How many AP/DE classes is too many? How many is enough?

[SebastianCat]

I know this will vary by student, but if you had/have a high-achieving student who aims to be admitted to a very selective STEM-type school, how many AP and/or DE classes did/will you attempt during high school?    I'm asking for my DS, a rising 10th grader, whose goal is appointment to a service academy or a university like Embry Riddle, and wants to study aerospace engineering.

 

In 10th grade (starting this fall), he will take AP Environmental Science and probably AP Macroeconomics. (Other non-AP/DE courses will be English, World History, Bible, Algebra 2, Aviation Science 1, and Speech.   He has already taken Spanish I & II, Biology, Chemistry, Algebra I, and Geometry. )

 

In 11th, I'm looking at the possibility of AP Lang/Comp, AP US History, (probably) AP Statistics, DE College Experience (fall), DE additional general ed. course (spring).   (Other non-AP/DE courses will be Pre-Calculus, Honors Physics, and a "fun" elective.)

 

In 12th, I'm looking at the possibility of AP US Government, AP Microeconomics, DE Freshman English 1 (fall) & 2 (spring), DE General Chemistry I (fall) and Physics I (spring), DE Calculus I (fall) and Calculus II (spring).   For non-AP/DE courses, he'll take some form of Personal Finance (Dave Ramsey?) and another "fun" elective like Aviation Science II.

 

When I look at the courses I just typed out, I wonder if this is too much?   We know families whose goal is for their child to graduate from high school with their AA through DE courses at the same time, and that is not our goal with this child.   I want to give him a healthy dose of college level work appropriate for the universities he is aiming for, and enough college-level STEM courses that he'll either be able to skip a few classes at his ultimate university, or have an easier time if he'll need to repeat those early "weed-out" classes like Calculus and Chemistry.  If he can skip a couple of General ed. classes like Freshman English, that would be a benefit too.

 

If you have BTDT, can you give me some feedback?   Anything we ought to think about or aim differently?   Thank you!

 

 

[SebastianCat]

Well, we were told that dd's DE credits were what got her into USNA. But, of course, nothing transferred--they transfer nothing. They CAN "validate" courses such as chemistry and calc. Dd chose to not try to validate calc. 

That's exactly what I thought.   If he gets in to USNA or USAFA, I don't think he would want to validate the science or math courses.   But having had them already through DE should make them easier to go through at SA (or any other tough university's freshman engineering program).    Thanks for the feedback.

[Kassia]

In your case, I would talk to the school ds is interested in.  

 

I have a ds who just graduated with an engineering degree and started college with over 60 DE credits - including all of his science requirements and almost all of his math requirements for his degree.  But he went to our state university, which is selective but not super selective (I think 55% admit rate?).  Most of his credits transferred.

 

 

[snowbeltmom]

I know this will vary by student, but if you had/have a high-achieving student who aims to be admitted to a very selective STEM-type school, how many AP and/or DE classes did/will you attempt during high school?    I'm asking for my DS, a rising 10th grader, whose goal is appointment to a service academy or a university like Embry Riddle, and wants to study aerospace engineering.

 

In 10th grade (starting this fall), he will take AP Environmental Science and probably AP Macroeconomics. (Other non-AP/DE courses will be English, World History, Bible, Algebra 2, Aviation Science 1, and Speech.   He has already taken Spanish I & II, Biology, Chemistry, Algebra I, and Geometry. )

 

In 11th, I'm looking at the possibility of AP Lang/Comp, AP US History, (probably) AP Statistics, DE College Experience (fall), DE additional general ed. course (spring).   (Other non-AP/DE courses will be Pre-Calculus, Honors Physics, and a "fun" elective.)

 

In 12th, I'm looking at the possibility of AP US Government, AP Microeconomics, DE Freshman English 1 (fall) & 2 (spring), DE General Chemistry I (fall) and Physics I (spring), DE Calculus I (fall) and Calculus II (spring).   For non-AP/DE courses, he'll take some form of Personal Finance (Dave Ramsey?) and another "fun" elective like Aviation Science II.

 

When I look at the courses I just typed out, I wonder if this is too much?   We know families whose goal is for their child to graduate from high school with their AA through DE courses at the same time, and that is not our goal with this child.   I want to give him a healthy dose of college level work appropriate for the universities he is aiming for, and enough college-level STEM courses that he'll either be able to skip a few classes at his ultimate university, or have an easier time if he'll need to repeat those early "weed-out" classes like Calculus and Chemistry.  If he can skip a couple of General ed. classes like Freshman English, that would be a benefit too.

