Maximum classes a student can take

[LastYear]

I'm not quite sure about "Which of the following courses are offered at your school?"  question. My son went to local HS for part of his education (one or two classes every semester) and he could take any AP classes there that he wanted. Do I list all that's available at this HS then?
When I research this question I get this advice: Remember that courses can only be designated as AP if officially approved by College Board. Match the number of classes offered to the maximum number of classes a student can take. How does that work? Is there an actual number how many classes he is allowed to take? Do I match to number of all 4 years classes or to one semester?

 

[Lilaclady]

I think for homeschoolers it’s better to go with what the student has taken as theoretically the student can only take as much as is either available, affordable or have the means to take the exams. I just use the number that my kids have as the max available. 

[Clemsondana]

For many public/private school kids, they can only take 6, 7, or 8 credits each year, depending on how their schedule is set up. That can lead to them having to make choices - if they have the 4 core plus foreign language, then they have 1-3 credits left to work with.  I took band all 4 years, so that limited what else I could schedule.  

Homeschoolers don't deal with any of that, so it's harder to define.  But, some umbrellas limit students to 8 credits each year.  Ours had previously done that but is rethinking it since kids are starting to do a lot of DE.  But, even though some students take a full load during the year plus summer classes, they aren't going to expect you to list that as what was available to the student.  

I think it's mostly asking if the students availed themselves of opportunities to take challenging courses.  Some students have more opportunity than others.  That should be reflected somewhere.  I don't know exactly how to fill it out in your situation, though, or what makes sense for a public school kid, for that matter.  The availability of AP art is irrelevant for a kid who took choir or band as their fine arts.  My kid has self-studied for 3 APs so far (and will do 2 more)...theoretically every AP is available to us, but not in the context of the classes that kid actually took.  I don't know...I had info about the number of credits, but the available AP stuff is less clear.  

[jplain]

In this case, if he didn't take them, don't list them as being offered.  As a homeschooler, his hypothetical options probably included enrolling as a non-degree-seeking student at a local college or two, right?  But you wouldn't include their catalogs in the list of available courses either.

IMO, the question about course offerings isn't really applicable to homeschoolers.  For school kids, it allows admissions committees to judge how challenging a course load a student chose to take.  That makes no sense for homeschoolers.  The course of study pursued by a homeschooler was the most challenging course of study available to that student.

[kokotg]

Agreeing with just listing how many were actually taken if he's applying as a homeschooler. I mean, in theory, every AP class is available to every student; public school kids whose schools don't offer many COULD self study or take online AP classes and find somewhere to sit for exams just as easily as homeschoolers. But that's not what the question means, and admissions people understand that answering it for a homeschooler is different.

[EKS]

Is that question somewhere in the Common App?  I can't find it in my son's materials from a few years ago.

Edited November 8, 2022 by EKS