Are AP classes necessary to get into a competitive college or university?
The answer is no.
You may not know this, but there are many elite private schools in the United States that have already turned their backs on AP classes. They said no more. Many elite private schools have taken the stance that AP classes only create a culture of testing instead of a culture of learning. Some schools have even stopped having AP classes because they don’t agree with the curriculum in AP classes. Are students at these schools that do not have AP courses gaining admissions into the most competitive colleges and universities? Absolutely, yes.
Instead of having AP classes, they instead teach students using effective content-based learning. For example, these elite private schools are still teaching World History. However, they’re teaching World History through the lenses of academic topics such as Global Economics and Social/Cultural Development.
Since now you know that it is not necessary to take AP classes to get into a competitive college, you might be asking, “What is necessary to get into a competitive college or university?”
The answer is this: colleges and universities want to see that you have exhausted the highest level of coursework that is available to you. For example, if you want to study Biology in college, colleges and universities want to see that you took all the Biology coursework that is available at your school. In many cases, the highest level of coursework at your school, especially if you go to a public school, is going to be AP classes. So what should you do if this is the case? You can take the AP courses, or you can take courses at your local community college or a even a university. Many universities in the United States offer online coursework that can be taken by high school students. A couple examples include University of California Los Angeles and University of California San Diego. Sometimes you need to get your principal to sign off on your taking college classes as a high school student, but not all the time. If they do require your principal to sign off, that’s easy enough to do. As long as you’re in good standing at your high school, you’ll likely get approval (if it’s required).
If you need help finding appropriate online college coursework to complete while you’re in high school, fill out the Contact Form at the link below, and we’ll set up a meeting to figure out which options make the most sense for your academic goals.
https://www.holisticacademicdevelopment.com/contact
Another way that you can demonstrate curriculum mastery and proficiency is by doing activities on your own that show colleges and universities that you are advanced in your studies. You can complete an independent research project, start your own small business, create a thriving online community about a topic or discipline that is important to you… The options are endless. I’ll give you an example: I had a student who wanted to study Drama/Theater in college. She decided to create and run a small drama summer camp for local kids in her neighborhood who went to her elementary school. Be creative, there’s so much you can do to deepen your understanding of your chosen disciplines!
If you need help designing projects, activities, or curriculum that will help demonstrate mastery, commitment, and proficiency in certain areas of academia, give me a call so I can guide you through ideas that make sense for YOU.
Carolyn @ +1 (760) 704-9226