9th - none
10th - AP world
11th - AP lang, APush, AP Chem, AP Calc AB
12th - AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Bio, AP Calc BC, AP Macro/Micro

Very happy with college admissions outcome

Anonymous wrote:BC in 9th

Physics C (Mechanics), Econ, CSP and Bio in 10th along with two DE classes in MVC and Lin. Alg. (5s in all)

Taking Lang, APUSH, Chem, Physics C (E&M), CSA, Stats in 11th

Nerd

BC in 9th

Physics C (Mechanics), Econ, CSP and Bio in 10th along with two DE classes in MVC and Lin. Alg. (5s in all)

Taking Lang, APUSH, Chem, Physics C (E&M), CSA, Stats in 11th

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:My DS took 7 total and is in his 2nd yr at Princeton.

What you took and why and how that impacted you is so much more important than racking up 12-13 APs.

+1. Mine took 8, at a high school that offers many, and is at a T10.

I find this forum consistently overestimates the number of APs needed to be competitive. College admissions is not a race to the most APs.

That’s because not all AP courses are the same difficulty. AP Calculus BC, Physics (2), Chemistry, English (2), History (2) are all 8 classes but are the most rigorous one can take.

If you’re going after the number you’ll do the easier ones like Human geography, precalculus, Calculus AB that don’t matter much.

There is AP pre-calculus? WTF? What a joke. If I were in admissions at a top school I would immediately ding someone with this on their transcript for having the nerve to consider submitting it.

The other side of that coin is someone saying they'd ding the applicant who didn't submit the score, under the assumption that they must have scored low.

The fact that people are being suckered into taking an AP exam after taking pre-calc is a joke. It is a regular HS class. It is not "AP." Are we going to start having AP Finger Painting for kids in nursery school? An AP exam is theoretically meant to demonstrate mastery of college level work. Pre-calc is not college level. It is a pre-req for college level. I know that most of our discussions here are about top schools for which many kids take calc in HS, but even very average students take pre-calc in HS.

I understand that it is not a college level course. Are you saying you'd have your kid skip the AP precalc exam?

Mine submitted his AP precalc score (5), along with his other AP scores, and is now at a T10. Didn't seem to hurt him to submit.

NP. Of course it didn’t hurt to submit it. The PP’s take on this is idiotic.

Re: the OP— my kid took 3 in 10th, currently taking 5 in 11th, and plans to take 3-4 senior year. So I guess 11 or 12, if all goes as planned.

Anonymous wrote:Taking 15+ AP classes is ridiculous for the same reason you can't be a president of 5 clubs: you're spreading yourself too thin. It all becomes meaningless. Of course some students choose to sacrifice every hour of free time so they can take AP everything, but it's just a shallow choice, and a wrong one.

Agree. And high schools are doing themselves a disservice by allowing this. Kids feel required to take the most rigorous schedule possible, so they pile on these classes. Schools should limit the number of APs a kid can take and vet the ones they offer to make sure they are legit.

I'm sure someone will argue that their genius needs to be challenged and take countless APs. Just relax. They will be fine. They have the rest of their lives to be super accelerated. And they probably aren't as smart as you think they are.

Taking 15+ AP classes is ridiculous for the same reason you can't be a president of 5 clubs: you're spreading yourself too thin. It all becomes meaningless. Of course some students choose to sacrifice every hour of free time so they can take AP everything, but it's just a shallow choice, and a wrong one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many APs did your child take during HS. Could you share by grade and what score they received?

Senior DD took one in 10th grade (APUSH) , 5 in 11th (Calc BC, Chem, World, Lang, microeconomics). 5s on all six AP exams. She’s taking two APs right now (Lit, Latin).

Only 2 senior year? They usually like to see schedule not get slacker, foot off the gas in 12th.

None in 9th (no APs for freshman)
1 in 10th (APUSH)
1 in 11th (AP Lang)
In 12th, AP Physics, AP Precalc, AP Spanish, and probably AP European History and possibly AP Lit (probably not AP Lit though).

School outside DC area. I would say this is pretty much typical except that my kid is not in the advanced math track so wont get to AP Calc by senior year. Except for physics, students have to take the science for that subject prior to taking the AP course in that subject and 9th grade is earth science, not bio.

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Anonymous wrote:My DS took 7 total and is in his 2nd yr at Princeton.

What you took and why and how that impacted you is so much more important than racking up 12-13 APs.

+1. Mine took 8, at a high school that offers many, and is at a T10.

I find this forum consistently overestimates the number of APs needed to be competitive. College admissions is not a race to the most APs.

That’s because not all AP courses are the same difficulty. AP Calculus BC, Physics (2), Chemistry, English (2), History (2) are all 8 classes but are the most rigorous one can take.

If you’re going after the number you’ll do the easier ones like Human geography, precalculus, Calculus AB that don’t matter much.

There is AP pre-calculus? WTF? What a joke. If I were in admissions at a top school I would immediately ding someone with this on their transcript for having the nerve to consider submitting it.

The other side of that coin is someone saying they'd ding the applicant who didn't submit the score, under the assumption that they must have scored low.

The fact that people are being suckered into taking an AP exam after taking pre-calc is a joke. It is a regular HS class. It is not "AP." Are we going to start having AP Finger Painting for kids in nursery school? An AP exam is theoretically meant to demonstrate mastery of college level work. Pre-calc is not college level. It is a pre-req for college level. I know that most of our discussions here are about top schools for which many kids take calc in HS, but even very average students take pre-calc in HS.