 

If you have BTDT, can you give me some feedback?   Anything we ought to think about or aim differently?   Thank you!

The highly selective STEM schools most likely will ask for SAT II's in Math and one of the sciences.  While some schools don't have a preference of which SAT Math II or science score to submit, others require the Math Level II and either Physics or Chemistry SAT II.

 

Looking at your plans, your son should take the Math Level II and SAT Physics at the end of his junior year.  I would also consider scrapping either AP US Govt or AP Microeconomics and replace it with DE Chemistry in 11th grade along with the Chemistry SAT II

 

Fwiw, my son had AP Physics B, AP Chemistry, AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP Physic C, and AP English Language completed by the end of his junior year, so he would have a lot of outside validation on his transcript.  He also submitted SAT II's in Math , Chemistry and Physics.

 

 

[daijobu]

Here's our AP story

 

8th AP CS A

9th AP chem

10th AP bio & stats

11th (wait for it...) APUSH, AP comp, AP physics C, AP calc BC <-- I do not approve of this schedule, but it's what she wants

12th...hopefully nothing!

 

We aren't applying to service academies, but I don't want her to look too much like an "AP grind" who doesn't do anything interesting her junior year.  I warned her about this, but she wants to try it.  

[JanetC]

Too many or the wrong DE classes is when he's not getting mostly A's with a B or two, or it's not worth the stress keeping good grades is causing.

 

What you don't want is to be that family that pushes the kid to start DE, then has to figure out how to explain or replace poor grades later on.

 

Ours was:

 

Kid 1:

No APs.

11th - part-time DE

12th - almost full time DE

 

Kid 2:

10th - AP Chem

11th, 12th - full time DE

[Joules]

If he can handle it and enjoy it, it isn't too many.  DE grades are very important, so making sure he can handle the load and make the GPA is crucial for competivie schools.

 

Even though I think everyone should take statistics, if he is looking at competitive STEM schools consider DE Calc in 11th.  I know talking with admissions at Georgia Tech, they hardly consider anyone who hasn't already completed DE or AP calc before application time (which is October of senior year!!).

[8filltheheart]

I would alter many of your choices for someone interested in aerospace engineering. I would not have him take AP environmental science and instead go straight into chem or physics. I would not focus on so many AP humanities and elective type APs like stats and econs, but go more hard core science.

 

I would recommend physics for this yr over enviro, DE 2 chem in 11th, and 2 DE cal physics in 12th if cal is a co-req and not a pre-req.

[Pistachio mom]

Can anyone recommend any intro to statistics classes for non math students? I have a fine arts student but think that at least a semester of statistics the senior year would benefit anyone.

[MarkT]

DS took 4 AP classes Junior year and probably 4 more in this coming Senior year (a little confusing since some are 1/2 year courses with AP exams so could be technically higher).

He was going to take AP World History as a Sophomore but due to scheduling difficulty it never happened,

 

He will pursue a STEM degree we are hoping for some merit aid.

Edited June 23, 2017 by MarkT

[Guest]

I would advise changing the sciences.AP chem for 10th, AP Physics for 11th AP Enviro is lite, if bio was at honors level. If bio wasn't honors, take AP Bio for 11th and AP Physics for 12th.

 

Commumicating is important,.so definitely AP Eng. DE Eng and Physics at the CC are s a lower level here than AP, but DE Calc is a higher level. Look carefully.

Take Spansh 3.

[Homeschoolmom3]

I know this will vary by student, but if you had/have a high-achieving student who aims to be admitted to a very selective STEM-type school, how many AP and/or DE classes did/will you attempt during high school?    I'm asking for my DS, a rising 10th grader, whose goal is appointment to a service academy or a university like Embry Riddle, and wants to study aerospace engineering.

 

 

How funny...my son wants to go in that field too and we have been debating where he will attend and is looking at Embry Riddle, Florida Tech and Liberty (cause that is where he always thought he'd go but if he goes this way will have to do a basic engineering class). 

