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Which AP Classes Matter Most to Colleges? Expert Tips for a Winning AP Strategy
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The Big Picture Answer
The Pressure To Always Do More Is Real
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
When it comes to AP courses, students often wonder: Which ones do elite colleges really care about? The answer isn’t as simple as it seems, but for most students crucial factors are demonstrating academic readiness and building knowledge in their prospective major. That said, an effective AP strategy for college admissions will largely depend on lots of individual factors. This blog post shows you how to decide which APs will add the most value to your application, including how many to take, and more — all with a personalized approach — as our admissions expert walks you through seven essential tips for crafting a winning, and practical, AP strategy.
The question that recently arrived in Crimson’s “Questions for FAOs” inbox seemed innocent enough, at first: “Which APs do elite colleges want to see students taking?” But, as with most good questions, this one is hardly as simple as it appears.
For example, let’s take off the table from the start considerations such as the benefit you might get in college from reducing the number of general ed courses you need to take. Or, the benefit you might get academically in college from leapfrogging into a more advanced level class in a specific subject.
Instead, I am going to have a more narrow focus — on APs as an indicator of rigor in a high school curriculum, and on how much competitive value they add to your college application.
The Big Picture Answer
With this focus in mind, the big picture answer is: all Advanced Placement courses typically demonstrate superior academic rigor, and universities value rigor — both in terms of subject matter content and broader critical thinking skills and habits, thereby adding competitive value to your applications.
What’s harder to pin down is which AP courses elite schools value most, or to know how many AP courses you should take (or how much time, energy, and importance to assign to taking AP courses in order to add value to a college application).
The answers to these last two questions will have many nuances and be intertwined with many specifics — specifics related to your individual major, goals, and interests and related to the requirements and features of the discipline, program, and universities you’re applying to.
For example, while it could be argued that a future engineering student will add competitive value to his or her application by fulfilling language and literature requirements with an AP-level Language and Literature course, it is not nearly as essential as it is for that same student to take AP Calculus BC to be a competitive Harvard engineering applicant!
Or, let’s take the fact that many students — especially in the international arena — who don’t have ready access to AP courses, are adding exceptional value to their applications by achieving a top AP test score through self-study, often doing this while also maintaining strong marks in their required studies at school. No small feat, and one showing exceptional initiative and readiness for success in college.
Personalization Is Required
These are just a few of the many factors that can come into play, such that answers to the deceptively simple question “Which APs do elite colleges want to see students taking?” really need to be tailored within each student’s personal goals and circumstances and the specific programs/schools they expect to be applying to! — one of the reasons we always insist on a very personalized approach to our advising.
Last but not least, there’s the paradox of shifting and subjective admissions goal posts across academia.
As application volume continues to climb and acceptance rates continue to shrink, admissions officers are aware that high school students are under growing amounts of pressure to succeed in new and more impressive ways. While they do demand excellence, on one hand, they may be wary of being seen as contributors to that escalation of pressure and intensity.
Rewarding students who do more just for the sake of doing more (or to impress admissions officers) may be seen as doing just that, as opposed to pursuing a meaningful educational mission or building a vibrant campus community.
And, admissions officers today are pretty attuned to the issue of expanding equity — well aware that lots of promising and ambitious applicants are attending high schools that simply don’t offer all those AP courses to begin with.
It's Hard to Pin Down How Colleges Value Your AP Courses
“Stuffing” your transcript with AP courses may not be something admissions officers value as much as one might think. In other words, it’s not a pure numbers game and there are lots of qualifiers in play when it comes to what admissions officers are looking for.
With all of these qualifiers in play, there’s no simple answer to the question “Which APs do elite colleges want to see students taking?”
But, there certainly are some guidelines I think about when questions like these come up, as they often do, with the students I’m advising — guidelines which most students will see readily how to apply to their own circumstances and decision making as they navigate high school and the journey to college admissions.
Why APs Matter More Than Ever
What Colleges Want From Your AP Course Strategy
My 7 Helpful Guidelines for Your AP Decision Making
Yes, AP Courses Do Signal Rigor (but…)
Advanced Placement classes are more than just window dressing for your transcript and college applications, they are widely respected as a strong indicator of superior academic rigor — at a level that demonstrates your readiness for college-level rigor and pacing even.
But, before you overestimate the “value” these courses can have for your application, keep in mind that AP courses, even lots of them, while valuable, are hardly enough on their own to make you stand out — since lots of folks are submitting applications and transcripts with lots of AP courses and test scores…
For this reason, I recommend you look at their “value” within a larger vision of your academic preparation — taking into consideration your own learning styles, your own passions, and other ways you can position yourself to get into a good school, and so you’re ready, academically, to launch when you get to college!
Be Strategic (Put Coherence over Quantity)
Don’t fall into the trap of just chasing after more and more AP courses and stuffing your transcript! When deliberating about how many to take and in which subjects, be strategic and be productive!
For example, by doing really well in two or three AP classes you’re clearly demonstrating you’re ready for college coursework, it isn’t necessary to rinse and repeat two, three, or four additional times to show that.
Another way it’s going to be more strategic for your application is by showing an ability to learn and grow in a subject (one is enough!) outside your broader discipline (so one humanities AP course if you’re a science major, for example is great, you don’t need several outside your discipline area).
