It can be helpful to time out your standardized tests so that you'll take the SAT in the winter of your junior year before the AP exams in the spring. Also, it's important to maintain a reasonable workload.
High school can be a busy time, and taking on too much can mean that your grades and test scores will suffer. Your guidance counselor can be a helpful resource when selecting classes and choosing extracurricular activities. The goal is to develop a course schedule that's rigorous and challenging without being overwhelming. Whether you're signed up for AP classes, honors courses, or regular classes, you'll be able to learn more efficiently if you use the right tools.
For example, if you're studying Calculus, you have options besides struggling alone or waiting for your teacher's help. Platforms like OneClass are increasingly filling this gap by providing on-demand, tech-forward academic help. You can participate in free, livestream tutoring sessions where tutors will walk through common questions and solve student questions that are submitted. If you are interested in learning about StudyPoint's AP exam tutoring, click here. Our staff also includes expert math, science, foreign language, and writing tutors.
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Our Privacy Policy: we are a professional service and we take our clients' privacy seriously. None of this information will ever be shared or sold. AP Classes: To take or not to take? As high school students begin to sign up for fall classes, it's time to consider whether your child should register for an Advanced Placement course next year. Most students have their first chance to take an AP class in their junior year. The AP curriculum, administered by The College Board, consists of standardized high school courses that are roughly equivalent to undergraduate college courses.
After completing an AP class, students typically take the AP exam in that subject, which can earn them credits and accelerated placement in college. To help your family decide if an AP course is right for your child, we answer some frequently asked questions about Advanced Placement: Why take an AP class? Be challenged. Advanced Placement classes are rigorous and demanding, offering an intellectual stimulation that students won't get in regular high school courses.
But how do you fit these courses into a four-year high school plan? This is our suggested schedule for a relatively ambitious student:. Freshman Year: Consider taking one or two AP classes that are less demanding and build on skills from middle school, including Environmental Science, Human Geography, or Psychology. In your core courses, take honors classes if possible so you can begin earning prerequisite skills for tougher AP classes down the line. Sophomore Year: Take one to three AP classes.
Continue to take honors courses if possible in your other core classes. Take as many as you can handle without spreading yourself thin, and make sure you will have time to study for the ACT or SAT this year. An Ivy League hopeful might take 3 to 5 AP classes, while if you're aiming for less-selective schools, 2 to 4 would be enough. Senior Year: Take more APs in core subjects and additional subjects, again being careful not to overburden your schedule and to leave time for college applications.
It's not uncommon for applicants to highly selective schools to have as many as 5 or 6 AP classes senior year, but keep your own schedule and limits in mind. Adding one more AP class will not have a huge effect on your college chances at this point, but it could significantly reduce the time you spend on applications and therefore hurt your admission chances.
Be careful about burning yourself out, especially senior year. You will need to devote lots of time and energy to your college apps!
Below is a chart summarizing the above information. And again, these rules aren't hard and fast, as there is no set formula for admission to the most selective schools. The bottom line is to take the most challenging cour se load you can handle while also doing very well academically. Your target schedule could also look different if you spend a huge amount of time on one activity, like playing an instrument or doing a sport, speech and debate, or college-level research.
This is especially true if you compete or participate at a national level. When choosing AP classes, prioritize subjects that are genuinely interesting to you and you would like to continue in college before you choose AP classes just for the sake of AP. Also, think about your grade level and experience with AP classes before signing up. Don't jump into four AP classes your sophomore year if you've never taken them before. Learning how to study for the exams and pacing yourself is tough.
This can be hard with just one or two exams, let alone a handful. Plus, in many subjects you won't be able to acquire the necessary pre-requisites for AP courses until your junior and senior year. For example, AP English is usually taught junior or senior year, most students won't have the pre-requisites for AP Calculus until junior year at least, and for the sciences—Biology, Chemistry, and Physics—most high schools have a recommended sequence that doesn't have students taking the AP courses until sophomore year at the very earliest.
This is why many students begin with courses like AP Human Geography or Psychology in freshman or sophomore year. The exams are comparatively less difficult, and younger students are more likely to have completed prerequisite courses for them.
If you do well on the first exam or exams you take, you can consider taking on more in junior and senior year, but again, be careful about overloading. How do you know if you've overdone it? Don't give into peer pressure—just because you have a friend who has taken 10 AP exams doesn't mean you have to do the same. Again, one extra AP class won't make or break your admissions chances, but if it causes your GPA to fall or your performance in extracurriculars to suffer, it could be hurting you.
Your score on that will have a huge effect on your admissions chances— as well as scholarship eligibility at other schools. Finally, have back-up plans ready when you sign up for classes. For example, if you start BC Calculus but realize it's too tough, see if it's possible to transfer down to AB Calculus.
Also be prepared to switch into an honors or regular classes if an AP class is eating up too much of your life and hurting your GPA. Unfortunately, when it comes to how many AP courses to take, there's no magic number that applies to all students.
To know how many AP classes you need, first consider your goal in taking AP classes. High schoolers take AP classes to stand out on college applications and to earn college credits. If you're mainly taking AP classes to impress colleges, taking classes in several different subjects can create a well-rounded application.
Concentrating your classes in a specific area — like your future college major — can also help. With this strategy, it makes sense to spread out your AP classes over several years. If you're mainly taking AP classes for college credits, it may make more sense to load up your schedule during senior year. You won't have AP test scores by college application deadlines, but you can still earn credits toward your college degree. Colleges often consider the number of AP classes on a transcript when evaluating applicants.
The more competitive the school, the more AP classes they expect to see. That's because AP classes demonstrate a high schooler's readiness for college.
Many look for an average of five classes, though some prefer up to eight. There's no set rule about the best time to take AP classes, and it depends on which classes your school offers. PrepScholar recommends taking AP classes in your sophomore year, AP classes in your junior year, and AP classes in your senior year. High schoolers can sign up for AP exams even if they do not take an AP class in that subject. This option allows students at schools that do not offer AP classes to still receive college credit.
However, while test-takers in this position can earn college credit, the AP test will not appear on their high school transcripts. Students who enroll in AP classes do not need to take the exam at the end of their class.
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