 

Has your son taken classes online at Embry Riddle yet?  I know they allow kids to start in 10th grade.  Everyone I spoke to recommended taking Chemistry dual enrolled in high school while they could concentrate on it because that is one that they use to weed out early engineers. So I would try to squeeze that in somewhere, of course depending on where you go whether they transfer credits or not.  I would try to line up as closely as you can the degree requirements for the college he is thinking on attending but really they could change their minds so many times that I have learned do what they need now and if that will apply for later great if not no harm done.  :)  In regards to number of credits, I would stick to lower than 60 some places are funny like that in numbers but to be safe check where you want to go.

 

I had no idea my son was going into a stem career and I had given him a very liberal arts education.  Ha!  you just never know, but at least he is coming in able to write well!

 

Good luck to you and your son and enjoy the ride!  :)

[Julie of KY]

I would look hard at what is best for your son - not what is best for admissions. Obviously you need to keep admissions in mind, but out real goal is education. Pick great classes that your student will learn in. Challenge them work wise - for some this is one AP class; for others it is five. Pick classes your student is interested in.

 

As far as highly selective schools, there is a range. For a STEM school, it is likely they want to see Calculus. However, just because one student got in with a boatload of AP/DE that does not mean yours will. Alternatively, there will be some that get in with fewer AP/DE. They will look at the whole person. I don't think it is worth overloading the student at the expense of missing out on family, life, extracurriculars. For each person it is different, my second son will take a bunch of AP/DE by his choice, but I still use my oversight in what I think he can reasonably handle without it being too stressful.

[Homeschoolmom3]

I would look hard at what is best for your son - not what is best for admissions. Obviously you need to keep admissions in mind, but out real goal is education. Pick great classes that your student will learn in. Challenge them work wise - for some this is one AP class; for others it is five. Pick classes your student is interested in.

 

As far as highly selective schools, there is a range. For a STEM school, it is likely they want to see Calculus. However, just because one student got in with a boatload of AP/DE that does not mean yours will. Alternatively, there will be some that get in with fewer AP/DE. They will look at the whole person. I don't think it is worth overloading the student at the expense of missing out on family, life, extracurriculars. For each person it is different, my second son will take a bunch of AP/DE by his choice, but I still use my oversight in what I think he can reasonably handle without it being too stressful.

 

I totally agree!!  You need to meet their needs now and provide the best education to prepare and if it counts as both great otherwise don't worry about it! 

[MarkT]

How funny...my son wants to go in that field too and we have been debating where he will attend and is looking at Embry Riddle, Florida Tech and Liberty (cause that is where he always thought he'd go but if he goes this way will have to do a basic engineering class). 

 

Has your son taken classes online at Embry Riddle yet?  I know they allow kids to start in 10th grade.  Everyone I spoke to recommended taking Chemistry dual enrolled in high school while they could concentrate on it because that is one that they use to weed out early engineers. 

 

1) My son took a DE*  Embry-Riddle Engineering class at his B&M charter school.  I was totally unimpressed with the rigor of the course versus AP classes.

       Online are through their Worldwide campus so the outcome may be different.

       https://worldwide.erau.edu/degrees/

*NACEP defines concurrent enrollment as the subset of dual enrollment courses taught by college-approved high school teachers.

 

2)  Be sure it is the proper Chemistry class - Engineering and Physics majors usually have to take a more rigorous class than others. 

     For example here in AZ, it would need be approved as "SUN# CHM1151 General Chemistry I"

    Texas has a similar scheme.

Edited June 24, 2017 by MarkT

[Pawz4me]

DS18 earned his AS degree and has 70 credits. We chose that route because it was in our opinions the best high school choice for him. That the credits might transfer somewhere or make him more appealing to colleges was a bonus, but not our main concern.

[SebastianCat]

Thank you all for your advice.  It's always helpful to get feedback from those who have BTDT.  

[G5052]

Just take it year-by-year though. It's not bad to plan, but be flexible.

 

My older one could take anything I threw at him, but he did three languages including AP Latin and DE Spanish. He also did two semesters of DE information tech.

 

My younger one has had surgeries and health problems in high school, so we kept it primarily online and she did no AP/DE her senior year because she was in some really tough courses already and was a TA for an AP class. That was absolutely the right choice for her. She graduated with plenty of advanced credits apart from DE and AP.

[AggieMama]

I have a cousin who was a Freshman at Texas A&M this year and took like 17 AP classes in high school. He is an engineering major and A&M highly recommended that although he made 4s and 5s on the AP tests that he retake most of those courses to have a firm foundation. This is a different stance than they took when I went their 15 years ago and they accepted a lot of those AP credits. I would check with the schools and specific programs. I would definitely encourage the higher level courses though.