And, finally, it of course makes sense to prioritize taking the AP subjects most aligned with future success in your major (such as AP Bio and AP Chem if you’re on a pre-med track, for example; or AP Calculus and AP Physics for engineering fields) — two courses, maybe three, is a good target.
Follow Your School’s Curriculum (and Your Instincts)
If your high school offers an AP curriculum, take full advantage of it, but also weigh the opportunity costs and your own strengths. For example, if you’re required to take Gov and Econ in your senior year to graduate, and those are offered in general ed formats and in AP formats, consider taking the AP courses since they’re available to you — this demonstrates that you’re comfortable with the additional rigor.
However, if you know that the evidence based writing required in Gov or the quantitative reasoning in Econ is really hard for you, then maybe the general ed setting makes more sense in that circumstance. In other words, don’t set yourself up for undue frustration or for getting low grades just because!
Self-Studying APs: A Double-Edged Sword
Self-studying for AP exams can demonstrate initiative and drive, especially when your school doesn’t offer AP courses. However, doing so may not necessarily boost your application if it simply adds extra workload without adding genuine depth. In other words, most AP courses align with general ed courses your school may already offer, and/or require.
That means, even if you don’t take AP Bio, you’re still likely to be taking general ed Bio. Focusing on getting A’s in these general ed classes, is a good priority. What you add by self-studying for the AP course can show some extra intrinsic interest, but it’s probably not worth trying to do this for more than a few courses.
Be Mindful of Extra Pressure
Admissions officers are increasingly wary of the escalating pressure on students to overload their schedules. They’re cautious about rewarding applicants for simply stuffing their transcript with AP courses or with self-initiated AP test scores — especially if your school or life circumstances also offer you other high-quality ways to grow academically and personally that you’re not taking advantage of due to your AP workload.
Focus on Mastery, Depth, and Coherence — Not Just More Work
Rather than piling on extra AP courses, subjects, and tests, plan a more coherent approach to building academic growth and mastery, in alignment with your personal interests, values, and goals. If you’re planning to highlight how a commitment to environmental activism is spurring you to get into the STEM program at Dartmouth but your high school journey was spent studying for one AP course after another, you’re not demonstrating a lived commitment, not developing deeper mastery of key skills and topics in your future major, and not presenting a very coherent and compelling applicant profile.
Consider the Opportunity Costs
If you have extra time after excelling in your school’s curriculum, channel your efforts into intellectual pursuits like research or independent study. These activities can often provide more substantial evidence of your passion and capability than self-studied AP exams.
But the Pressure To Pursue AP Coursework Is Real (I Know)
I feel confident the guidelines above will put most if not all students on the right track when deciding which AP courses to take, how many, and how much effort and time to put into pursuing AP courses and tests. And, I think most readers will see that many of the guidelines make sense.
This said, the pressure to take lots of AP courses is real. As you try to “be more strategic” or “be more balanced” you may also be observing many of your peers jumping into a race to take more and more APs and feel pulled into the current — or left on the shore wondering if not getting swept up in the race, you’ll simply be left behind!
The Pressure To Take More & More APs Is Real
Seeing your peers taking more and more APs can leave you feeling you'll be left behind. The pressure is real (I know). The point isn't just to do less, but to stand out through more productive efforts, such as finding ways to demonstrate deeper academic mastery and coherence as a growing young scholar!
It’s probably worth keeping in mind that a better approach is not as simple as not stuffing your transcript with AP courses just for the sake of doing it, but still requires much effort — of a different sort: the effort you’ll put into planning and carrying out a better approach, and the effort to find more meaningful ways of demonstrating mastery, depth, and coherence as a growing young scholar. In other words, it’s not about taking less AP courses and contemplating your wisdom and nothing more; it’s really about taking a more authentic approach to your overall academic growth!
Final Thoughts and Next Steps
Behind the questions I get from students about academic planning and about which AP courses to take (and how many), is that all too familiar angst about how to get into a leading university. Let’s be real, it does take initiative and perseverance in high school to build the kind of application that will stand out.
But maybe this is all the more reason to approach the process by focusing on your longer term goals, and the passions that drive them. After all, getting into that great school isn’t an end in itself, it’s just a first step to even bigger opportunities and achievements. Building your foundation in high school for that longer term vision is how you’ll really stand out!
Your AP classes — a reasonable number of them in strategically selected subjects — are likely to help you build that foundation. Succeeding in them can feel high stakes and stressful though… So remember, you don’t have to do it all alone.
For example, there are lots of AP course resources out there. Our own expert AP tutors, for example, are just one way to get specialized help.
And, for students at schools without the right AP courses, or who want additional instruction, the Crimson Global Academy is a top-ranking online school with robust online AP courses (and a way to instantly connect to other motivated, high-achieving students all around the world).
Finally, is it time to consider the benefits of having a strategist in your corner?... Who can help ensure you’re really on track to presenting a coherent and compelling application and aligning your AP strategy with the specific university programs that interest you?
If you’re ready to get some teamwork and expertise behind your dream, the easiest way to start is by letting us know where you’re at on your college journey right now and what your biggest concerns, questions (and goals) are, by scheduling a strategist feedback session (it’s free and fun).
Hoping we’ll hear from you soon — we can't wait to become part of your college journey!
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