Having only 3 AP Classes during senior year bad for Ivy League?

Question

Well... I have about 3.7 GPA... ASB Pres for my school... recieved award as best Cadet of the year in ROTC... passed 3/4 AP Tests I took last year... Eagle Scout.. and involved in various other clubs and two different sports (Kendo and TKD).

I know it might be a flimsy for Ivy League.. but would me taking only 3 AP Classes this year compared 4 last year make me look even worse? My logic is that I believe by sacrificing one AP class.. I can do better in other classes and spend more time with extracurricular activities such as service projects.

Thank you for the feed back so far. The AP Class I'm thinking of dropping is AP English. Which I believe will help me raise grades in AP Psych, AP Gov, and AP Stats (already done with AP Calc), Anatomy, and Leadership class. Next semester I have Weight Training (to finish my PE credit) and Video Production (for arts/tech). With also the free time given from sacrificing AP Eng I am planning to do more volunteer work.

Answer 1

Honestly, if you have a 3.7 having taken 4 AP classes last year, the Ivy League doesn't seem terribly likely anyway. You are doing fine, but for the Ivy League you have to be near perfect. Basically, competitive colleges really want to see you take rigorous classes. Most colleges aren't particularly hot on AP classes, but they do want you to take a rigorous schedule. I would think that focusing on a few things would be fine, but you seem to be substituting extracurricular activities for academics, and no school will consider your extracurriculars if your academics aren't very strong.

Answer 2

I am only a Junior too, but I have had the opportunity and the good luck to attend a summer program at a very prestigious university, and was able to have a nice, long talk with some admissions officers. This is what they told me concerning Ivy League admissions:
1) No, it does not make you look bad if you take less AP courses than the previous year for the purposes of achieving a higher grade in your classes. This simply proves your maturity and good intellect in knowing your own limits and applying this information as soon as possible. However, this claim would have to validated by good grades in all your classes.
2) Having a rich extracurricular background, is always an asset; however, from your background, I noticed that you don't have much service hours/volunteer work activities. Your extracurricular status looks quite good; now, I would work on getting some volunteer hours in there, either through community service (volunteering to help in community projects, or if you are a Christian, working through your Church. Even if you are not a Christian, Churches and Parishes often have great opportunities for volunteer workers.)
3) Your GPA is the status that worries me the most - 3.7 shows that you have a quite a few B's; however, this is not devastating in any way; you just have to show that you are academically capable of doing advanced college-level work through doing well in your classes this year. (By this, I mean almost all A's, and just a few B's, if any.)
4) Your SAT Reasoning Test Scores, and your SAT II scores will also count quite a bit; you will need a minimum of at least 3~5 good SAT II scores for Ivy League, and a 2000~2400 score in the SAT Reasoning Test (the new one) will also help.
5) Other than that, you should realize that college is not all about getting into Ivy League; for example, there are great colleges like Johns Hopkins and NYU which are not Ivy, and yet are prestigious institutions. With your credentials, I believe that you can achieve a lot. (And this is coming from a Junior!) So go for it, and I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 3

No im taking way more than u, try seven honors/ap, varsity sports and clubs.