[PlotTwistMama]

We are struggling big time.  My dd would kill herself doing school 24/7 if I didn't put a limit on her.  She will be a sophomore and we are doing 3 APs this year at her absolute insistence.  We will start doing DE next year.  The school she is interested in uses weighted GPA to determine merit scholarships.  We are finding that to be a big wrench in the works as the state we lived in before solely looked at ACT scores.  Now we feel like we have to do the harder classes for everything.  I love the advice of keeping your kiddo in mind and not just admissions.  What good is college admission for a completely exhausted and burnt out child.

[MarkT]

We are struggling big time.  My dd would kill herself doing school 24/7 if I didn't put a limit on her.  She will be a sophomore and we are doing 3 APs this year at her absolute insistence.  We will start doing DE next year.  The school she is interested in uses weighted GPA to determine merit scholarships.  We are finding that to be a big wrench in the works as the state we lived in before solely looked at ACT scores.  Now we feel like we have to do the harder classes for everything.  I love the advice of keeping your kiddo in mind and not just admissions.  What good is college admission for a completely exhausted and burnt out child.

The good news with AP (especially if you didn't spend a fortune on the class) is you can decide in Feb/Mar not to take a particular AP exam and concentrate on the ones you like or feel you would do better in.

 

BUT if I paid $600 for a class dear kiddo would be taking that exam.

[swimmermom3]

The good news with AP (especially if you didn't spend a fortune on the class) is you can decide in Feb/Mar not to take a particular AP exam and concentrate on the ones you like or feel you would do better in.

 

BUT if I paid $600 for a class dear kiddo would be taking that exam.

 

I've paid that for an AP class without ds taking the exam. :D  It was AP Spanish his senior year and he was taking 4 other AP exams. He was already at the maximum transferable number of credits for his university and only a 5 would have earned more credits. It was still worthwhile that he took the class as for his major he had to have the equivalent of two years of college language skills. He tested out of those and took the required semester of advanced work.

 

As Julie mentioned above, the first reason for taking the AP classes is for education.  Many schools no longer give credits for AP or at best, the student gets credit for electives, but the AP credits do not count towards general requirements or major requirements.  My ds was fortunate in that his AP credits were accepted towards his general requirements and some were applicable to his major as well. The fact that he could graduate in three years made his first choice school a much more viable option.

[daijobu]

 

 

BUT if I paid $600 for a class dear kiddo would be taking that exam.

 

Sunk cost.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I know this will vary by student, but if you had/have a high-achieving student who aims to be admitted to a very selective STEM-type school, how many AP and/or DE classes did/will you attempt during high school?    I'm asking for my DS, a rising 10th grader, whose goal is appointment to a service academy or a university like Embry Riddle, and wants to study aerospace engineering.

 

In 10th grade (starting this fall), he will take AP Environmental Science and probably AP Macroeconomics. (Other non-AP/DE courses will be English, World History, Bible, Algebra 2, Aviation Science 1, and Speech.   He has already taken Spanish I & II, Biology, Chemistry, Algebra I, and Geometry. )

 

In 11th, I'm looking at the possibility of AP Lang/Comp, AP US History, (probably) AP Statistics, DE College Experience (fall), DE additional general ed. course (spring).   (Other non-AP/DE courses will be Pre-Calculus, Honors Physics, and a "fun" elective.)

 

In 12th, I'm looking at the possibility of AP US Government, AP Microeconomics, DE Freshman English 1 (fall) & 2 (spring), DE General Chemistry I (fall) and Physics I (spring), DE Calculus I (fall) and Calculus II (spring).   For non-AP/DE courses, he'll take some form of Personal Finance (Dave Ramsey?) and another "fun" elective like Aviation Science II.

 

When I look at the courses I just typed out, I wonder if this is too much?   We know families whose goal is for their child to graduate from high school with their AA through DE courses at the same time, and that is not our goal with this child.   I want to give him a healthy dose of college level work appropriate for the universities he is aiming for, and enough college-level STEM courses that he'll either be able to skip a few classes at his ultimate university, or have an easier time if he'll need to repeat those early "weed-out" classes like Calculus and Chemistry.  If he can skip a couple of General ed. classes like Freshman English, that would be a benefit too.

 

If you have BTDT, can you give me some feedback?   Anything we ought to think about or aim differently?   Thank you!