I understand that it is not a college level course. Are you saying you'd have your kid skip the AP precalc exam?

Mine submitted his AP precalc score (5), along with his other AP scores, and is now at a T10. Didn't seem to hurt him to submit.

If your school is dumb enough to offer it, I agree that you kind of have to take it. I'm not sure who they are trying to impress. My kids school (and most schools that I know of) does not call pre-calc "AP" so there is no pressure to take the test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS took 7 total and is in his 2nd yr at Princeton.

What you took and why and how that impacted you is so much more important than racking up 12-13 APs.

+1. Mine took 8, at a high school that offers many, and is at a T10.

I find this forum consistently overestimates the number of APs needed to be competitive. College admissions is not a race to the most APs.

That’s because not all AP courses are the same difficulty. AP Calculus BC, Physics (2), Chemistry, English (2), History (2) are all 8 classes but are the most rigorous one can take.

If you’re going after the number you’ll do the easier ones like Human geography, precalculus, Calculus AB that don’t matter much.

There is AP pre-calculus? WTF? What a joke. If I were in admissions at a top school I would immediately ding someone with this on their transcript for having the nerve to consider submitting it.

The other side of that coin is someone saying they'd ding the applicant who didn't submit the score, under the assumption that they must have scored low.

.
The fact that people are being suckered into taking an AP exam after taking pre-calc is a joke. It is a regular HS class. It is not "AP." Are we going to start having AP Finger Painting for kids in nursery school? An AP exam is theoretically meant to demonstrate mastery of college level work. Pre-calc is not college level. It is a pre-req for college level. I know that most of our discussions here are about top schools for which many kids take calc in HS, but even very average students take pre-calc in HS.

I understand that it is not a college level course. Are you saying you'd have your kid skip the AP precalc exam?

Mine submitted his AP precalc score (5), along with his other AP scores, and is now at a T10. Didn't seem to hurt him to submit.

AP Precalc has replaced Precalc honors. Many schools require you to take the AP test or you get an F in the class. So my DC will take the AP precalc test.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS took 7 total and is in his 2nd yr at Princeton.

What you took and why and how that impacted you is so much more important than racking up 12-13 APs.

+1. Mine took 8, at a high school that offers many, and is at a T10.

I find this forum consistently overestimates the number of APs needed to be competitive. College admissions is not a race to the most APs.

That’s because not all AP courses are the same difficulty. AP Calculus BC, Physics (2), Chemistry, English (2), History (2) are all 8 classes but are the most rigorous one can take.

If you’re going after the number you’ll do the easier ones like Human geography, precalculus, Calculus AB that don’t matter much.

There is AP pre-calculus? WTF? What a joke. If I were in admissions at a top school I would immediately ding someone with this on their transcript for having the nerve to consider submitting it.

The other side of that coin is someone saying they'd ding the applicant who didn't submit the score, under the assumption that they must have scored low.

The fact that people are being suckered into taking an AP exam after taking pre-calc is a joke. It is a regular HS class. It is not "AP." Are we going to start having AP Finger Painting for kids in nursery school? An AP exam is theoretically meant to demonstrate mastery of college level work. Pre-calc is not college level. It is a pre-req for college level. I know that most of our discussions here are about top schools for which many kids take calc in HS, but even very average students take pre-calc in HS.

I understand that it is not a college level course. Are you saying you'd have your kid skip the AP precalc exam?

Mine submitted his AP precalc score (5), along with his other AP scores, and is now at a T10. Didn't seem to hurt him to submit.

My DC took 0 in 9th and 10th, 2 in 11th (Physics I and Psych), and 4 senior year (Calc AB, US Gov, CS and music theory). FCPS HS. He was happy with his college results (studying performing arts)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS took 7 total and is in his 2nd yr at Princeton.

What you took and why and how that impacted you is so much more important than racking up 12-13 APs.

+1. Mine took 8, at a high school that offers many, and is at a T10.

I find this forum consistently overestimates the number of APs needed to be competitive. College admissions is not a race to the most APs.

That’s because not all AP courses are the same difficulty. AP Calculus BC, Physics (2), Chemistry, English (2), History (2) are all 8 classes but are the most rigorous one can take.

If you’re going after the number you’ll do the easier ones like Human geography, precalculus, Calculus AB that don’t matter much.

There is AP pre-calculus? WTF? What a joke. If I were in admissions at a top school I would immediately ding someone with this on their transcript for having the nerve to consider submitting it.

The other side of that coin is someone saying they'd ding the applicant who didn't submit the score, under the assumption that they must have scored low.

The fact that people are being suckered into taking an AP exam after taking pre-calc is a joke. It is a regular HS class. It is not "AP." Are we going to start having AP Finger Painting for kids in nursery school? An AP exam is theoretically meant to demonstrate mastery of college level work. Pre-calc is not college level. It is a pre-req for college level. I know that most of our discussions here are about top schools for which many kids take calc in HS, but even very average students take pre-calc in HS.

Anonymous wrote:How many APs did your child take during HS. Could you share by grade and what score they received?

It depends on individual student and school's academic rigor. I'm familiar with 5 school districts and my advice would be very different for similar student according to the school they are attending and teachers they are getting. As far as scores go, its not that difficult to score 4s and 5s but grades could differ from school to school and teachers to teacher for same student putting same amount of effort. Let your kid decide and support them if they want to drop down to regular in any subject.

^ I’m the above poster, and my D26 won’t submit the Pre-calculus, because it shows up as Honors Precalc instead on the transcript. Yes, AP Precalc is silly.