WAG College Recruiting - What' s better?

[wallinbl]

The biggest indicator of success in college is success in high school courses (GPA). Part of that is taking classes that are suited to you so that you can succeed in them. Part of that is putting in the work to succeed. If you can do this in high school, there is a good chance you'll be able to do this in college. Colleges care about their graduation rates, so they want students that will do well. That is why it is the first thing they look at.

AP, etc will tell them your ability to handle harder courses, which matters for more competitive schools.

 

[sce]

From what i have been told, it is gpa. AP does not come in until much later. I have had many parents tell me that they wish their kiddos had not done the stress of AP. I have one kiddo that opted no AP, one that wants to do AP but only in his intended major area.

It really depends on the school. Schools like Stanford expect that if your high school offers AP that you take AP classes. If they see you have a high GPA but few or no AP courses, and your school offered the courses this will hurt your chances. I believe California Berkeley looks at this as well, not sure about others.

As for getting college credit from the AP courses that depends on how you do on the AP tests.

 

[Rose7777]

Doesn't taking AP courses lead to 4.0+ GPAs?

Not necessarily. My high school didn't do weighted GPAs. That was a million years ago, but my understanding from family in the area is that they still don't.

 

[Rose7777]

It's really a combo- you need a good GPA, but it's more impressive to get that GPA in a more rigorous program. So take the tough classes if you can do well in them, but don't sacrifice your GPA just to say you took them.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Whether or not a college accepts the credits of the AP courses taken in HS is dependent on the score on the AP test for the course. Schools will usually accept the credit on a score of 4 or higher. Some schools will only take a score of 5. If you score lower then a 4 it becomes more likely the college won't take the credits. And it of course depends on the college.

3 of our neighbors took a year off their bachelors by taking AP courses in high school. That is a significant savings in dollars and time. One is now in a PA program. Another his second year of medical school. The other in a masters program for speech therapy ( I'm pretty sure).

If you have the opportunity and can handle the work (read that as scoring well on the test). Take as many as you can.

And if you are getting 5 and 4 on the AP test, your GPA is likely solid.