 

A couple thoughts. 

 

Keep in mind that most college decisions will be based on grades and test scores that are complete by the beginning of senior year.  

 

First, if he is looking at USNA and USAFA or ROTC scholarships, he needs to be familiar with the course expectations for candidates.  USNA and Navy ROTC, for example, put a heavy emphasis on math and science.  They also ask for teacher recommendations and can be very specific about who they want rec's from.  For example, USNA specifies junior year English and Math instructors.

 

The question of enough vs too much depends a lot on the individual student and their goals.  

 

We struggled a bit with combining AP courses and DE courses, simply because of the workload.  Between DE class time, travel time and homework, there wasn't a lot of time left at home for the courses I was teaching.  With one son, we did most of our AP English discussions in the car on the way to the CC.  APUSH was procrastinated by one kid a lot because of the workload of Calc and Chemistry at the CC.  

 

At our CC there are several different levels of Chemistry.  The General Chemistry that is college level has two different semesters.  The one semester course at our CC is an intro course for non-STEM majors that is closer to a high school level course.  Does your CC offer Physics 1 in Spring semesters?  Not all of our local campuses would.  

 

Frequently a one semester CC course is counted as a 1 year credit high school level course.  You might be able to drop the second semester 12th grade DE English in favor of something else.  

 

I'm wondering if AP Statistics and pre-calculus the same year will be a lot.  My older kids ended up taking Calc 1 first semester senior year, followed by Statistics spring semester.  Neither will use the statistics course for transfer credit (one school doesn't do much transfer and the other is in a STEM degree that doesn't require Stats).  My oldest repeated Calc 1 as a college freshman, then went in to Calc 2.  He said that he doesn't think he would have done well trying to go directly into Calc 2.  I don't think the Calc 2 DE course available locally would have set him up to go directly into Calc 3.  

 

Also keep in mind that service academies and ROTC programs also have a heavy emphasis on extracurricular leadership, sports participation and fitness.  I would recommend that he be familiar with the fitness testing requirements and be in a position to max out that test.

[Gratia271]

In terms of our approach to AP/DE work, my attitude has always been to provide the most challenging and engaging academic opportunities across all disciplines for my older children for the sake of education itself. That said, each of my older three children (18, 15, 15) have different personalities, proclivities, and goals. Below is what we have done or anticipate doing with a view toward competitive admissions. In addition to APs, they spend multiple years in at least 2 languages with 2-3 years of college level work. The plans for my younger two are tentative. All three of them want a balanced transcript, so they pursue advanced course work across all disciplines.  

 

DD18 (graduate): 

10th grade AP Chem, AP Language and Comp, AP Latin, AP Calc BC

11th grade: AP Physics C, AP Stats, AP Psych, AP Comp Sci, AP Lit and Comp

12th grade: AP Econ, AP Govt, APUSH, AP Bio 

 

DS15: entering 10th grade

8th grade: Calculus

9th grade: AP Stats

10th grade: AP Latin, AP Lang and Comp, APUSH, AP Comp Sci, AP Govt

11th grade: AP Euro, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Micro, AP Macro, DE computing classes TBD

12th grade: AP Comparative Govt, AP Bio, AP Psych, DE Russian, DE computing classes TBD

 

DD15:entering 10th grade

10th grade: AP Latin, AP Language and Comp, AP Comp Sci, AP Govt

11th grade: AP Euro, AP Stats, AP Chem, AP Micro, AP Macro

12th grade: APUSH, AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Psych

 

 

[MarkT]

In terms of our approach to AP/DE work, my attitude has always been to provide the most challenging and engaging academic opportunities across all disciplines for my older children for the sake of education itself. That said, each of my older three children (18, 15, 15) have different personalities, proclivities, and goals. Below is what we have done or anticipate doing with a view toward competitive admissions. In addition to APs, they spend multiple years in at least 2 languages with 2-3 years of college level work. The plans for my younger two are tentative. All three of them want a balanced transcript, so they pursue advanced course work across all disciplines.  

