump through many more academic hoops than kids from less represented areas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

15 AP classes with a 4.00 unweighted GPA and a perfect wall of 5s on all 15 AP tests immediately puts your kid in a group of maybe 1,000 seniors across the entire country. Add in a perfect ACT or SAT and they’re in a select group of maybe 300 seniors.

Walk that tightrope and they’re going to get a lot more than “looked at” …

This does not seem accurate. There are hundreds of posts here, and on other college information type websites, with posters who have the requisite perfect 4.0 UW GPA, 15+ AP's, including Calc BC/Multivariable, the other STEM AP's, etc., and 1550+ SAT. That seems to be the normal student applying to T20's and even T50's.

Right, but OP only asked about rigor, which is present. The secret sauce is the essays and how you "package" yourself, for lack of a better term. If you're aiming high, this is the critical factor -- not the SAT/ACT scores, and not the number of APs you took. Some kids think they're great writers and are mistaken.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that it is based on high school, but assuming middle to upper middle class large public, what did your rigor look like?

Currently on track to complete:

AP World History (modern), AP Euro History, AP US History, AP Government

AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C (Mechanics), AP Comp Sci Principles

AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Stats

AP Language and Composition, AP Literature

AP Pyschology, AP Macroeconomics


We are approaching it that this is the floor to be competitive, and even if get all A's in the class, and 5's on the AP exams, that it just gets your application looked at.

We are worried that because our high school offers more AP's, including AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C-Electromagnetism, and AP's in 3 languages but because of circumstances like interest and class schedule, child won't be taking an AP language, all the hard physics classes or computer science ones, for major of something pre-med, maybe Chemicstry or Biochemistry that they will be at disadvantage.

15 AP classes with a 4.00 unweighted GPA and a perfect wall of 5s on all 15 AP tests immediately puts your kid in a group of maybe 1,000 seniors across the entire country. Add in a perfect ACT or SAT and they’re in a select group of maybe 300 seniors.

Walk that tightrope and they’re going to get a lot more than “looked at” …

This does not seem accurate. There are hundreds of posts here, and on other college information type websites, with posters who have the requisite perfect 4.0 UW GPA, 15+ AP's, including Calc BC/Multivariable, the other STEM AP's, etc., and 1550+ SAT. That seems to be the normal student applying to T20's and even T50's.

* perfect, one-and-done Act or SAT …