I want to go to a great school (Reed, Bard, Swarthmore, etc.), but at the end of my senior year I'm only going to have 3-4 honors/ap courses. Do you think this will hurt me?
If you're in college, how many ap/honors did you take?
Thanks
2007-03-12 15:12:30 · 8 answers · asked by Jennifer 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Higher Education (University +)
3-4 honors/AP courses should be plenty, depending on how well you're doing in them. If the rest of your schedule is reasonably challenging (college prep at least), then this shouldn't be that big of an issue. Obviously, having more honors would have been better.
What are your grades like? Straight As? As and Bs?
How are your SATs? Are you at or above the midpoint that the college you want accepts people?
It's been a while since I was in college (undergrad anyway), but I had 3 AP classes and 1-3 honors courses (not sure how they classified my English classes). That was a while ago. I went to an Ivy League school (and eventually got a PhD).
BTW, don't be that concerned if you don't get into one of the super-elite schools. You can get a great education at lots of other schools too.
2007-03-12 15:25:25 · answer #1 · answered by Prof 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as you did well in your other classes and have some good extracurricular involvements (and, of course, a good test score), this shouldn't be a problem. This is especially true if you went to a high school without too many honors or AP classes.
I'm in college but I left high school early after tenth grade for early entrance into college. Before I left, I had 2 AP classes and 8 honors classes. Extrapolating (if I had stayed in high school), that would mean 4-6 AP classes and 10-14 honors classes.
And, while I don't want to discourage you from Bard, it has a nasty reputation for its students constantly smoking pot (one of the worst in the US) and for being out in the middle of nowhere in NY (it's a good school in many other aspects but I'd consider these "defects" before attending). I don't have any opinion on Reed and definitely encourage Swarthmore (a small comfy campus that's close enough to a big city, Philadelphia).
2007-03-12 15:37:16 · answer #2 · answered by Target Acquired 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Reed and Swarthmore are elite schools that require students to have challenged themselves with tough courses in HS. Bard, I'm not so sure. You DEFINITELY need to visit there before applying! My son was badly disappointed when we saw Bard. Swarthmore is nice and I've heard that Reed is nice too.
So, you cant take any more APs than your school offers, but if the school has 10 and you only take 3 or 4, that is not a good sign. Elite schools want you to take as many as possible, and get A's and 4 or 5 on the AP test.
Check the websites of the schools to see what they say. .
2007-03-12 15:23:58 · answer #3 · answered by matt 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
AP/Honors courses are not a requirement to get into every college or university. But, many upper first tier schools do look at the level of challenge of each class you took through your high school career. Also the AP exams help you to not have to take a whole bunch of selected core requirements, depending on how well you scored on the AP exam of course. But here's a little advice, if you did not take honors or AP, another exam that might help you skip some of the requirements in college is the CLEP exam. It is set up like the subject exams/SAT. But, the CLEP, once again depending on how you score will eliminate you from having to take a whole bunch of boring core requirements (I do love learning, but some colleges and universities need to get real with the list of university residency requirements that have students take, UGH). Off the record, if I was you, I would go to summer session, depending on what school you attend, most colleges/universities have 1,2, or 3 summer sessions and you are able to to take up to 2 classes each session. A great way of graduating early and saving money in the long run.
As far as how many AP/honor courses I took in high schoo--well about 4 or 5 and Honors for the 4 major subjects+ Commputer Science and Spanish all through high school. It was tough!
As Far as Reed and Swarthmore, very excellent schools and tough to get into (that is why you write a wicked essay and focus on something about yourself that stands out).
Bard is okay, Also try Haverford, Villanova, William and Mary, Pomona, Bennington, Wesleyan...those are excellent schools and it sounds like you want a small liberal arts college...just keep focus--good luck!
2007-03-12 15:26:28 · answer #4 · answered by Gerry 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that that's fine, it just depends on how well you did in those courses. If your school offers alot of honors and aps and you take very few, that may hurt you, but if your school offers very little, than it looks alot better. Personally, my school have over 20 APs and honors so I have to take alot to stand out. I'm in my junior year and I have 6 honors and 4 Aps so that looks pretty decent, but If my schools only had those honors and aps, then It would look great.
2007-03-12 15:18:45 · answer #5 · answered by meep meep 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All my classes were honors if they were offered honors.
obviously health, speech, electives werent.
I took I think a total of 7 or 8 AP classes total.
It depends on what the school looks at. Each school varies.
And it doesn't help to take an AP class if you don't do well in it.
Grades matter as well as the classes.
2007-03-12 15:20:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
never heard of those schools, but honors and ap courses will not hurt you. The grades matter too.
2007-03-12 15:16:12 · answer #7 · answered by Bao Wow 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
relies upon on what you recommend once you say "sturdy college." in case you recommend harvard/princeton/mit and so on. then yea, you'll likely do not have any shot at those faculties once you've honestly no honor training nor ap training (study: 0)
2016-12-01 22:06:50 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