 

DD18 (graduate): 

10th grade AP Chem, AP Language and Comp, AP Latin, AP Calc BC

11th grade: AP Physics C, AP Stats, AP Psych, AP Comp Sci, AP Lit and Comp

12th grade: AP Econ, AP Govt, APUSH, AP Bio 

 

DS15: entering 10th grade

8th grade: Calculus

9th grade: AP Stats

10th grade: AP Latin, AP Lang and Comp, APUSH, AP Comp Sci, AP Govt

11th grade: AP Euro, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, AP Micro, AP Macro, DE computing classes TBD

12th grade: AP Comparative Govt, AP Bio, AP Psych, DE Russian, DE computing classes TBD

 

DD15:entering 10th grade

10th grade: AP Latin, AP Language and Comp, AP Comp Sci, AP Govt

11th grade: AP Euro, AP Stats, AP Chem, AP Micro, AP Macro

12th grade: APUSH, AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Psych

How much do you outsource from above?

[Ann.without.an.e]

I have not read the replies so I apologize if this has been stated.  Be aware that more selective schools will rarely take more than 2-3 AP credits.  While AP classes and exams are great for showing the strength of curriculum, don't expect them to transfer in and reduce the course load.  DD can only use 2 of her credits at her university).  

 

She is at a selective university and this was what she took:

 

10th: AP Human Geo, AP Art History, AP English Language

11th: AP Calc AB, AP World, AP Biology

12th: AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Lit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2017 by Attolia

[Gratia271]

How much do you outsource from above?

 

Sorry to reply late.  I was out of state with my son and had limited access.  Historically, I have only outsourced advanced Calc and beyond and the advanced science courses.  Oldest DD self-studied and worked with me for the other courses.  In our experience with my biological kids, some of the AP courses are rather easy, so spending a year (or even a semester) with an outside teacher would be a complete waste of their time and our money, e.g., Psych, Govt, Econ, Language and Comp, Stats. So much is busy work- at least for them. I am sure it will be a very different story with my adopted children years down the road.

[mirabillis]

 

 

10th: AP Human Geo, AP Art History, AP English Language

11th: AP Calc AB, AP World, AP Biology

12th: AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Lit

 

may i ask, attolia, what your dd's scores were for these? just curious. and did you outsource any/all or study at home? ;-)

[MarkT]

Sorry to reply late.  I was out of state with my son and had limited access.  Historically, I have only outsourced advanced Calc and beyond and the advanced science courses.  Oldest DD self-studied and worked with me for the other courses.  In our experience with my biological kids, some of the AP courses are rather easy, so spending a year (or even a semester) with an outside teacher would be a complete waste of their time and our money, e.g., Psych, Govt, Econ, Language and Comp, Stats. So much is busy work- at least for them. I am sure it will be a very different story with my adopted children years down the road.

You are very organized.  Wow!

[swimmermom3]

I have not read the replies so I apologize if this has been stated.  Be aware that more selective schools will rarely take more than 2-3 AP credits.  While AP classes and exams are great for showing the strength of curriculum, don't expect them to transfer in and reduce the course load.  DD can only use 2 of her credits at her university).  

 

She is at a selective university and this was what she took:

 

10th: AP Human Geo, AP Art History, AP English Language

11th: AP Calc AB, AP World, AP Biology

12th: AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Lit

 

It's still worth exploring the possibilities.  My ds is at a moderately selective university that had a 26% acceptance rate for his incoming year, but it is #10 in the country for his major.

 

His AP credits transferred as follows:

 

AP Statistics -  4 credits and satisfied general university math requirement

AP English Language - 3 credits and satisfied 1 of 2 general university writing requirements (all AP students end up in a writing class together)

 

General Education requirements in 5 foundational areas - 31 total required credits

- AP English Literature - 3 credits (earned a total of 6, other 3 apply to electives)

- AP Macroeconomics - 3 credits (applies to major requirement as well)

- AP Microeconomics - 3 credits (applied to major requirement as well)

- AP US Government - 3 credits (applied to major requirement as well)

- AP US History - 3 credits (earned a total of 6, other 3 apply to electives)

 

Additional elective credit:  AP Comparative Government - 3 credits (while this was only an elective credit, it turned out to be a prerequisite course for more advanced work)

 

AP Biology  -  he scored a "3," so no credits.  His university accepts a maximum of 30 AP transfer credits. In his case, they accepted 31 due to the credit breakdown. 

 

Ds completed all of his remaining foundational courses and writing requirement this last year. He is officially a junior after one year of classes and is looking forward to "major only" classes in the fall.

 

This is no where near as competitive an AP schedule for a someone who is interested in STEM, but we did pursue Honors level work in both math and science, while focusing on the Humanities.  As others have stated, the goal is a challenging education - stretching without breaking.