Given the time of year, most (if not all) of you guys are probably in the process of taking or preparing for Advanced Placement examinations. I tend to get a few specific questions about APs every year, so here are some thoughts that I’ve managed to pick up during my years at QuestBridg:
How much do APs count for in college admissions?
AP classes provide evidence of your ability to succeed academically in college. This is one of the primary concerns of a college admissions office: To make sure that all admitted students can handle the work at their school. To that end, they like to see that students have challenged themselves by taking and succeeding in AP classes. However, there are a few caveats to keep in mind. First, admissions readers know that not all AP courses are created equally. Thus, it is very important that you actually take the AP exam for any AP course that you want the colleges to consider “college-level.” A class grade with no AP score is not as helpful because the reader doesn’t know how rigorous the particular class that you took actually was (this concern is especially present if you attend a high school that might not be well-known to the admissions officer). Secondly, admissions readers also understand that the availability of AP courses varies between schools. If your school doesn’t offer a huge range of AP classes, that is fine. Just make sure that you take the most rigorous courseload you can and do well. On the flip-side, if your school is well-known and offers a great deal of APs, you will almost certainly want to take at least some of them. Admissions readers will know that your school has a number of challenging courses available and will want to see that you challenged yourself academically.
Is it better to get a “B” in an AP class or an “A” in a non-AP class?
Admissions officers hate these kinds of questions because they implicitly assume that all other factors can be held constant. Of course, with real applications, this is never the case. Rather than thinking about the question simply in terms of its effect on your GPA, I’d encourage you to consider your courseload as a whole and what role you’d like it to play in your application. How does your AP courseload fit into the overall impression you want to leave with an admissions reader? For example, students who express a strong interest in engineering, math, or the natural sciences should probably take as many AP classes in those subjects as they are able to handle, because it demonstrates both the depth of your commitment and your ability to succeed in that field at the college level. It is nice if you are also able to show that you can pull an AP in English or European history, but it’s not necessarily an integral part of your application and if the added stress and study time will significantly hamper your work in other courses, the tradeoff may not be worthwhile. The same holds true for students looking to pursue the humanities or social sciences in college. However, it should be noted that colleges do like to see that you have taken some analytically rigorous quantitative courses. All college applicants are required to write essays that give the reader some indication of their writing and editing abilities, but there is not corresponding filter for quantitative skills. Thus, it is a good idea for potential humanities/social science students to take at least a couple of APs in calculus and the sciences if possible.
On a final note, you should also consider the impact your AP courseload will have on your non-academic activities, as well. While academics are the paramount factor in college admissions, they are hardly the only ones. If a heavy AP courseload will prevent you from pursuing other activities that demonstrate your talents and passions outside of the classroom, you should definitely take some time to consider whether all of the AP classes you are taking are adding something truly valuable to your academic qualifications. If you already have a strong academic record and several other APs, it may make sense to avoid channeling all of your energy strictly into coursework and make sure that you’re taking the time to develop other your other interests. Keep in mind that colleges ultimately admit people, not just GPAs or test scores. This is especially true at the most selective colleges, where there are many applicants with great academic qualifications. Often what separates those who gain admission from those who don’t are qualities like curiosity, resilience, open-mindedness, and leadership, which aren’t necessarily measured best in the classroom. Let’s put it this way, if you were to select a group of people to spend the next 4 years of school with, whether or not they took BC Calculus is probably not the first thing
