What AP classes/tests have you taken?

[fenrir]

I have the unique experience of being a student who took a ton of them, and now I work at a selective university, and this question comes up all the time from prospective students and their families. I apologize profusely for the TL;DR but I hope this will help some students or parents on this forum, like Vosem, for example.

I took 14: Euro, Micro, Macro, US-H, US-GP, Chem, Bio, APES, Physics, English LC, English Lit, Calc BC, Psych, and Spanish. I received 5s and 4s on all of them except for BOMBING Spanish and Physics to high hell (bad senioritis)!

None of the colleges I was choosing between (Pomona, UChicago, Yale, and Northwestern) grant any meaningful credit for them whatsoever, nor did it knock out any gen-eds. They either granted a measly, couple "general elective credits" or "acceleration credits," which merely placed you into a higher level class where you could fulfill requirements instead of having to take an intro class. When they do grant a little credit here and there, you are bound by residency and minimum term obligations. This was a very rude awakening for my family, who is middle class, never attended college, and was under the impression that I was going to be able to graduate in 2.5-3 years with a double major and be on with my life.

This has been the trend for more than a decade now. AP is not only viewed as not rigorous enough by top colleges, but they do not want to lose the money by giving away all this credit and excusing people from taking classes and being there for a shorter period of time. Schools also want to be able to ensure an even, fair curriculum experience for all students, and many high schools do not and cannot have robust AP programs.

Like I mentioned earlier, I work at a university now and would strongly recommend that parents 1. check whether their children's prospects meaningfully accept and grant AP credit, 2. do not assume that you're going to get any useful credit at all unless you're attending a school that is large, public, and/or less rigorous from an admissions standpoint, 3. do not assume you will be magically exempt for gen-eds or waltz in with credits for your major, and 4. realize that taking these courses is more about teaching your child academic discipline and giving a richer, more rigorous learning experience that will prepare them for writing and researching in college, NOT the AP exam score, reputation, bragging rights, or prospective credit.

Focus on a well-rounded, well-executed high school portfolio instead of collecting mass AP credits. Take fine arts and foreign language classes, get involved, and volunteer. Have something interesting to write and talk about during the admissions process. Don't take AP classes unless you're certain you can 4 or 5 them and it's the best fit for your schedule or learning style.